Let me tell you about Jones. He’s a very wealthy businessman, a respected philanthropist who has established an effective and impacting charitable foundation for disadvantaged youth, and a generous Christian who tithes north of 10% of his income to the church as well as an NGO that is providing clean drinking water to villages in […]
prayer
Prayer, Hypocrisy, and Hospitality: A Response to Stephanie Borowicz
This week, the first Muslim woman ever was sworn into the Pennsylvania State Legislature. The Christian politician who prayed to open the session, Stephanie Borowicz, made a point of using the name “Jesus” no less than 13 times in her prayer. (To make matters worse, Borowicz’s prayer was a rambling mess of theological confusion which […]
Failed Prayer Studies: A Response
The topic of scientific prayer studies recently came up on Twitter. As an outcome of that exchange, I committed to responding to the failure of one particular prayer study to establish a link between prayer and healing. The study in question is discussed in an article titled “Power of prayer flunks an unusual test” where […]
99. How do you hear the voice of God?
There are few questions as basic and important as this: how do you hear the voice of God? How do you discern God’s will for your life? How does one seek divine guidance in the day to day? Is divine guidance a matter of hearing a literal voice from heaven? Or is it simply a […]
On Praying for Milo
We live in an age where extreme and hateful voices like that of Milo Yiannopoulos get way more attention than they deserve. I was disgusted when Bill Maher hosted Milo on Real Time last week (and I applaud Jeremy Scahill for withdrawing from the show in protest). By the time the video surfaced of Milo advocating for […]
God and Answered Prayer: A response to Justin Schieber
I guess this is the week of responding to tweets. Our latest helping comes from my coauthor Justin Schieber: When somebody thanks God for helping them find their keys they betray their belief in a God with some profoundly misaligned priorities. — Real Atheology Podcast (@RealAtheology) December 21, 2016 Before I proceed to offer a […]
God, Serial Killers, and Natural Evil
Most of my readers will know of Stephen Law, the respected atheist philosopher who has made some perspicuous contributions to philosophy of religion, perhaps most notably in his evil God argument. (In the past I reviewed Law’s book Believing Bullshit and I’ve offered several critiques of his evil God argument, including here and here.) Today Law offered […]
How to Pray for President Trump
During the election season, some Christian leaders prayed fervently for Donald Trump’s success, including this motley crew of Baptist and charismatic Word-of-Faith preachers (check out Trump’s crazy expressions during this very awkward laying on of too many hands): However, I confess that I did not pray for Trump’s success. But he won the election and now […]
Did the Church of England troll Richard Dawkins?
Following reports of Richard Dawkins’ minor stoke this past Friday, the Church of England promptly tweeted a call for church goers to pray for Dawkins: According to an article in The Guardian, several of Dawkins’ followers promptly accused the church of “trolling”. (“Trolling” involves making online posts that are intentionally offensive in order to anger […]
On reading (and singing) the prayers of others
I grew up in the Pentecostal tradition in which we prided ourselves on being “led by the Spirit” to pray extemporaneously (i.e. off the cuff). Consequently, we viewed those “liturgists” who read prayers out of a book as spiritually suspect at best. The idea of reading a prayer, especially a prayer written by somebody else, […]
Divine action, answered prayer, and a zero/sum game
The other day I was visiting a non-denominational charismatic church with my twelve year old daughter. At one point the pastor asked, “How many of you have witnessed the power of God?” A few hands went up. Then the pastor asked, “Did you ever have a child who was sick and then got better?” Heads around […]
When God goes to church does he wear a suit and tie?
The debate between “formal” and “informal” church continues. Some folks seem to think Jesus said “If thou wilt enter my Father’s house, thou must first don a three piece suit” while others apparently have a Bible that reads “In my Father’s house are many cabanas, so put on your favorite beachwear and join the fun.” The […]
Is it egotistical to think God answered a prayer about the weather?
Facing a forecast of rain, Pastor Jim prays that it will be sunny for the church picnic. Lo and behold, the day arrives and the meteorologist is proven wrong, for there is not a cloud in the sky. Hot dogs and potato salad, football and capture the flag, and much bonding among the disciples of Jesus […]
Does Ganesha answer prayer?
Yesterday Honest John Law responded to my critique of Jonathan Pearce by making the following observation: “I have personally known Hindus who are educated and intelligent and fully capable of considering the degree and complexity and specificity of events, and they believe Ganesha was an agent for them. However, I doubt many Christians are willing […]
