A Question About My Book on the Beginning of the Universe

Dear Mr. Loftus,

I have just started your very informative book, “Why I am an Atheist.” I am trying to better understand your arguments. You said on page 83 that the big bang theory shows that “our universe began to exist.” Then, on page 85 you state, “Craig’s second premise is that the universe began to exist. It too has difficulties.” This seems to be a contradiction. Could you help me understand what you mean by these statements? Did our universe begin to exist or not? You seem to be saying that science proves the universe did begin to exist when refuting Thomas Aquinas, but that it did not begin to exist when refuting William Craig.

Glad to know people are reading my book and think it's informative and hopefully helpful. Thanks for your thoughtful question. I wrote the book over a decade. Some of the chapters began as handouts in classes which I later revised for the book and so you can see development in it. The chapter on prayer was originally written for a church study group. As my thinking changed I tried to harmonize everything with my later perspective, but was probably unsuccessful. The fact is that we cannot say time began. There was no cosmic singularity so we don't know what took place before. So while our universe began to exist we cannot say that it did not come from out of a previous black hole explosion or through tunneling from another universe. The point about the Kalam argument is that it does not show our universe had a beginning in time. To repeat. Our universe began to exist but we cannot say time began to exist with our universe. My argument against the Kalam is that it doesn't show time began to exist either.

Cheers.

A List of Former Team Members of Debunking Christianity

[Written by John W. Loftus]Someone recently asked me for a list of former Bloggers. I started DC in January of 2006, four years ago. Some Christians took notice and I was pummeled every single day by some of them, mostly by Calvinists, and in particular presuppositionalists. A Ph.D. student helped me argue with them, so I soon invited him on as a team member. His handle was exbeliever. Since this worked well I began inviting others as team members. Some of them didn’t work out too well, just wanting to post their deconversion story or promote their book and that was it. Others stayed for a few years. While I haven’t listed them all, team members here at one time included (in no particular order) Hector Avalos, Dan Barker, Farrell Till, Ed Babinski, Joe Holman, Jason Long, Valerie Tarico, Ken Pulliam (Former_Fundy) Marlene Winell, exapologist, Harlan Quinn, Harry McCall, DagoodS, Matthew Green, Spencer Lo, Kenneth Daniels, Bart Willruth, Darrin Rasberry, Dennis Diehl, Robert Bumbalough, Bill Curry, Craig Duckett, Paul Harrison, Glenn Kachmar, Troy Walker, Theresa, Glenn Dixon, Zac Taylor, Sharon Mooney, Scott Burgener, Anthony, Shygetz, Touchstone, Evan, WoundedEgo, Brother Crow, nsfl, and a few others who posted once or twice. A few of them already had their own Blogs while a few others moved on to Blog themselves. Others dropped out of Blogging for one reason or another. It became time consuming for me so I took it back in September of 2009. You can do a "Search This Blog" for their names to see what they wrote.

Former Baptist Pastor Became an Atheist

Which of Dinesh D'Souza's Arguments Won Him Our Debate?

Okay, we have beat to death the horse of who won our debate which can be seen here. And I already expressed what I learned from debating him, while Ken Pulliam offered some insightful observations on it. So here is the next question: Which arguments of D'Souza's do you think were so good that won him the debate? Forget for a moment that I didn't answer everything he regurgitated up. What did he say that was a good argument for his faith?

Dinesh D'Souza Comments On Our Debate

Link. The real debate takes place in our books. Read them. Go ahead. Do it.

Dr. Marlene Winell on Recovering From Religious Indoctrination

Dr. Valerie Tarico interviews Marlene in this 24 minute video below. When this blog was a team blog both of these scholars could be found here.

What I Learned From Debating Dinesh D'Souza

After looking at the debate myself I didn't do well. I did okay, but not well.

Mr. Deity and the Really Hard Time

Even though some of their episodes are not so good, this one is a keeper.

We Should Only Accept What Science Tells Us.

That's what I think. Since science tells us prayer doesn't work then it doesn't work. It tells us the universe is 13.7 billion years old. It tells us we evolved. It tells us there was no Israelite Exodus from Egypt. It tells us the Nativity stories in the Gospels could not be true. It tells us virgins do not have babies. It tells us that dead people do not bodily rise from the grave. Christians must denigrate science in order to believe. Science or Faith? Science has a track record. Faith flies planes into buildings. Science all the way, hands down. End of story.

The Video of My Debate With Dinesh D'Souza is Now Online

Click here to watch all 13 parts on YouTube. Cheers.

I'm Going to Be Taking a Much Needed Break

I've decided to take a break from Blogging. It may be for a day or a week or a month, I don't know. What I do know is that I spend too much time here and neglect to do other things, like earn some money. At the very least I'll not be posting as much. I have much more to say so it may be hard to stay away. In any case there is a lot to read in the archives. You should become a Follower or a Subscriber to this Blog if you don't want to miss anything. Keep in mind I'm still available for speaking engagements. An interview of me is going to appear on YouTube on the 26th. And in March I'll be debating the existence of God as announced here. Set the odds on when I'll post again if you want to! ;-) If you're a first time visitor check out the two important books of mine in the sidebar. Cheers.

The Audio of My Debate with Dinesh D'Souza is Now Online

Here is the link. As you listen this is what to look for. Enjoy. Here is my opening statement.

The Trouble With Natural Theology

[Written by John W. Loftus] I love the way Dr. Jaco Gericke describes the reformed philosophy of Alvin Plantinga as fundamentalism on stilts. The stilts metaphor pictures Plantinga as rising above the mire of Biblical criticism without actually dealing with the basis of his faith.

William Lane Craig repeatedly says he does not intend on debating the reliability of the Bible. Of course not, because he can't. Recently he turned down a debate against Jaco Gericke on whether Yahweh of the Old Testament exists. Yep, that's right. He said it wasn't his specialty. But wait just a minute. He's going around debating whether or not God exists, right? Then that means he believes Yahweh exists. So why can't he defend the existence of his God? It's because he can't do it. It would require him to get down off his stilts and wallow in the mire of biblical criticism which completely undermines his faith.

Which brings me to Bill Craig's specialty, Natural Theology.

Temples, Temples They All Had Temples

The oldest temple in the world was just discovered in Turkey. Every civilization in the ancient world had some kind of a temple to some different kind of deity. It was the natural evolutionary process where humans came to wonder about why they existed and how to please the god or gods that put them here on earth. It's pure human imagination, all of them, from Egyptian to Mesopotamian to Canaanite to Israelite to Japaneses to Chinese to Mayan to Incan cultures and many others around the world.

The Historic Argument Against Organized Religion

I was raised a Catholic but it surely looks to an outsider like me that it is not a divine institution at all. The failings of the church down through history and now with recent sex scandals are strong indicators of this. And if this is so why should I believe ANYTHING that it teaches as divine truth? Why should I even accept the canon it chose? If any other institution did the horrendous wrongs as the Catholic church has done then Catholics would join me in condemning it. William Lobdell's book, Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace is a page turner. You see, it's not just the harm that some priests did to children. It's the massive cover-up that is so horrendous. The Catholic church even knowingly sent molesters to parishes in Alaska where nearly every boy was molested. That is, the church facilitated these molesters.

Morality Without God, by The Thinking Atheist

This video highlights the problems for any kind of credible Natural Theology:

Steven Pinker: A Brief History of Violence

There is actually less violence in modern society and Pinker tells us why.

There Are Two Yahweh's in the OT: Three Interpretations of the Evidence

Old Testament scholar Michael Heiser discussed the Biblical evidence for this in the fascinating video below. He argues against the rabbinic view that Yahweh appears in two modes, a younger one and an older one. He sees the evidence as supporting a Christological interpretation that the second Yahweh refers to Jesus. This, he claims, is why the early church could see no discrepancy in claiming Jesus was part of the Godhead. But there is a third interpretation. These people were polytheistic to the core for much of their history, my view. See what you think:

New Book: Divination and Interpretation of Signs in the Ancient World

This book looks good, very good, and it's on my wish list. Why people cannot see the similarities with the Biblical narrative is beyond me. See especially Chapter 14. "Prophecy as a Form of Divination; Divination as a Form of Prophecy," and Chapter 16. "Prophecy and Omen Divination: Two Sides of the Same Coin." But there are so many things wrong with divination compared to the sciences I don't know where to begin. See the book right here, and on Amazon where the title to the 16th chapter is found.

Not All Atheists are Mythicists With Regard to the Historicity of Jesus

Tim Callahan, author of The Secret Origins of the Bible and book editor for the Skeptic Magazine, John Shook, myself, and recently Daniel Florien all think there was an original historical founder to the Jesus cult. I'm wondering if the major impetus for atheists to think otherwise came from the movie The God Who Wasn't There. It was handed out for free to people who took the Blasphemy Challenge which in turn catapulted this line of thought among atheists. In any case, this is a historical question that people disagree on, and that's it. What I find interesting is that people are so passionate about this one way or another. It's like church all over again where denominations have split over inconsequential issues. You see, we all have this tendency to want conformity, and THAT is something you shouldn't expect in the freethought society because we're, well, freethinkers. It's like trying to herd cats.

Agnosticism is the Most Reasonable Position

I think when you take a serious look at all of the claims being made about religious truths and the problems we address in philosophy about nearly everything, that everyone should be agnostics. It's the most reasonable position if we can just learn to think independently of the emotional and social need to accept what our particular culture has led us to believe. I became an atheist via agnosticism. I wonder how many other atheists were first agnostics? This is the reason I argue for agnosticism. It's the step in the right direction. It's easier to argue for. And it makes the greatest impact on the believer.

A Scale Depicting Extraordinary Claims

I'm toying with something and wondering what my readers think of it. I put together a scale that depicts extraordinary claims by different groups below. See what you think and of my explanation.

The First Look at the Cover of "The Christian Delusion"

It will be available on time at the end of April. I have put a lot of work into it. I hope it helps.

A Dog Risks His Life to Save Another Dog: Evidence of Altruism

Enough then of this talk that in order to care for one another we need God. We find evidence of this in other lower species of animals.

What is it with Catholic Priests? Catholic Sex Abuse in Germany

It happened in America. It happened in Ireland. Now, it seems that another major Catholic sex abuse scandal is about to break open - this time in Germany....this story has punched another hole in the Catholic church's flimsy pretext of being able to speak with moral authority to the rest of us. They are a whited sepulcher, whose ornate facade conceals only moral rot and corruption within, and a cabal of wicked old men more concerned with preserving their own power than with any harm they allowed to be inflicted on innocents. They do not deserve the continued allegiance or support of any thinking person. Link: Daylight Atheism

What Type of Government is the Best?

Care to discuss it here?

An Email Discussion With Dr. Dan Lambert

Dan and I are friends and he's using my book WIBA in his college classes. We carry on a discussion from time to time and with his permission this is one of them I thought was interesting.

We Could Be Made to Believe In Anything

In the following documentary of North Korea we learn that the people are made to believe their leader has supernatural gifts [just before the 21 minute mark]. Yep, that's the nature of human nature. For this reason skepticism is always a virtue.

In Haiti One Superstition is Being Replaced by A Different One, But it's Superstition All the Same

Associated Press writer Paisley Dodds tells us that Christianity is making some inroads among the Haitian people because of Pat Robertson's comments and Christian charity. Here's the story:

The catastrophe has driven a wedge between Haiti’s religions as Christian groups make inroads among shaken Voodoo followers — some drawn by the steady flow of aid through evangelical missions and others frightened by a disaster they saw as a warning from God.

Two Recent Recommendations of my Book, WIBA

Nothing encourages me more than the fact that people are saying such nice things about my book, WIBA. Here are two more recommendations:

What is the Problem with "God of the Gaps?"

DagoodS recently wrote on this question. Here is his conclusion:

Michael Goulder Explains Why He Could No Longer Believe

Michael Goulder has an excellent chapter in Jesus' Resurrection: Fact or Figment?: A Debate Between William Lane Craig and Gerd Ludemann, on "The Explanatory Power of Conversion-Visions." Listen to this short BBC interview where he explains why he could no longer believe.

Latest Richard Dawkins Interview

Check it out.

A Question About Brainwashing and Deprogramming

I received an email where someone commented:

I was intrigued by the brainwashed people don’t know they’re brainwashed post several days ago. My wife is rapidly and rabidly falling deeper and deeper into this crap. Are there any books out there that you could recommend related to this issue, both the process of brainwashing as well as the process of deprogramming?

What to Look For in My Debate with Dinesh D’Souza

This week we're all hoping that my debate with Dinesh D'Souza will be available online. Here are my thoughts on what to look for as you evaluate it. I am NOT making excuses. I am NOT saying I won the debate. From all skeptical accounts it looks like I lost, although I have not heard from any Christians in the audience (maybe one). My problem is I need to see it objectively for myself. If you have ever been in a debate then you're thinking on your feet and cannot remember exactly what was said, and when it was said, to have a good judgment about it until you see it later, although people who say I lost are probably right. I am very interested in the comment cards from Christians in the audience since they are my target audience. In any case here are things to look for in debates, not only in mine, but in others as well.

Kenneth Howell Responds A Third Time

As I indicated earlier I came away from the debate against Dinesh with some new Christian friends. Kenneth Howell is one of them. Friends are more important to me than most everything else, and I do like learning from one another. He's previously responded to some comments and I appreciate his thick skin to do so again.

Religion Flowchart

I found this on Facebook and it made me chuckle. Fun is good. Without it we'd take ourselves too seriously. Life is good too.

Where's the Beef, That is, the Hard Evidence to Believe?

I've dealt with this before, but as far as I can see there are plausible natural explanations for every piece of evidence a believer uses to defend her faith. Religious experience?...meet wish fulfillment. Near death experiences?...meet oxygen deprived brains. Resurrection of Jesus?...meet a legend based on visionary experiences that were common at the time. Intelligent design?...meet the problem of evil. You'd think there would be something, anything that would show the believer has good solid evidence to believe. There isn't anything like that at all.

Kenneth Howell Responds to Our Comments.

Previously I wrote about Dr. Kenneth Howell's Challenge to Atheists. Here is his response, below. I'll just post it without comment for now. See what you think. He's engaging us in a respectful manner and I think we should return the civility even if we disagree.

Atheists Always Win in Debates

Yep. That’s what I think. We're always winners. Let me explain why I think this.

Dr. Kenneth Howell's Challenge to Atheists

One thing I appreciate when I travel to speak somewhere are the friendships I acquire. I'll tell you this right now that if I had to choose what to believe based on the warm reception I felt at the debate with Dinesh I would become a Catholic. They were all respectful and kind towards me. Kindness does wonders I think. One such friendship I gained was with Kenneth J. Howell, the Director, St. John’s Institute of Catholic Thought, who put the debate together. Among other books he is the author of God's Two Books: Copernican Cosmology and Biblical Interpretation in Early Modern Science. He also has an interesting story since he used to be a Protestant. Here's his challenge and our initial discussion below:

Ken Pulliam Responds to Dinesh D'Souza's Argument

One thing about debates we can all agree about is that they are educational regardless of who you think lost. And I'm sure my debate with Dinesh will provoke a lot of commentary and thought. Ken Pulliam runs an intelligent blog which I recommend highly. He takes on Dinesh's claim that I have committed the genetic fallacy. Nope, not by a long shot, and I hit this claim hard in a chapter for The Christian Delusion book coming out soon. When you watch the debate you'll see I was not given a chance to respond to Dinesh.

Not Brainwashed? Really Now?

A Mormon negatively commented on the skeptical book, Joseph Smith and the Origins of the Book of Mormon. If this comment does not show the marks of a brainwashed person, then what does?

Anyone Disagree?

Brainwashed people do not know they are brainwashed. Given the fact that children are brainwashed to believe based on various cultural mind-control techniques, then there are billions of brainwashed people in the world. Stay on topic. Focus. Agree?

If Christianity Doesn’t Matter Why Do You Bother With It?

Former Pastor Bruce Gerencser runs an intelligent Blog which I heartily recommend. Recently he answered this question once and for all.

Frank Turk Thinks I'm "Clever"

Regarding my chapters on the problem of evil Frank says this of the way I framed the problem:

Intelligent Design Anyone? Some of God's Greatest Mistakes

Here are currently 96... erm... anomalies in this intelligently designed living world. Link

Professor McGrath on Whether or Not Jesus Existed

Don't look now but a professional NT Historian is taking on the mythicists. It started with this YouTube video which has carried on in some recent posts of his here, then here, then here, then here, then here. I think he's gearing up for a book on the topic and if he writes it then it's long overdue.

Initial Skeptical Reviews of My Debate with Dinesh Don't Look Too Good to Say the Least

Skeptics who were in the audience for the debate are weighing in and they're all saying I lost miserably. This troubles and disheartens me since I thought I did well. I couldn't sleep and was even thinking of calling it quits. But then, what did they expect? Did they expect too much out of a debate? Why? I said the real debate takes place in our books. I even wondered if skeptics bought into the rhetoric of Dinesh. If rhetoric without substance is all it takes to win debates then Dinesh will win most of the time. Some of Dinesh's comments seemed to be too ridiculous to bother answering, and maybe that's part of my problem that night. One other problem was that I had to choose between being rude or not responding at all, since the moderator was not giving me a chance to respond to questions asked of Dinesh, who was asked more questions in the Q & A from the audience. And since I do not think Christians take science seriously I responded with philosophical arguments to questions about the existence of God and Intelligent Design. In any case, it'll be interesting to watch the debate in a few days online to see the reactions from others. And it will equally be interesting to see the results of the comment cards.

My Debate With Dinesh

I thought this was an insightful comment card handed out to the people who attended my debate with Dinesh last night. The video will be available soon and when it is I'll link to it, along with any results from this card. I've already posted my opening statement. Some people say I lost the debate. Let me respond.

My Opening Statement With Dinesh D'Souza, by John Loftus

My 15 minute opening statement: "Does the Christian God Exist?"

I’m going to offer several arguments based on facts we should all agree on that show the Christian God does not exist. My claim is that these facts will force Dinesh into arguing over and over for what I’ll call the Dumb and Dumber Defense, based on the movie with that title starring Jim Carrey. In every single case Dinesh’s response will be pretty much the same. Rather than admit his faith is improbable, he will be forced to claim that what he’s defending is still possible despite these facts. But remember, it’s possible that Jim Carrey could’ve gotten the girl of his dreams in the movie too. The girl said he had a “one in a million” chance at doing so.

Dr. Avalos on Pat Robertson's Haiti Comments

Written for Ames Iowa's The Tribune:

"The Christian Delusion" Book Is Almost Ready

I have received the pdf file for my edited book, The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, to be published in April. I'm taking one last look through the file before it goes to the print shop on the 12th of this month. Let me tell you it's a dandy. No skeptic will want to be without it, that's what I think. All of the authors present a superior case against Christianity in all of its forms. You can read about it on the official website. And if you would, please pre-order it by clicking here. If we can get a lot of pre-orders for it then it'll get noticed by even more and more people, which could snowball and make it big. That's what we're all hoping for anyway.

Why Dinesh and I Are Debating, "Does the Christian God Exist?"

My readers already know that this Tuesday Dinesh D'Souza and I will be debating. The official announcement with details can be found here. I am a bit silent on this Blog because of my preparations, but on Tuesday at 8 PM EST I have my opening statement scheduled to be published here at DC. So even though many of you cannot be there you can read it just after I speak it. Just so you know, here's why we're debating this particular topic:

A Nice Comment About My Chapter On God and Animals for "The Christian Delusion"

via email:

I have just finished your chapter on "God and animals", and I must say that if this is the type of chapter that did not make it to the book (Christian Delusion) then the book is going to be [a] monster!!

Christian Professor Alvin Plantinga is Retiring

Yep, this is true. A fitting epilogue of this worthy Christian adversary was written by The Teapot Atheist.

My Debate With Dinesh D'Souza

I'm doing some preparation for my upcoming debate next Tuesday at the University of Illinois. What's interesting is that I've got to find a way to answer his arguments succinctly and in just a few sentences. While I have my own answers, how would you respond succinctly with an economy of words to the following types of claims?

Best Philosophy of Religion Books of the Decade

My friend Luke at Common Sense Atheism loves lists so here is another one, this time on the best Philosophy of Religion books of the decade. Want to suggest any others?

An Important Epistemological Question by James McGrath

If we adopt a skeptical approach, we are less likely to believe things that are false, but will also probably not believe many things that are true but for which evidence is lacking. If we take a credulous approach, by believing everything we may be certain that we have believed everything that is true, but we will inevitably believe many things that are false as well.

Which approach do you consider preferable? Is there any real way to find a middle ground between them? And for those whose religious standpoint leads them to believe that God prefers one or the other of these approaches (or looks favorably on humans who adopt one or the other), why do you think that might be the case?

Link

Tony Hickman Makes Headlines by Joe Holman

A young Tony Hickman (8) of Andrew Falls, Michigan attended what could well have been his last day of school Monday at St. Rose Elementary. The second-grader, mute as the cameras rolled while being removed from school property by his parents, had no opinion except to say: “It was a drawing. I did not do nothing wrong.”

Link.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: The Great God Debate at the University of Illinois: Dinesh D'Souza vs. John W. Loftus

Below is the Press Release for this debate. Hope to see some of my readers there.

Isn't God's Creative Handiwork Good?

One word. Parasites.

Christians Do Not Believe After All

Christians claim that people who do horrendous evils simply refuse to change despite God's repeated attempts to help them see the error of their ways. If I were God I could change anyone’s mind if I chose to. I could harden a person's heart like the Pharaoh’s. I could speak audibly to them, appear to them, or do a wondrous deed for them. That’s anyone, as in ANYONE. That Christians refuse to acknowledge this tells me something about them. They do not believe after all. They only believe what is convenient to believe. ;-)

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Peter Kirk on the Haitian Disaster: Defending the Indefensible

I'm amused most of the time at what it takes to defend the Christian faith. I am even more amused when a defender of the faith lacks the required thinking skills to do so, like Kirk. Remember, he's the one who assures us that it wasn't God's fault for the Haitian disaster. Nothing personal here, but with critical thinking skills like this no wonder he believes. Let's take a look:

Why People Walk Away From Their Faith

I had previously wrote about Ruth Tucker's talk to the Freethought Association of West Michigan, in which she gave 5 myths about those who walk away from their faith. See here. Ken Pulliam recently mentioned this talk and highlighted the fact that Tucker went on to list the real reasons people give for leaving their faith:

Shayne Looper: John Loftus Did Not Reject True Christianity

I believe that Mr. Loftus was right to reject his beliefs. The former pastor did well to turn away from his god — because his god was not the real one. His view of God, as even my cursory reading made clear, was inconsistent with, and contradictory to, the view of God presented by Jesus in the Bible.

The god John Loftus renounced merited rejection. The God made known by Jesus merits devotion. The degree to which a person’s view of God conforms to reality will determine the degree of loyalty that person has to the faith. It is hard to remain true to an illusion. Link

Hey Shayne, you just made my case for me!

Peter Kirk Responds To Assure Us God is Not to Blame for Haiti's Disaster

I previously wrote: "We atheists do not revel in tragedy. We hate the fact that people suffer in this world as all people do. It's just that in times like these it's good to be an atheist. Earthquakes happen. That's all there is to it. What we revel in are attempts by Christians to justify God's actions. They are pathetic, all of them. And guess what? God isn't to blame for the Haitian disaster! Nope. God is completely good and loving towards us all. His ways are perfect. Atheists like myself and Christopher Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins, and Valerie Tarico have had a heyday with Christian responses so far." Link. Peter Kirk showed up in the comments with some answers.