In the fourth chapter of The End of Christianity Hector Avalos promises to explain “Why Biblical Studies Must End.” I’ll engage with the essay in three steps: first, a quick reading of what I take to be the main take-home point; second, an observation on how the essay found itself in the wrong place at the […]
The End of Christianity
Is this the most John Loftus has to say?
Today John Loftus posted the following in his blog: The Criticisms Are Coming Faster Than I Can Respond I cannot respond to even the most intelligent and scholarly criticisms of my writings. They are coming fast and furious. The deluded are coming up with the most contorted reasons to continue believing despite my arguments. That’s […]
Is John W. Loftus “dumber than a box of rocks”?
In The End of Christianity John W. Loftus describes the following Christian belief which he finds very implausible: “That the highest created being known as Satan or the devil, led an angelic rebellion against an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent, omnipresent God … and expected to win. This makes Satan out to be suicidal, inexplicably evil, and […]
John W. Loftus and a Swede named Mario
Torgo has requested clarification on one point of my critique of John Loftus’s essay on the alleged improbability of Christianity. Torgo begins by quoting a section of my critique which was summarizing the core problem with Loftus’s argument: “From the perspective of a Christian John is like that analyst calculating the enormous implausibility of the ostrich riding […]
The Devil and the Atheist
John Loftus ends his essay “Christianity is Wildly Improbable” in The End of Christianity with an additional fifteen beliefs he finds wildly implausible. Since I already provided a critique that undercut his whole improbability method I didn’t bother to deal with these points directly in my review of the chapter. But I’d like to engage one […]
The End of Christianity? A Skeptical Review (Part 4)
In this installment of our ongoing review of Loftus, ed., The End of Christianity we turn to an evaluation of chapter 3 which is an essay by John W. Loftus titled “Christianity is wildly improbable”. The essay begins with John’s characteristic Braveheart-styled bravado: “When it comes to Christianity, two thousand years are enough. It’s time this […]
The End of Christianity? A Skeptical Review (Part 2)
My last exchange with David Eller over his essay in The Christian Delusion was not pretty. Simply because I pointed out that he forgot to include an argument in his chapter he responded that I was “clearly unfamiliar with the abundant literature”. That’s a great line. In fact it is so good that I’ve appropriated […]
Johh Loftus responds: “It is a believing review of my book!”
John Loftus has posted a, ahem, “response” to the first installment of my skeptical review of The End of Christianity at “Debunking Christianity”. Make sure your brain is fully engaged before you read it. This is heady stuff. Here goes: Then Randal Rauser claims he is offering a skeptical review of The End of Christianity. […]
The End of Christianity? A Skeptical Review (Part 1)
John Loftus, ed. The End of Christianity. Prometheus, 2011. ISBN: 978-1-61614-413-5. The End of Christianity is the final installment in an atheistic triumvirate designed to decimate Christiainty. (Previous entries include Loftus, Why I Became an Atheist and Loftus, ed. The Christian Delusion.) This review is going to be long and messy. As preparation I suggest you […]
On wanting Christianity to End
Just because your blog has a reader doesn’t mean it has a fan. I learned that one a long time ago. Case in point, one of my readers named Grady has attacked my defense of my blurb for Loftus’ The End of Christianity, and he’s done so with spit and vinegar. While I already responded to […]
On the ethics of a Christian positively blurbing a book on atheism
John W. Loftus’ new book, The End of Christianity (Prometheus, 2011), a collection of essays by atheists, was just released a few weeks ago. It serves as a companion volume to last year’s The Christian Delusion. And it wears its raison-d’etre on its sleeve. I intend to provide a review of the book in the […]
