My Response to Ken Ham About My Creation Museum Visit

The number one post of mine in over seven years, with over 14 thousand hits to date, is "An Atheist Visits the Creation Museum in Kentucky And Tells All." The hits came from (in descending order) The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, Reddit/atheism, and Dr. James McGrath's blog post Cowboys and Dragons. McGrath, an Associate Professor of Religion at Butler University, Indianapolis, wrote this:

Answers in Genesis is not defending the Christian faith, it is turning it into something that can be easily ridiculed and dismissed. The real enemies of the Christian faith in our time are not atheists who respond by offering such well-deserved ridicule, but those who distort Christianity into belief in dragons, substituting that in the place of self-sacrificial love, humility, and service to others.

McGrath also posted what he calls the cutest response to creationism.

Now Ken Ham has responded in a post of his own (which I'll link to at the end, unlike him). He claims I was unethical and visited under false pretenses, saying:

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What is Inherent to Christianity That Isn't to Atheism? Hypocrisy

When I was a student at Bob Jones University in 1971, I took the American Red Cross’ Senior Lifesaving course.  One major factor that we were immediately made aware of that could cost a Life Guard his or her life was that a panicked drowning person would grab hold of anything on the surface to save their own life, even if it meant forcing under and drowning an untrained rescuer as the victim attempted to safe their own life.

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Richard Carrier Reviews "The End of Christianity"

This is an older post I'm updating [from 7/31/11]. I was made to realize I haven't said much about this important book when on Facebook Luiz Claudio Weiss recently wrote: "John Loftus's chapter called 'Christianity is Wildly Improbable' in The End of Christianityis a classic in my opinion." That's pretty cool. There are several chapters in it that alone are worth the price of the book. Richard Carrier wrote:

"The Christian Delusion was an awesome book. The End of Christianityis even better. Indeed, I think the two volumes together amount to a decisive refutation of Christianity. A bona fide litmus test. No rational person can read both volumes and not walk away a skeptic." Link

According to Restaurant Workers, After Church Christians are the Worst to Serve

I often eat at our local restaurants in the Greenville areas such as Cracker Barrel, Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday, K&W Cafeteria and others several times a week where, as time permits, I usually have a book on Biblical textual criticism, ancient Near Eastern studies or, when I get tired that genre of study, I’m reading electronics. 

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An Atheist Visits the Creation Museum in Kentucky And Tells All

Yesterday I walked through Ken Ham's Creation Museum in Kentucky. Without a doubt he is fitting the data into the grid of the Bible. I saw a 5 minute video where he takes the literal view that the earth existed before the stars. That is an extreme case of what I see other Christian apologists doing. It's the same thing though. They say whatever it takes to maintain their faith. Just like Ham fits the data into the grid of Genesis so do they with regard to the Bible as a whole. Ham would at least be honest about what he's doing. Others don't, or more likely, they are too blinded by faith to know they're doing the same thing. All it takes to believe is to ignore the objective facts, the facts of science. The power of the delusion is that strong. It requires Christians to deny science in favor of what some pre-scientific people wrote in an ancient set of canonized books, even though they accept the results of science in every other area except when it conflicts with their pre-scientific book!

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Atheism Sighting in Mainstream Entertainment: Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black is an original comedy/drama series produced by Netflix, and based on the real-life experiences of Piper Kerman. Kerman spent 13 months in a women’s prison because of her involvement, years earlier, with a heroin dealer.

What is of special interest to readers of the DC blog, is this gem of a scene in which the lead character declares her atheism:

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Two Places Where St. Paul’s Theology Totally Contradicts The Gospel of Matthew’s Credibility

Christians who accept the Bible (especially the New Testament) as an inspired text will have to deal with the fact that there are some major problems between St. Paul’s view of history and the Gospel of Matthew’s view of historical events.   Ironically, the dogmatic historical certainly of Paul and that of the First Gospel puts yet another nail into the coffin of Christian absolute truth and its holy theology.

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Some Humiliating Reviews of the Book "God or Godless"

The book "God or Godless" isn't doing too well right now, even after the free promotion on July 1st and subsequent reduction of price through the month of July. The paperback on Amazon is ranked almost 600,00th, whereas the Kindle version is ranked 150,000th. In Canada it's doing better but not that well. I think it's because of the reviews. For the life of me I cannot understand why potential buyers place more weight on reviews by no-names over the blurbs written by credentialed scholars, but they do. Here are two humiliating reviews of the book on Amazon:

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On Debating Christian Theism

A new book is available where atheists are given a voice against Christian apologists. Debating Christian Theism looks very good.It's edited by J. P. Moreland, Khaldoun A. Sweis, and Chad V. Meister. Check it out for yourselves. I've added it to my Amazon wish list.

[Edit: This debate book gives me the idea for a similar one on the historical evidence for Christianity. I'm going to think seriously about it. I need a Christian scholar to co-edit it with me. What topics would you like to see debated? Who would you recommend to write chapters for it on both sides?]

Tonight I'll Be in the Cincinnati, OH, Area

Come see me if you can. LINK.

Asherah, the Israelite Goddess

This is a follow-up post to the BBC Documentary When God Was A Girl, which showed many ancient cultures believed in goddesses and thought of the divine as female. It was no different with the Israelite religion.

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When God Was a Girl: A BBC Documentary

Historian Bettany Hughes visits a world where goddesses ruled the heavens and earth, and reveals why our ancestors thought of the divine as female. Traveling across the Mediterranean and the Near East, Bettany goes to remote places, where she encounters fearsome goddesses who controlled life and death. And she ends up in modern-day India, where the goddess is still a powerful force for thousands of Hindus. Immersing herself in the excitement of the Durga Puja festival, Bettany experiences goddess worship first-hand, and finds out what the goddess means to her devotees.

See below:

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A Rare Interview With Atheist George H. Smith

George H. Smith is the author of the popular and influential book, Atheism - The Case Against God.



Go to YouTube and click on "Show more" to watch the other three parts.

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.

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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!].

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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)

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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?

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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.

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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…

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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!

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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.

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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:

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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?

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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.      

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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.

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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).

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