I have been asked to explain what is wrong with Bertrand Russell’s Teapot Analogy. Unfortunately, I can’t respond by reproducing the argument of Peter van Inwagen’s paper given at the Society of Christian Philosophers conference since (a) I daydreamed through part of the talk and (b) I recycled the handout. (Don’t get me wrong. It was definitely […]
theism
The Apostate Atheist
Tory Ninja raised the problem of self-described Christians who do not believe any person like God exists. That’s a problem. That is, it is a problem that some self-described Christians deny p where p is “God exists.” But the same thing goes in the other direction. Last week in one of the blog threads so-called “Atheist […]
How to confound Christians with bad arguments: #2 The Indistinguishable Argument
This morning I was in a state of some emotional distress for I could not figure out what to blog about. So I put on my best white suit, plastered my hair down with Brylcreem, laid hands on the computer, and prayed in my best televangelist voice “Oh Lawrd! Send your servant a topic!” And […]
Scott Clifton on Morality
A reader, let’s call him Constantine, forwarded to me a transcript he made of a youtube video by “Scott Clifton” in which Mr. Clifton shares his views on morality. Clifton’s 31 minute speech has been viewed over 64,000 times. Okay that is not quite as high as the latest Bieber video (or even “Ducks blown off […]
Dr. Z meets Dustin
Dustin responded to the case of Dr. Z becoming an agnostic by writing “Yes, there are people who lose their faith in God due to evil. This just shows that their faith was no true faith, but only temporary (cf. Matt. 13:21). God has varying means by which He exposes spurious faith, and rancid evil […]
Dr. Z: A Brief Addendum
So we have Dr. Z, weeping into his glass of brandy, no longer able to affirm the proposition God exists, a proposition which on the reading of Romans 1 that has been presented to us, a person can only deny if they are in some sense in sinful rebellion against the knowledge of God that is […]
The night Dr. Z became an agnostic
Dr. Z, an OBGYN, was working with Doctors Without Borders in the Congo. Dr. Z had decided he simply had to go because he felt it was his calling as a Christian to help alleviate some of the enormous suffering in the world. For months Dr. Z labored tirelessly in a makeshift camp, desperately attempting […]
For since the creation of the world: On the wickedness of atheism
PM asked with disarming directness: “Hi Dr. Rauser, “Wondering how you’d situate Romans 1:18-32 into this discussion? Thanks.” The problem at first blush Let’s put the most relevant excerpt of this passage before us: 18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the […]
Ockham again?
Certain issues keep arising (or being raised, or bubbling to the surface) in the blog, and no matter how many times I deal with them the answers somehow don’t seem to take root. But hope springs eternal, so here goes again… S1lverbullet raises a criticism against my critique of Maitzen’s argument: “you sound an awful […]
Morality, the Divine Right of Kings, and Democracy
In the last few days I have been hammering on the objective existence of moral facts because this creates a problem for naturalistic and atheistic views of the world (i.e. they don’t have room for such facts). There have been some noble attempts to sidetrack me from this singular purpose. The most notable, posited by […]
The Sam Harris Sinkhole
I don’t have time to read Sam Harris’ new book, but I do have time to watch him talk for twenty minutes, summarizing the main thesis in a TED talk. And so, thanks to Tory Ninja forwarding this link, I got a sense of the book’s thesis. But first a disclaimer: this is not a review […]
When atheists grow up and become naturalists
A number of my readers are atheists, but only one is anatheist.net, and that’s James Tracy. In “What John Loftus has is a failure to communicate” James and I continued with the old faith as a starting point of thinking theme (my theme, to be more specific). When James refused to come out and affirm any form […]
Freud and “The Christian Delusion”
Back finally to what I once started: a close reading, review and critique of John Loftus’s book The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails (Prometheus, 2010). I’ve been doing this for a few months now but I had taken a two month hiatus. For those interested in catching up on the review to this point I […]
Everybody’s gotta god
A new/old visitor to the Tentative Apologist, whatifitstrue, asks: “When does a belief system (including , perhaps atheism) become a religion…?” So what is religion? Perhaps belief in God, an authoritative revealed text, and a set of sacred rituals? In Bob’s garage is a cherry 70’ Chevelle 454. On the shelf beside the car is […]
