Religion

It’s Launch Day for my Book, Cross Examined!

December 15, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 10 Comments

It’s launch day for “Cross Examined: An Unconventional Spiritual Journey”! This novel argues that if God exists, he made Reason to be used. There are many nonfiction books that discuss apologetics and many novels with atheist characters, but this may be the first novel that pulls in apologetic arguments both for and against Christianity, with the debate taking on the role of an additional character.

Filed Under: Apologetics, Atheism, Christianity Tagged With: Apologetics, Cross Examined Book, New Atheists 10 Comments

Give Something Thought Provoking for Christmas

December 14, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 10 Comments

What do you get those hard-to-buy-for people on your Christmas list? Let me make a shameless plug: buy my new book! It’s a novel about the Christian/atheist debate that wrestles with the most popular apologetic arguments.

Filed Under: Atheism, Christianity Tagged With: Apologetics, Azusa Street Church, Book, Buddy Christ, Christmas Gifts, Counter-apologetics, Cross Examined Book, Darwin Fish, Fiction, Jesus Dressup, Paul Winston, Prophecy, San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 10 Comments

Jesus and Santa Claus

December 9, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 32 Comments

Imagine two kids arguing about Santa. Defending Santa’s existence may be easier than you imagine. Indeed, rationalization can defend just about any belief, including belief in Jesus.

Filed Under: Christianity Tagged With: Christmas, Does God exist?, Does Santa Exist?, Evidence, Flying Spaghetti Monster, Geocentrism, Is Santa Real?, Jesus, Rationalization, Russell's Flying Teapot, Santa Claus 32 Comments

Plantinga’s Nutty Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism

December 7, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 38 Comments

Respected Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga wants to show that the idea of evolution is self-defeating. Unfortunately, he’s outside his area of expertise. His argument hasn’t convinced biologists, and it shouldn’t convince you.

Filed Under: Apologetics Tagged With: Alvin Plantinga, C.S. Lewis, Charles Darwin, evolution, Evolutionary Argument Against Naturalism, Philosophy, Psychological Biases 38 Comments

Pointless Parables

December 2, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 15 Comments

Some of the New Testament parables are pretty good. They make a useful point, and they add to our moral vocabulary. I explore a few of the recent apologetic parables that, unfortunately, weren’t made to the same standard.

Filed Under: Atheism, Christianity Tagged With: Barbers, Chick tracts, Jesus, Little Mermaid, Macedonia, Parables 15 Comments

Churches and the Corporate Org Chart

November 30, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 41 Comments

Economic growth results from companies producing goods and services that actually help customers and that they’re willing to pay for. And companies are organized to produce those goods and services effectively and efficiently. But what about churches, which produce neither goods nor services? How are THEY organized? (This is a guest post from Richard S. Russell.)

Filed Under: Christianity Tagged With: Business, Corporations, Goods and Services, Org Chart, Organizational Chart 41 Comments

Using the Monty Hall Problem to Undercut Christianity

November 28, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 6 Comments

The Monty Hall problem is a simple puzzle with a paradoxical answer. It has a lot to say about the validity of religious belief.

Filed Under: Christianity, Religion, Skepticism Tagged With: Ask Marilyn, Game Show, Monty Hall Problem, Parade Magazine, Probability 6 Comments

Finding Jesus Through Board Games

November 26, 2011 By Bob Seidensticker 18 Comments

Let’s explore an interesting twist on a popular board game. The resulting game has the motivation of the game completely disconnected with the actions within the game, so it looks like it won’t sell too well. But this broken game parallels Christianity very closely.

Filed Under: Christianity Tagged With: Argument from Game Design, Christian Worldview, Jesus, Monopoly 18 Comments