Last week Catholic apologist Matt Fradd kindly sent me the following Catholic Answers interview, “What You Need to Know About Exorcism: The Devil, Evil Spirits, and Spiritual Warfare” in which Patrick Coffin interviews well known exorcist Father Gary Thomas. You can read the transcript of the interview here. Demonic Possession and Veridical Evidence for Supernaturalism and […]
supernaturalism
Do spirits have a ghost of a chance to persuade a skeptic?
Over the years I have blogged on the topic of ghosts on several occasions, including the articles “Should Christians believe in ghosts?”, “Jesus believed in ghosts (so maybe you should too),” and “J.B. Phillips and the Ghost of C.S. Lewis.” Three years ago I even did some research and writing for a planned book on […]
J.B. Phillips and the Ghost of C.S. Lewis
J..B Phillips was a well known Bible translator of the highly regarded Phillips Translation as well as the author of the popular 1962 book Your God is too Small. In his 1967 book Ring of Truth: A Translator’s Testimony (London: Hodder and Stoughton) Phillips recounts a stunning experience he had with a ghost … and not just any […]
A journey into a strange land: Why Lowder’s naturalism keeps getting worse
In “Not even wrong: The many problems with naturalism” I argued that the person who endorses “naturalism” faces a dilemma in terms of defining what it is that they believe in. The problem can be summarized in the choice between a fixed or an open definition of naturalism. The problem with fixed definitions of naturalism […]
Prejudice against supernatural persons?
Over the last few days I’ve been having an exchange with Jeffrey Jay Lowder on his argument that the history of science provides prima facie support for naturalism over-against theism. I engaged in the discussion by bracketing the question of what naturalism is. I did so as a division of labor with the intent to […]
Should Christians believe in ghosts?
The question was recently posed to me by one of my readers. Stuart did not share my assumption that the world may contain ghosts who, among other things, might engage in hauntings: “I think you’ll need to provide some more scritural backing to convince me that people can die (or be killed) and then their spirit can […]
Heathenism, naturalism, and other unstated prejudices
I am afraid I must pillory The Atheist Missionary for awhile longer folks. The reason is simple: we are getting close to the really important issue, the dogmatic philosophical presuppositions that wear the trousers in his otherwise free thinking mind. And it is of especial importance because these are not merely TAM’s philosophical presuppositions, but […]
The skeptic meets the demon
After presenting my first person account of putative demonic oppression, Atheist Missionary offered the following hypothesis: somebody slipped acid into my sushi (the kind of acid that makes you hallucinate, not the kind that burns you). It may have been a somewhat tongue-in-cheek suggestion but broadly speaking it is possible. It is just enormously unlikely. […]
Awake in Japan: A first-person account of demonic oppression
It was the summer of 1993. I had travelled to Japan to spend the summer as part of a contingent of English teachers selected by a mission agency. After a week’s training in Sapporo we were sent off to our respective towns. I was sent to a scenic town on the coast which looked like it came straight […]
