Day Four of the Twelve Days of Solstice
We're
celebrating the 12 days of Solstice rather than the 12 days of
Christmas. I'm done writing and editing books. So I'm highlighting each
of my twelve books leading up to the 25th of the month when we party. I'll tell
you something about each of them you probably don't know. [See Tag Below]
I had wanted the subtitle to be "How to Know Which Religion Is True If There Is One, since I don't think there is one. But that was rejected by my publisher for some ignorant reason I forget now.
Most of my books were conceived and tested on this blog in debates with believers. This is the case with this book more than any other. Here's the Amazon link to my book. In it I'm arguing for a fair test to help believers examine their own faith honestly, without any special pleading or double standards. I am arguing that every honest seeker should embrace it. This should be seen in the first few pages of the book. While I think the test leads to unbelief, that's a separate debate.
The outsider test is designed to help believers see the need for requiring sufficient objective evidence. It helps them be open-minded rather than close-minded to it. It's the antidote for a number of cognitive biases that we know hinder people from considering the truth of their indoctrinated religions. It asks them to evaluate their own religious faith as if they were agnostics, or nonbelievers, or born as outsiders who seek to treat their own faith as reasonable people do to the faiths they reject. It challenges them to do unto thy own faith as ye do to the faiths of others. ;-) You can read the discussions I've posted on it right here. [Click on the Tags for more] I've also written chapters on it in a few of my books, such as Why I Became an Atheist, The Christian Delusion, The End of Christianity and How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist.
If someone already accepts the requirement for sufficient objective evidence that person doesn't need the outsider test. To the degree then, that belief is involved--especially the kind that blinds people from seeing the requirement for sufficient objective evidence--to that same degree the belief should be subjected to an outsider's perspective. And there is no better way to know who needs the outsider perspective than the believer who adamantly refuses to require sufficient objective evidence for their beliefs. In other words, to the degree believers reject the outsider perspective is to the same degree they are the ones who need it the most.
You should read the blurbs for it right here! Dr. Richard Carrier said it's my "greatest contribution to the philosophy of religion and atheism." Perhaps though, that accolade should go to my book, Unapologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End. Time will tell.
Look at my Wikipedia page. Under the heading The Outsider Test for Faith it ends by saying,
By the way, if there is a Wikipedia editor please change my picture. Use one of these instead. They're both owned by me.
I had wanted the subtitle to be "How to Know Which Religion Is True If There Is One, since I don't think there is one. But that was rejected by my publisher for some ignorant reason I forget now.
Most of my books were conceived and tested on this blog in debates with believers. This is the case with this book more than any other. Here's the Amazon link to my book. In it I'm arguing for a fair test to help believers examine their own faith honestly, without any special pleading or double standards. I am arguing that every honest seeker should embrace it. This should be seen in the first few pages of the book. While I think the test leads to unbelief, that's a separate debate.
The outsider test is designed to help believers see the need for requiring sufficient objective evidence. It helps them be open-minded rather than close-minded to it. It's the antidote for a number of cognitive biases that we know hinder people from considering the truth of their indoctrinated religions. It asks them to evaluate their own religious faith as if they were agnostics, or nonbelievers, or born as outsiders who seek to treat their own faith as reasonable people do to the faiths they reject. It challenges them to do unto thy own faith as ye do to the faiths of others. ;-) You can read the discussions I've posted on it right here. [Click on the Tags for more] I've also written chapters on it in a few of my books, such as Why I Became an Atheist, The Christian Delusion, The End of Christianity and How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist.
If someone already accepts the requirement for sufficient objective evidence that person doesn't need the outsider test. To the degree then, that belief is involved--especially the kind that blinds people from seeing the requirement for sufficient objective evidence--to that same degree the belief should be subjected to an outsider's perspective. And there is no better way to know who needs the outsider perspective than the believer who adamantly refuses to require sufficient objective evidence for their beliefs. In other words, to the degree believers reject the outsider perspective is to the same degree they are the ones who need it the most.
You should read the blurbs for it right here! Dr. Richard Carrier said it's my "greatest contribution to the philosophy of religion and atheism." Perhaps though, that accolade should go to my book, Unapologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End. Time will tell.
Look at my Wikipedia page. Under the heading The Outsider Test for Faith it ends by saying,
This test has been disputed by Norman Geisler in "From Apologist to Atheist: A Critical Review",[6] Thomas Talbot in "The Outsider Test for Faith: How Serious a Challenge Is It?",[7] Mark Hanna, Biblical Christianity: Truth or Delusion?[8] Matthew Flannagan, "Review of The Christian Delusion"[9][10] and David Marshall, How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside Story [11]It might give the false impression that those criticisms are decisive against my book. The problem is that I dealt with their criticisms IN MY BOOK, many of which can be read here
By the way, if there is a Wikipedia editor please change my picture. Use one of these instead. They're both owned by me.
John W. Loftus is a philosopher and counter-apologist credited with 12 critically acclaimed books, including The Case against Miracles, God and Horrendous Suffering, and Varieties of Jesus Mythicism. Please support DC by sharing our posts, or by subscribing, donating, or buying our books at Amazon. Thank you so much!
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