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.

Skeptic Ink Meet-Up at TAM.

The Skeptic Ink contingent is pretty strong here at The Amazing Meeting. It's valuable just to meet up and share our experiences and views. Here’s a whole gang of us at the Del Mar Lounge: yours truly, Russell Blackford, Ed Clint, Jacques Rousseau, Caleb Lack, and Damion Reinhardt:

LINK

Are Christian Apologists Like William Lane Craig Dishonest?

Ed Clint posted a video of Jamy Ian Swiss's talk, "What Does a Villain See in the Mirror?" Jamy's focus is on psychics, and it's really good if you want to know how they can knowingly defraud people and still look in the mirror. Hint: they can, and they do. At the one minute mark he says: "If you're a spoon bender, for example, you know you're doing sleight of hand...and it's plainly impossible to deceive yourself into not knowing that you're doing such things. But...once you eliminate the element of physical manipulation...there remains a broad spectrum of behavior and thinking that makes it difficult to be certain about the inner workings of another person's mind, no matter what we may think of their behavior." I think what he says is relevant to whether Christian apologists like William Lane Craig are dishonest. You see, Craig and other apologists are not bending spoons. There is no obvious trickery going on. That makes a huge difference in my opinion. Nonetheless, even with outright frauds who know what they're doing, Jamy says (at 6:58): "Cognitive dissonance is hard-wired into us, a magic trick of sorts our brains play on us in order to make us feel right, or at least to prevent us from feeling too bad about being wrong, and even doing wrong." If this is such a powerful force in the minds of outright frauds then how much more is it when there is no obvious trickery going on? Take a look below:

Silly Sayings of Jesus: Tearing Out Eyes and Cutting Off Hands.

If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell. Matthew 5:29-30 ESV

Really Jesus, you managed to pack so much silliness in these few sentences that it’s hard to know where to start! In fact, it goes well beyond silliness – perhaps ridiculously irresponsible would be a better description. Surely if you were God – all-knowing and wise – it might have occurred to you that encouraging people to pluck out their eyes and cut off their hands (even if you intended it metaphorically) might not be the best idea? Didn’t you realize that mentally unstable people might act on your words? Not very prudent of you to put those ideas so carelessly out there, now was it?

Some New Evangelical Books Coming Out. *Sigh*

Don't they know they're being dishonest? ;-) I've added them to my amazon wish list if anyone is interested in buying one for me. I'm particularly interested in the first one, "In Defense of the Bible," since it just came out. They are now willing to entertain the question of Adam's existence, and with it, they'll have to revisit the issue of inerrancy. Baby Steps. Baby Steps. Come a little closer children.

Zondervan's Book: Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment

I hope Zondervan keeps putting these types of books out. The newest one is Four Views on the Role of Works at the Final Judgment.Theologians cannot get it straight because the NT contains conflicting messages from a supposed divine mind, even though he should've known (or guessed) that 8 million Christians would slaughter each other in the wars following the Protestant Reformation over issues like this one. These issues were a matter of life and death to them. Be on the "wrong" side and you would be bludgeoned to death, along with your entire family. After four more centuries theologians still cannot get it straight. The only plus is that they're not killing each other over it. I'm here to remind them that they did. So Christian, sit in your comfy chair on your beachfront house porch and read it knowing these facts. Then decide which view best represents yours, or a combination of them, with the understanding that your life could be in danger from other Christians (heretics) if you got it wrong. Think also about the wisdom of that deity you worship.

Is Atheism a Religion? By Bill Maher.

In this hilarious video Bill Maher tells us why atheism is not a religion.

Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez Hired at Ball State University

Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez, the creationist astronomer who has been the topic of a few posts on DC, has been hired by Ball State University. I gave a few comments to Inside Higher Ed about this hire. Read the full story.

For a previous DC post on Gonzalez, see: The Gonzalez case at Iowa State University.

See You At The Amazing Meeting 2013!

Some of us from SIN Network will be dong a workshop on "Skeptical Blogging" Thursday morning at 8 AM. Here's the program link. Now for the video:



This is gonna be good!

Several More Examples How Biblical Authors Stole Literary Ideas from Ancient Pagans

The wholesale plagiarizing of ancient Near Eastern literary themes didn't end with the Old Testament 's   reworking of much older cuneiform stories in Sumerian (4,000  – 2,000 BCE) and Akkadian (2,500 BCE – 100 CE) which recorded The Creation Epic (Enuma Elis), The Flood (Sumerian), The Story of Gilgamesh, The Decent of  Inanna / Ishtar to the Neither World (Jewish Sheol and Christian Hell) and The Legend of Sargon (the basis for Moses' birth story).
  

However, many people are not aware that the plagiarizing of established pagan myths can be found in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation.      

As Yahweh Was Endowed With More Major Divine Attributes, So Did Both His Global Responsibilities and Theological Problems

I have noted many times in posts here at DC that the Jewish God (Yahweh) was a simple local West Semitic deity textually employed after 250 BCE to give a historical foundation for the descendants of the poor Canaanites from the hill country near Ugarit later known as Jews.

The New Theist: How William Lane Craig Became Christian Philosophy's Boldest Apostle

When, during a conversation in a swank hotel lobby in Manhattan, I mentioned to Richard Dawkins that I was working on a story about William Lane Craig, the muscles in his face clenched.

"Why are you publicizing him?" Dawkins demanded, twice. The best-selling "New Atheist" professor went on to assure me that I shouldn't bother, that he'd met Craig in Mexico—they opposed each other in a prime-time, three-on-three debate staged in a boxing ring—and found him "very unimpressive." "I mean, whose side are you on?" Dawkins said. "Are you religious?" LINK.

A Solid Theological Contradiction: An All-Knowing God Must Test People

No temptation (testing) has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted (tested) beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted (tested), he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.     
(1 Corinthians 10: 13)

Typical Tube Tester

When I first setup an electronic repair shop back in the late 1960’s (before the universal use of the transistor), one of the first pieces of equipment I bought was a tube tester to check receiving tubes in radios and televisions. Unless the tube was completely burnt-out or had turned white inside do to air entering the sealed vacuum enclosure, there was no way to find out if the tube was either good or bad without a tube tester which usually had a three level meter scale.  When the “TEST” button was pushed (after the tube warmed up) it was rated   as GOOD, “?” or BAD (and you hoped it didn't tested “?”!). So, unless a tube was visually bad, it was humanly impossible to know how the tube would function without testing it (due to the fact that a resistor or capacitor could be making the tube malfunction while in the circuit).

God's Burning Orphans - The Problem of Divine Hiddenness

Here is a nice summary of the problem of divine hiddenness (also called the argument from nonbelief) from Youtuber TheoreticalBS.

You may also be interested in this article from John Schellenberg, the man who pioneered the argument: What Divine Hiddenness Reveals, or How Weak Theistic Evidence is Strong Atheistic Proof

Countering The Accusation That There is Nothing New in My Books

One of the most common claims about my books, coming mostly from Christians but also from a few atheists, neither of whom have any credentials or body of work to their names, is the accusation that there is nothing new in them. I think the reason they say this is because it makes them sound intelligent. For it's very very difficult to come up with a new argument in this late stage of human understanding. Anyone can say this with little fear of being wrong (except when it comes to new scientific findings). Any ignoramus can say such a thing too. It makes them sound superior without actually doing the hard work themselves, of in-depth researching for the best arguments in the available literature and then trying to make a good case themselves. Confound the ancients, they've stolen all of our ideas! So here's my attempt at disabusing them of this claim, something I recently wrote in response to an atheist who said it about the book God or Godless?:

Christians Shouldn't Outta Do That!

I went to the local Christian bookstore yesterday and guess what I found? My book God or Godless?was displayed on a bookshelf with the cover facing the shopper. They had three copies. Woooo Hoooo! Little do Baker Books and those bookstores know but they have invited the devil into their houses. ;-)

Three Questions Concerning the Function of Theism in the Modern World

1. Should it be an ethical mandate for science to remove a whole section of God’s creation from the face of the earth (for example, the total elimination of certain harmful parasites, germs and viruses)?

2. If no (to protect theism), should humanity be left to suffer with these divine creations as the Will of God?

3. If yes, then should the logical next step be to eliminate God (Theism itself) as an ethical failure due to the fact that science is having to cleanup up God’s many malevolent creations?

Atheism 101: The Null Hypothesis

An excellent explanation of the null hypothesis and burden of proof from Youtuber AntiCitizenX. Be sure to check out his channel for more excellent videos on apologetics, as well as a fascinating Psychology of Belief playlist

"The Christian Delusion" is Arming This Generation's Atheists

This is from Alex Reppe who can be found here on Facebook.

An Analogy on How Most Christian Apologists Defend the Bible

An atheist arguing with a Christian apologist is like driving down a highway with him (or her) in your car. As you drive along, he continually and randomly points to land, cars, buildings and even planes in the sky stating: “My family owns that . . . and we own this . . . and we own that . . .I KNOW we do without a doubt along with much more!” However, common sense tells the atheist that these claims aren't logical, in fact, they’re impossible and the atheist tells this to the Christian.

Why the Fuss About Darwin & Evolution? Eugenie Scott At IPFW in Ft. Wayne

Open Thread for Comments On the Book "God or Godless"

Since so many people have gotten the free ebook God or Godless?: One Atheist. One Christian. Twenty Controversial Questions.let's now discuss what you're reading. What d'ya think?

"God or Godless" Now Ranked #1 in Free Kindle Apologetics Books

That's exactly where I want to be given today's free promotion. ;-)

Richard Carrier on the Free ebook Offer of "God or Godless"

There is one thing people should to know about my friendship with Richard. He was the first scholar to recognize and recommend my work, and for that I'll be ever grateful (Ed Babinski did so before him). As I look at the five books I've published in five years, Richard's influence on me is evident. You can see it with my use of him as a solid resource in support of my arguments, or as a contributing author for my anthologies, or as a blurber for my individually written books. Here's what he additionally said today about the book "God or Godless":

I’d recommend starting any debate online, for example, by having both sides read the corresponding mini-debate in this book, and then continuing from there. And if you just want some ideas for how to debate these topics in general, or even to help you think about them in building your own philosophy of life, this book is well suited as a primer for the task. Even if you don’t think either side is making the very best possible defense of their position, it’s even a useful task to think through how you’d do it better, since both are representative of some of the best approaches. So even then it’s a good place to start. LINK.

He joins other atheist reviewers like Robert Price in recommending this book. And, did I say you can get it free today, July 1st? That's right!.

Inspired With Error: The Gospel of Matthew Can’t Remember Who Said What in the Old Testament

The following was copied from Bruce Metzger’s A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., p. 55.

(Click on to enlarge.)

 What is exposed is a total screw up / misquote by the author of the Gospel of Matthew (who is under divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit) when he thought that Jeremiah (Ἰερεμίου) made a prophetic statement about Judas:  “Then what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: "They took the thirty pieces of silver, the price set on him by the people of Israel,” Matthew 27:9.
Finally, we then see how later editors tried to cleanup this misquote by either re-assigning it to Zechariah or Isaiah or by leaving out "Jeremiah" altogether.

New Puzzles About the Divine Attributes by Moti Mizrahi

The first puzzle he presents about omniscience purportedly shows that the divine attribute of omniscience is incoherent. The second puzzle about omnibenevolence and omnipotence shows that these two divine attributes are logically incompatible. The third puzzle about perfect rationality and omnipotence shows that these two divine attributes are logically incompatible. See what you think:

What religion has contributed to the world this month - Episode 7

Reach an Audience Who Visits Here About 180,000 Times Per Month!

You can reach this huge audience with your product or service for just $75 a month here at DC. See the advertisement at the right for Reasonist Products? That's all they're paying. The ad doesn't have to be atheist oriented. It could be for an insurance agency, a financial agency, or an artist who wants to promote her work. Christian ads will cost more than that but I'll entertain them, I'm not scared. Contact me at johnwloftus@comcast.net. Serious inquiries only.

Tell Time Magazine to Stop Dismissing Secular Generosity

Ed Brayton just put up a post asking people to email the editors of Time magazine and urge them to do a full story about the growth of secular charities. Foundation Beyond Belief would really like to get the entire atheist blogosphere behind this effort. Time has had a reporter talking to some of the Oklahoma folks on the ground but they are vacillating on whether to actually do the story. We want to put some pressure on them to tell the full story of the incredible growth in secular service organizations. LINK. The email address for the Time editors is in the post. Help spread the word on this to others on your networks and to your readers. It's time that Time acknowledges the charitable work that the secular community does.