Showing posts with label Atheism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Atheism. Show all posts

4.26.2010

Michael Brown and Bart Ehrman have recently debated. Listen to this audio from a fellow atheist of Ehrman afterwards. He says that Ehrman seemed "disturbed".


3.04.2010

Alvin Plantinga and Richard Gale on God and Evil

Here is a good discussion on the Existence of God and the Problem of Evil from Alvig Plantinga (Christian Philosopher) and Richard Gale (Atheist Philosopher) given at the Veritas Forum. Enjoy.

The Existence of Evil and the Problem of God from The Veritas Forum on Vimeo.

1.13.2010

Quotes from There Is A God by Antony Flew



I just got my copy of There Is A God by Antony Flew. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Flew he was a popular and prolific philosopher and author (e.g. God and Philosophy, The Presumption of Atheism and How to Think Straight). For years he contended that there was NO God and now he has changed his mind. His claim is to deism, which is still steps away from Christian theism, but it is still refreshing to read from a great man who changed his mind and has the guts to say it. Below are a couple good quotes I've read so far. 

"we still have to come to terms with the origin of the laws of nature. And the only viable explanation here is the divine Mind." There Is A God, pg. 121 Antony Flew

"the laws of nature, life with its teleological organization, and the existence of the universe--can only be explained in the light of an Intelligence that explains both its own existence and that of the world. Such a discovery of the Divine does not come through experiments and equations" There Is A God, pg. 155 Antony Flew

11.26.2009

The Atheist and Thanksgiving: A Poem

To whom does the atheiest give thanks?

For the pumpkin pie?

Surely not, for the pilgrim had no sugar in supply.

For the evolutionary eye?

Surely not, for it moves with blinded* eye.


To whom does the believer give thanks?

For the Turkey?

Surely not, for the turkey was supplied.

For the creators watchful eye?

Surely, for from Him are all needs supplied.

JNA

*Blinded eye here refers to a naturalistic evolutionary view that suggest evolution has occured through random natural selection.

10.09.2009

The Invention of Lying: A Crude Atheist Comedy



From Christian Today:

“It’s Hollywood’s big atheist comedy,” wrote New York Post movie critic Kyle Smith on Sunday. Several days before the October 2 release of The Invention of Lying, Smith hinted that the movie “might be the most blatantly, one-sidedly atheist movie ever released by a major studio, in this case Warner Bros”.
But contrary to what you might think, Smith is not “one of those hyper-sensitive Bible lovers who thinks the secularists are coming to strip my Christmas tree down to a Midwinter Solstice Pole”.
“Actually, no. Like Gervais, I’m an atheist,” he confessed.
And even for Smith, The Invention of Lying was over-the-top.
“Gervais delights in what a faith-based society would call blasphemy, setting up an imaginary world in which no one ever lies. Except his character, who spreads what Gervais obviously sees as the biggest lie of all: Belief in God,” the film critic wrote in his personal blog.



Click here to read entire article.

7.22.2006

Are You Really An Atheist?


It has been estimated that only about 5%, a small fraction, of the world’s population question or denies the existence of God. Historically, the belief in supernatural beings is a universal ingredient in all human cultures, whether they are highly technical like the United States or primitive like the Australian aborigines. For most, the issue isn’t whether or not God exists but what is that God like? Or, are there more than one?

Atheism is probably an ancient belief, but as a philosophical movement it is relatively new. Polytheism dominated much of ancient Greek thought and theism dominated the medieval Christian view; however, atheism has had emerged modern times. Early philosophers such as Socrates and Aristotle did not deny the existence of an eternal being, they simply questioned and were at time unsure of what that God is like or how He interacted with the human world. Late philosophers like David Hume or Immanuel Kant laid much groundwork for contemporary agnostics and atheists alike. In fact, most atheistic arguments stem from these two men’s writings.

An atheist is a person who denies the existence of a God. This position, however, is indefensible and is frankly arrogant. Virtually, the only way anyone can prove no God exists is to be a god themselves. A person would have to be omnipresent and omniscient to have enough information to know that no deity exists. Ironically, these are the very attributes that a God indeed would posses. Therefore, it is quite plausible that no finite being can prove that God does not exist because God may very well exist beyond one’s comprehension or experience.

Many alleged atheists are actually agnostics, ignostics, or antitheists. Some atheists do not concern themselves with proofs or absolute truths therefore the idea of God is unknowable or doubted; this view is basic agnosticism. Gnosticism is actually a more tenable position and is less arrogant for the finite. Ignostics feel that the question about whether or not God exists is meaningless and thus do not care to discuss it at length. Antitheists are just generally against God or divine things in general, thus they do not necessarily have to be an atheist. It is easy for antitheists to posit emotive arguments based upon bitter pasts. Atheists typically assert that they either “know” God does not exist (Strong/Hard Atheism) or that they simply believe that God does not exist (Weak/Soft Atheism). The former is the most arrogant whereas the latter is simply blind faith, which ironically is accused of believers.

Atheists attempt to assert that the believer has the burden of proof, rather than an atheist bearing the burden of proving God does not exist. When Christians state that God exists and offer evidences to support this claim, they have moved the debate into a new arena—an arena in which atheists must prove that the Christian evidences are erroneous. The theistic argument is historically the principle belief and general arguments have been asserted in time affirming this belief. Therefore, since atheism is relatively new it bears the burden of proving its assertion. Sadly, the person who claims that he does not have to defend his position normally does so because he has no evidence to support his view.

When an atheist does argue they usually have a myriad of arguments. These arguments are varied and more nuanced as you observe them closer; however, atheistic arguments are typically Non-design in the Universe, Argument from Evolution, Theological Non-Cognitivism, Incoherency Arguments such as The Problem of Evil and The Argument from Non-Belief, and more.

Adversus Trinitas

"...unless you believe that I am he you will die in your sins." (John 8:24 ESV)