My Interview With NonTheology

The topics we covered are listed for you to see, especially the Outsider Test for Faith. We had some fun. Enjoy.

What's Wrong With the Minimal Facts Approach to Claims Jesus was Resurrected?

Dr. James East weighs in. Check it out!

Debate: Does the God of Christianity Exist? Max Andrews vs. Justin Schieber

To listen to this hour and forty-five minute debate see Justin's Reasonable Doubts podcast. To read a transcript of the debate see Max Andrews's site, where he says, "I was actually expecting much stronger arguments from Mr. Schieber." Max is intelligent, I'll grant him that. However, he reminds me once again of what Dr. Stephen Law wrote: “Anything based on faith, no matter how ludicrous, can be made to be consistent with the available evidence, given a little patience and ingenuity.” [Believing Bullshit: How Not to Get Sucked into an Intellectual Black Hole.](p. 75). If I were debating Max I would relentlessly attack the source of his faith in the Bible, which he treasures so much. I've written about this before. The reader can see how I actually do this in God or Godless?: One Atheist. One Christian. Twenty Controversial Questions.This method of disabusing Christians of their faith is known as applying Hume's Stopper. It is a direct frontal attack against any possibility of deriving a natural theology from the unsolved mysteries of the universe. You can also see how I do it in my recent debate with Randal Rauser based on our book. [Here is the transcript of my opening statement]. Other than that, Justin did a good enough job with the arguments he chose to use. I just think there are more powerful arguments, that's all. Kudos to Justin are deserved nonetheless. Max was a strong opponent in bullshit. ;-)

Did God Shoot Himself In the Foot, or What?

Do you ever wonder, seriously wonder, why it takes so many Christian apologists to defend their faith with a multitude of books, essays, lectures and debates? It's as if God has left the one true faith into their hands such that, without them, people would believe differently. C.S. Lewis said good philosophy must exist because bad philosophy needs to be answered. Okay. But why did the Christian God make it so hard to defend his one true faith against so many thoughtful and serious objections to the contrary? No, really. It's as if God shot himself in the foot and these apologists are called upon to heal his self-inflicted wound. This makes no sense at all, none.

Two New Books on the Historicity of Jesus by Richard Carrier and Robert Price

Robert Price recently put out the Kindle book, The Historical Bejeezus.It looks really good. Despite the title it's a serious work of scholarship. Richard Carrier has written a comprehensive work to be published by a major academic press specializing in biblical studies, Sheffield-Phoenix, the publishing house of the University of Sheffield (UK). Read what he says about it right here. Major kudos to Richard for this wonderful accomplishment! I heard him give the following talk and say that if this book documents his claims it'll convince many people Jesus probably didn't exist:

Leading Talk Radio Conservative Dennis Prager Shows His Ignorance of Biblical Scholarship

This five minute YouTube video is but one of a number of "courses" presented to refute atheists and to educate social and religious conservatives by one of the newest leaders in Conservative Talk Radio; Dennis Prager.  Prager has started his free online Prager University to counter liberal views especially those of his alma mater; Columbia University.

Neuroscience is Destroying the Notions of Free Will, Sin and Salvation by Faith

Neuroscience is making it extremely difficult for believers to still claim that by freely choosing to believe we are saved (or condemned), that we freely choose to sin, or that there is a wrathful God who will judge us on the last day. Case in point, girls and boys, are the following two essays, the last of which I will quote from. The first is Grandma’s Experiences Leave a Mark on Your Genes. Now for the second one, "The Brain on Trial." [Be sure to read this essay at least as far as the highlighted money quote in red!].

Reza Aslan Interviewed on Fox News About His New Book, "Zealot"

Reza Aslan, a religious scholar with a Ph.D. in the sociology of religion from the University of California, and author of the #1 ranked Amazon book, Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth,went on Fox News to promote it only to asked ignorant questions by Lauren Green.

While I think Reza Aslan went overboard in stressing his credentials and scholarship, this was an ignorant Fox News interview by an ignorant person who asked several ignorant questions, and who quoted from ignorant reviewers. Just once I'd like Fox News to interview William Lane Craig in the same antagonistic way by questioning his credentials, by saying his books are controversial, by asking how his books could be accurate since he's biased for Jesus, and by quoting from a scholar who said his claims have been abandoned and refuted a long time ago (which is true). While I think Aslan was allowed to get the message of his book out, this interview was surrounded by way too much irrelevant noise. Aslan said it best: "I do think it's perhaps a little bit strange that rather than debate the arguments of the book we are debating the right of the scholar to actually write it." I just wish Aslan would be consistent by examining his own Muslim faith-based claims with the same level of skepticism he now applies to the Christian faith he rejects. LINK.

Silly Sayings of Jesus : Now You Are My Friends

I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.
John 15:15 (NLT)

Okay Jesus. So at first glance, this sounds kind of cool. You were telling your disciples that they got a status upgrade - promoted from your slaves, to your friends! Now I’m sure that being your slave was pretty cool and all, but seriously, who wouldn’t want to be in the Friend Zone with Jesus? Instead of slaving away to fulfill your whims and orders, they could hang out and be buddies instead. And, you're telling them the top-secret communications which you receive from your Sky Daddy!

Unfortunately, you kind of killed the moment, by saying this, just before you made the big announcement:

You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 15:14 (NLT)

Pope Francis Moves Closer to Atheistic Morality and Away From Biblical Morality

"In an 80-minute press conference onboard his flight home from Brazil, Pope Francis told reporters, "If someone is gay and he seeks the Lord and he has a good will, who am I to judge?" The Church has always held that homosexual acts are a sin, so what does this mean for gay Catholics?"  CBS News

The Coming Out Godless Store Project

At TAM I met a guy who runs an online store that uses some really cool sayings on merchandise. You can see a three of them below. I have the last one on a shirt and wear it quite a bit. I know they are a bit expensive but I think they are worth it. Check this site out for yourself. Which sayings do you like the best?

The Resurrection of Jesus - Fact or Fable?

Dan Courtney makes a very good case against believing in the resurrection.  He also has some great anti-presuppositionalism videos on his channel so be sure to check it out.

Two Awesome Guys, Frank Zindler and Dustin Lawson

I had a delightful day with Frank Zindler and Dustin Lawson (Dustin is pictured in the middle). Frank is awesome. I know a little about a lot of things whereas he knows a lot about a lot of things, it seems to me. He is the past president of American Atheists and editor of the American Atheist Press. They drove 3 1/2 hours to visit little ole' me. What an honor it was! I counted it a rare pleasure to hear him dramatically read the last chapter of his new book, Bart Ehrman and the Quest of the Historical Jesus of Nazareth: An Evaluation of Ehrman's Did Jesus Exist?He is one of the few people I think bested William Lane Craig in a debate, which can be viewed right here. Dustin Lawson is awesome as well. He was Josh McDowell's protege. McDowell goes around to churches telling them to try to disprove Christianity. Well, Dustin listened to him and followed his advice! Guess what happened? ;-) Dustin is the author of Christian Agnostic: The Doubt Jesus Requires his Followers to Have.McDowell will probably never mention Dustin unless asked. So ask him. See what he says. Frank brought together two former proteges of the two most famous evangelical Christian apologists. I liked it.

Stephen Law's "Response to Randal Rauser’s Response to My Response to his Shoddy Review"

The money quote: But even if Rauser had clearly corrected the misrepresentation, that wouldn’t alter the fact that my complaint that Rauser’s review misrepresents my argument is entirely justified.

How Christians Use Faith: Pay No Attention to the Truth and Reality Behind That Curtain of Faith

The Biblical God on His Judgement Throne

I can’t help but laugh every time I see this clip from the Wizard of Oz.  This really sums up Christian apologetics as well as the life of denial Christians live under as in the rhetoric of Faith, Free Will and God is just testing us. 

   I think Hollywood had religion pegged back in 1939!

(I would love to be projected back in time and show the Wizard of Oz to the Judeo–Christian Biblical authors.  I would have instant believers being scared shitless.)

"There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz."  (Job 1: 1)  Yes, and it looks like Job knew the Wizard Yahweh.

Meet Another Form of True Christianity: Tax Exempted and Protected By Law

Last week I received a Prayer Letter (likely one of millions massed mailed for the month of July) proclaiming that Jesus would “Bless someone in this home spiritually, physically and financially.” who followed its instructions. Hey, it even came complete with a  paper Church Prayer Rug which stated:

“This St. Matthew 18:19 Bible Prayer Rug is Soaked with the Power of Prayer for you. Use it immediately, then please return it with your Prayer Needs Checked on our letter to you.”  It must be mailed to a second home that needs a blessing after you used it.  Prayer works.  Expect God’s blessing.

But not so fast!  You'll also need the power of their Miracle Prayer Cross (which didn't come with the Prayer Letter), but (thank God) it can be ordered.

Life Support: Why Does Fundamentalist Christianity Need So Much Propping Up?

My years in a variety of fundamentalist Christian churches taught me something: despite all claims to the contrary, these Christians do not really believe that their faith would survive if you took it off of life support.

Believers claim to have the spirit of the all-powerful creator of the universe indwelling and empowering them as “new creations in Christ.” Purportedly, the Bible is the living, powerful word of God – “sharper than any two-edged sword.” The believer’s faith is said to be a shield, able to “quench all the fiery darts of the enemy.” And yet…

Two Graphics Worth a Thousands Words

Embracing Guerrilla Skepticism: Another Review of a Christian Book by Pseudo-Intellectuals

Susan Gerbic has spearheaded Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia:

The mission of the Guerrilla Skepticism editing team is to improve skeptical content on Wikipedia. We do this by providing noteworthy citations, and removing unsourced claims from paranormal pages. It is also our mission to improve the pages of our skeptic spokespeople. Why? Because evidence is cool. We train – We mentor – Join us. LINK.

I love this and encourage others to join her. For my part I'm going to embrace the same thing when it comes to reviewing Christian books on Amazon, as time permits. Here is another review I wrote this morning of the book, "Holy War in the Bible: Christian Morality and an Old Testament Problem." Link. What I'm doing is evaluating the sources they use. I aim to hold them to a standard by which they must engage the best criticisms of their faith, or I will call them out on it. This time it has to do with ignoring both Hector Avalos's book, Fighting Words: The Origins Of Religious Violence, and David Eller's book, Cruel Creeds, Virtuous Violence: Religious Violence Across Culture and History. Upvotes would be appreciated.

The Biblical Lies of God and Jesus

While the Bible is used so swear oaths on from the court room to political office and is often heard in the popular statement, “I’ll swear on a whole stack of Bibles.” evidently few people who use the Bible as a moral and ethical guide have ever really considered the true character of its two deities!

A Thought for Today Dedicate to God and His Tree of Knowledge

I'd rather be a "sinner" intelligent and free than a pampered moron held in a small garden called Eden!

Meet the Creator of All Evil: The God of the Bible

One of God's Creations Hard at Work

Last week I dump over a bucket that had collected rainwater which had become the nesting pond for hundreds of mosquito larvae. As I sent these immature parasites to their deaths, I couldn't help having a feeling of pride that I was destroying part of what my former God had created making my world a better and safer place to live.

Embracing Guerrilla Skepticism on Amazon

Susan Gerbic has spearheaded Guerrilla Skepticism on Wikipedia:

The mission of the Guerrilla Skepticism editing team is to improve skeptical content on Wikipedia. We do this by providing noteworthy citations, and removing unsourced claims from paranormal pages. It is also our mission to improve the pages of our skeptic spokespeople. Why? Because evidence is cool. We train – We mentor – Join us. LINK.

I love this and encourage others to join her. For my part I'm going to embrace the same thing when it comes to reviewing Christian books on Amazon, as time permits. Here are two books I recently reviewed: Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment, and In Defense of the Bible: A Comprehensive Apologetic for the Authority of Scripture. Notice the down-votes? Of course they don't like it. Join me by up-voting my reviews, please.

Ed Suominen's Review of My Book, The Outsider Test for Faith

LINK. Ed is the co-author (with Robert Price) and publisher of the book "Evolving out of Eden: Christian Responses to Evolution," which I recommend very highly.

Stephen Law Responds to Randal Rauser

LINK.