I recently posted the following question on Twitter: If a Muslim imam prays for a man stricken with cancer, and the tumor immediately disappears, can a Christian interpret that as a miracle wrought by the Christian God? — Tentative Apologist (@RandalRauser) October 18, 2021 One commenter noted that, in his view, if the Christian God […]
lying
If James Clapper lied in the past, can we trust that he is telling the truth about Trump and Russia?
Yesterday I posted a tweet about James Clapper and Donald Trump. Here is the tweet with Dave GhostBear’s response: James Clapper committed perjury before Congress with regards to domestic spying. He is not a trustworthy source, and you should be wary of him also — David Schoen (@JediGhostBear) May 24, 2018 The Disagreement This response […]
False Witness, Lies, Delusions, and Bullshit … and Why the Difference Matters
A couple days ago the New York Times published an opinion piece grandly titled “Trump’s Lies.” The article purports to chronicle “nearly every outright lie he has told publicly since taking the oath of office.” The reader is then treated to a chronicle of dizzying length and breadth chronicling all the public instances where the POTUS […]
Is it wrong to tell your children about Santa Claus?
The other day I visited the “World of Coca Cola” museum in Atlanta, GA which (as you can probably guess!) is devoted to the perennially popular beverage and its incalculable impact on popular culture. The museum includes a gallery featuring the iconic paintings of Haddon Sundblom. Beginning in the 1930s, Sundblom created a series of Christmas images […]
Would God be lying if he created the world with apparent age?
Ever since the publication of the great naturalist Philip Gosse’s treatise Omphalos in 1857 Christians have proposed to reconcile the apparent great age of the earth with a commitment to young earth creationism by proposing that God created the universe six to ten thousand years ago with apparent age. And for just about as long […]
The Ethics of Book Blurbs
Last week I was perusing the book tables at the ETS conference when I came across a book that featured a blurb from a friend of mine. The blurb made the book sound like a great purchase so when I saw my friend later in the day I asked him to elaborate on the book. […]
“So and so is a liar” and other general attacks on the character of others
A few days ago “Pitchman” posted the following comment on Bart Ehrman: Ehrman is a liar. I personally heard him laughing at the people who invited him to come to church in Lawrence, Kansas, a couple of years back. (Lawrence is his home town.) He said “Can you believe these people paid me to come […]
Car salesmen do it. Lawyers too. And politicians. And also academics.
It was summer, 1989. I was a sixteen year old standing on the Ford lot completely dazzled by the 1988 Ford Mustang 5.0 sitting hunched down and ready for action. It didn’t take long for the salesman to emerge from the air-conditioned showroom, doing his best to appear to be on an aimless stroll through […]
