Jesus Behaving Badly: The Fig Tree Incident
Has Any Atheist Deconversion Happened Quite Like This?
John Lloyd was my Youth Pastor when I first became a Christian. A couple of years ago I had lunch with him, which I wrote about here. Today I found a video of him doing a talk at the church he had founded, where he described his conversion and early ministry (starting at about 9:04), of which I was involved. My question to you is this: Has any atheist deconversion happened quite like this? I think not. It was purely experiential while he was on prescription medicine. And yet John Lloyd knows that he knows that he knows that his faith is true. It's a shame, really!
This Weekend is the PA State Atheist/Humanist Conference
I'll be speaking at this fine conference on Saturday morning about my book The Outsider Test for Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True.
As I'm finalizing my talk I've been re-reading my book again, and although I do say so myself, this book is dynamite! ;-) If you don't already have it, get it and read it. I'm very honored and grateful to be a speaker for this conference, especially given the other speakers who will be there. If you can come out, do so. Here is a link telling you all the details. Hope to see ya there!
As I'm finalizing my talk I've been re-reading my book again, and although I do say so myself, this book is dynamite! ;-) If you don't already have it, get it and read it. I'm very honored and grateful to be a speaker for this conference, especially given the other speakers who will be there. If you can come out, do so. Here is a link telling you all the details. Hope to see ya there!Finally! Christianity is Not Great Went to Print!!
The following clip from "The Wrath of Khan" expresses my thoughts as I ponder the impact of this anthology:
The Evolution of God from Yahweh in a Box to the Super Mega Deity of the Universe
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The God of modern Christian theology is a philosophically
supercharged God far removed from the physically limited and dimwitted Yahweh whose identity
has as much in common as a horse and buggy does with a Lamborghini Aventador LP
700-4. Ironically, Christian apologists such has WL Craig totally
ignore this primitive and limited tribal God in favor of the easy to defend modern concept of a nameless figure that has evolved from the New Testament
whose image is rooted in the pagan Classical Tradition. (1)
When a person “becomes a Christian”, it’s not the ancient Near
Eastern tribal Yahweh they are presented with, but a slick modern super deity with few links to the Old Testament . . . known simply as God with a capital “G”
who is really an anthology of Classical pagan attributes taken on after having absorbed the
myths of other ancient Near Eastern Semitic gods. This apologetically hopped up deity which grew out
of the ideals of Neo-Platonism is constantly gathering apologetic power be they from
the Summa Theological concepts of Thomas Aquinas to Karl
Rahner’s Systematic Catholic Theology to Barth’s
Protestant Church Dogmatics and on to Alfred North Whitehead’s Processed
Reality. The evolution of God is now
considerably much like the woman Lucy in the current hit movie of the same title or
a God who continues to acquire any philosophical protection the best apologists
can mentally bestow upon him.
How a Lie about Bill Gates Disproves Pascal’s Wager
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| Can you afford not to trust him?! |
In just
16 years over 400,000 Facebook users disproved Pascal’s famous 360 year old Wager due to the fact that these Facebook
believers took the Pascal’s Wager Challenge and ALL 400,000 proved Pascal’s
Wager was wrong! Even though the facts were out for years, people just couldn’t believe
that a picture of Bill Gates himself holding a promissory note shared by hundreds of thousands was a huge lie!
Finally, someone
needs to post a picture of Jesus Christ also holding up a sign claiming eternal
Heavenly bliss if you not only believe yourself, but "Share" this divine promissory note with all your friends. After all, if you’re
a non-believer, what have you got to lose?
The Finalized Book Cover of "Christianity is Not Great"
This is the finalized cover of my anthology "Christianity is Not Great."
To see the description and contents follow this link. To pre-order it on Amazon, where you won't be charged until it ships, follow this link. It's slated for an October 14th publication date.
This is a "great" book, get it? ;-)
James Lindsay On Ending the Philosophy of Religion
It is very difficult to see the matter of theism as something to treat seriously as a philosophical object. We shouldn't. It is a theological object, and theology is only "pseudo-philosophical," as Carrier puts it, and pseudo-academic, as I outlined above. No one is required to take such a thing seriously or engage its "best" arguments, as if it has any, as if the real contenders haven't already been dealt with thoroughly and repeatedly, and as if any argument stands up to the simple and straightforward question that's been waiting for them all along: "Where's the evidence?"
But because the idea that we should engage any position's best case is generally true in philosophy proper, and all academic debate, it is an easy value to turn into a false virtue. The principle simply doesn't apply here because theology is pseudo-academic, though. Misapplying it as a false virtue, a moral value defining a particular kind of thinker, I think, is exactly what apologists for the philosophy of religion are doing, and I think it constitutes a confusing and unproductive avenue in the conversation that should not continue. LINK.
Christians Have A Gambling Addiction
I’ve been pondering Pascal’s Wager, and I think that he might
actually have been onto something. Not
in the sense that his wager was valid, of course.
His bet was far too simplistic. Its fatal flaw of assuming that the Christian
god is the only deity which might exist, is glaringly apparent to everyone
except for believers. Philosophers such
as Homer J. Simpson have dissected it:
Objective Evidence Trumps Subjective Experiences Every Time
Q: What about someone who believes God exists wholly apart from evidence, say, on the basis of their religious experience, like William Alston and William Lane Craig argue, who claim the existence of God can be immediately known and experienced wholly apart from objective evidence?
A: I'd say such a claim itself is not based on objective evidence, which is the only reality check we can have against false subjective claims. For the evidence of subjective religious experiences is trumped by the objective evidence that the Christian god, the one they claim to have subjectively experienced, does not exist. That kind of objective evidence abounds. Objective evidence is also the reality check for all people of faith who claim similar subjective experiences are veridical. People of faith who reverse this by claiming subjective religious experiences trump all objective evidence are not thinking like adults, so they must go to the children's table. They are deluded. They are Epistemological Solipsists.
A: I'd say such a claim itself is not based on objective evidence, which is the only reality check we can have against false subjective claims. For the evidence of subjective religious experiences is trumped by the objective evidence that the Christian god, the one they claim to have subjectively experienced, does not exist. That kind of objective evidence abounds. Objective evidence is also the reality check for all people of faith who claim similar subjective experiences are veridical. People of faith who reverse this by claiming subjective religious experiences trump all objective evidence are not thinking like adults, so they must go to the children's table. They are deluded. They are Epistemological Solipsists.
Quote of the Day On The Philosophy of Religion, by Loftus
Secularists should teach the Philosophy of Religion in the classroom the same way they write their books, although they should allow for student interaction and debate. If the discipline is to be taught then this is one of the ways to do it right.
Dr. Hector Avalos Calls For Ending Religionist Philosophy of Religion
I've been wondering what Hector thinks of my call for ending the Philosophy of Religion, since I'm basing it on his call to end biblical studies. So I asked him. He has not followed the discussion that much but enough to say this (per email):
My proposal is "to end biblical studies as we know it" (The End of Biblical Studies, p. 15),He also provided a progress report so far on his call to end biblical studies:which means in its current religionist and apologetic orientation. So I am for ending the philosophy of religion if its only mission is to defend religion and theism. So, akin to my vision of the end of biblical studies, I would say that the only mission of the philosophy of religion is to end the philosophy of religion as we know it.
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