atheism

  • atheists praising Christianity

    Interesting: https://stream.org/atheists-in-praise-of-christianity/

  • Adam Eve and Genetics

    Did Adam and Eve exist? Fascinating brief 13-minute interview from last week about modern genetic evidence confirming the literal understanding of Genesis.
    https://creation.com/media-c…/youtube/did-adam-and-eve-exist

    For more thoughts, see https://goo.gl/gW2QqA

  • Atheist Morality - Sam Harris vs William Lane Craig

    Our moral impulses point us to the existence of God...

    Tim Keller ("The Reason for God") and C.S.Lewis ("Mere Christianity") explain this quite well. This past week I was talking with an atheist friend who thinks that morality can have a philosophical foundation in the natural world without reference to God.

    This excellent recent article by William Lane Craig shows why my friend is mistaken. Craig discusses atheist Sam Harris' recent book "The Moral Landscape". It is a great article, worth pondering.

    Atheists can be very upright and moral people, but they have not yet figured out how to philosophically reason from what "is" to what "ought to be", and never will, because what we "ought" to do is grounded in God's character.

    https://www.reasonablefaith.org/writings/popular-writings/existence-nature-of-god/navigating-sam-harris-the-moral-landscape/

  • China's birth rate

    https://www.dw.com/en/chinas-birth-rate-falls-to-historic-low/

    News: China's birthrate falls to historic low.

    Quick solution: ban abortion...

    Longer-term solution: encourage the free spread of worldviews such as the Bible's worldview, which say that children are a blessing and a treasure... (i.e. stop shutting down churches and putting innocent Christians in jail)

  • Atheists are not as rational as they seem

    Evidence shows that atheists often reject religion for irrational reasons - interesting article! It also highlights the importance of "walking the talk"- living according to one's stated beliefs... because others are watching (especially children).

    https://theconversation.com/why-atheists-are-not-as-rational-as-some-like-to-think-103563

  • book reviews

    Here are some recent reviews.  For more, see this link: http://tim223.xanga.com/category/book-reviews/

    Spacecraft Earth, by Henry Richter and David Coppedge
    This book summarizes information from many different domains of science, related to how Earth is optimized for life and how living creatures display optimal design. It discusses cosmology, including the Big Bang theory, multiverses, etc. It discusses biology, including the complexity of life and the difficulties with the commonly-accepted theories of evolution and abiogenesis. It discusses the evidence both for and against evolution. At the end, Dr. Richter shares his own life story, including his career of developing Explorer I (USA's first satellite) and how he became a Christian in his 40s.
    The book has a perfect balance of concise information and readability, with a few stories and pictures thrown in too. It might be slightly too science-oriented for some, but it is perfect for anyone interested in science/engineering/tech/biology. It is great to read for learning more information, and great to give away to others.

    God's Crime Scene, by J. Warner Wallace
    Wallace, former detective, takes a "crime scene" approach to looking at the evidence for God's existence, such as the fine tuning of the universe and the existence of objective morality. The book is very easy to read, and has great clear lay explanations of the latest quantum physics arguments and how they relate to the debate (e.g. can things pop into existence spontaneously out of 'quantum vacuum'? Did Stephen Hawking's imaginary time remove the need for the universe to have a beginning?) He agrees with William Lane Craig's explanations. On the down side, he accepts a multi-billion-year-old universe and evolution, like Craig. Possibly useful (with caveats) for some people (e.g. atheists).

    Escape from North Korea, by Melanie Kirkpatrick
    This book tells about the underground railroad of people helping North Koreans escape their country. It is very well researched and documented, and very well written. It presents many facets of the issues and is very informative. It has many testimonials from North Korean refugees. It is a bit dated now, since it was published in 2012, but is still very worth reading.

    Hope Heals, by Katherine and Jay Wolf
    This is the true story of a couple who experienced a terrible medical tragedy, a brain stroke. They together (back and forth) write about their experience, and how God and their family/friends sustained them through it. It is powerful and beautiful - well worth reading.

    Mideast Beast, by Joel Richardson
    This book presents more of the Biblical side of the prophecies about the Antichrist and the end times. As presented in his old article "Will Islam be our future?" (http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/JR/Future/index.htm ), Richardson believes that the end-times government described in the Bible will be a Muslim government, a renewed Caliphate/Ottoman empire. This book answers objections that people have presented to his view (i.e. from people who believe in a renewed Roman empire as the end-times government) He presents many interesting and persuasive interpretations of the relevant Bible passages, including Daniel, Revelation, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Isaiah, etc. His conclusion is that we should love Muslims, by seeking to bring the gospel of Christ to them and show them the way out of the darkness of Islam.

    The Great Omission, by Steve Saint
    The main point of this book is that western missionaries should seek to help the people with whom they are ministering become self-sufficient in terms of financing, leadership (especially church leadership), missions-sending, and technological skills. Missionaries should 'work themselves out of a job' in a particular place, empowering the indigenous church and local community to become self-sufficient and sending out other missionaries. It presents excellent points, although it gets a little like a 'rant' occasionally. Worth reading.

  • Multiverse? or God?

    Here's a fun 4-minute video from an astronomer asking the question: what's the bigger leap of faith (regarding origins)? Believing in "the multiverse", or believing in God? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymajOjVQPm4

    Since we don't observe matter/energy popping into existence out of nothing, and since the universe seems so "fine-tuned" for life (see https://privilegedplanet.com/ ), there must be some explanation.

    Which one is more reasonable? Which has stronger evidence?

  • out of bounds?

    Interesting quote- "By assuming that only scientific methods and evidence produce knowledge, and that theological and biblical teaching do not, theistic evolutionists propagate a form of scientism that forces theists to constantly revise biblical truth claims in light of the latest scientific findings or theories—however unsubstantiated, provisional, or speculative they may be."

    https://world.wng.org/content/a_chapter_a_day_to_counter_theistic_evolution

  • Thanks Atheism!

    Humorous video, for those who enjoy philosophy!
    Two students (Vocab Malone and Jon McCray) are caught by their philosophy professor (David Wood) copying a Wikipedia article for their papers. Can atheism help them avoid charges of plagiarism and imminent disciplinary action?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yto4jXOOen8

     

(I use 'tags' and 'categories' almost interchangeably... see below)

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