Are Atheism and Moral Realism Logically Incompatible?

July 6, 2016 by Leave a Comment

I am a regular reader of Victor Reppert's blog, Dangerous Idea. In the combox for one of his recent posts, Steve Hays claimed that atheism and moral realism are logically incompatible. I wrote a lengthy reply to Hays in the combox and have decided to republish it here.Before I republish my comments, I will make one general observation about moral arguments for God's existence.Theists often claim that the so-called 'problem of evil' (read: arguments from evil for atheism) and the o … [Read more...]

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Busted. Victor Reppert has Nailed Us. We Became Atheists for the Sex

June 29, 2016 by Leave a Comment

OK fellow secularists, the game’s up. Victor Reppert has nailed us.http://dangerousidea.blogspot.com/2016/06/surprise-surprise.htmlSecularist organizations seem to be having a lot of trouble with sexual harassment.  You have to ask "What did you think was going to happen?" One of the key selling points of secularism is that you don't have to follow those benighted old restrictions on sexual conduct imposed by those nasty, prudish and repressive Christians. And then, lo and behold, vul … [Read more...]

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What is Christianity? Part 16

June 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment

In his book Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE), the Christian apologist James Sire raises various objections against his previous analysis of the concept of a “worldview” that he had presented in his earlier book The Universe Next Door (hereafter: TUND).I have reviewed three of Sire’s objections to his earlier cognitivist analysis of the concept of a “worldview” and argued that those objections were unsuccessful (see previous posts 10, 11, 12, and 13).In post 15, I argued that Sire's be … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, Bible, books of interest, Christianity, ethics, historicity of Jesus, logic, meaning of life, miracles, philosophy, philosophy of religion, religion, resurrection, skepticism, society & culture, theism Tagged With: , , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

What is Christianity? Part 15

May 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment

In his book Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE), the Christian apologist James Sire raises various objections against his analysis of the concept of a "worldview" that he had presented in his earlier book The Universe Next Door (hereafter: TUND).I have reviewed three of Sire's objections to his earlier cognitivist analysis of the concept of a "worldview" and argued that those objections were unsuccessful (see previous posts 10, 11, 12, and 13).I plan to review more of Sire's objections f … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, atheism & naturalism, books of interest, Christianity, ethics, logic, meaning of life, philosophers, philosophy, philosophy of religion, religion, skepticism, society & culture, theism Tagged With: , , , , , , , Leave a Comment

What is Christianity? Part 14

May 25, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Here are the main conclusions and claims that I have argued for or asserted in previous posts:A religion is fundamentally about ideas, claims, and beliefs (see post #1). Christianity is a religion (see posts #2 & #3). Christianity is NOT a relationship with Jesus Christ, because Christianity can be true or false, but a relationship cannot be true or false (see posts #2 & #3). In his book Worldviews, the religious studies scholar Ninian Smart asserts that there are six dif … [Read more...]

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What is Christianity? Part 13

May 12, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Worldview as a Way of Life?The third objection that James Sire raises against his older conception of worldviews, is that it makes more sense to understand a worldview as being “a way of life” (NTE, p.97) rather than to understand a worldview as being “a system of thought” (NTE, p.98) because of “the practical, lived reality of worldviews…” (NTE, p.100).The sub-section of Chapter 5 where Sire presents this third objection is called “Worldview as a Way of Life” (NTE, p.98-100).  The first … [Read more...]

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What is Christianity? Part 12

May 7, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Sire's First Two ObjectionsShortly after the turn of the century, the Christian apologist James Sire revised his understanding of the concept of a “worldview” and wrote a book advocating this revised understanding: Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE).  Some of the the key changes that Sire makes to his conception of a “worldview” are defended in Chapter 5 of NTE.  In Chapter 1 of NTE, Sire summarizes the issues covered in Chapter 5 of NTE:Is a worldview primarily an intellectual system, … [Read more...]

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What is Christianity? Part 11

May 2, 2016 by Leave a Comment

Shortly after the turn of the century, the Christian apologist James Sire revised his understanding of the concept of a “worldview” and wrote a book advocating this revised understanding: Naming the Elephant (hereafter: NTE).  Some of the the key changes that Sire makes to his conception of a “worldview” are defended in Chapter 5 of NTE:…the discussion so far has proceeded as if a worldview were a set of propositions or beliefs that serve as answers to a systematic set of [basic philosophica … [Read more...]

Filed Under: apologetics, books of interest, Christianity, ethics, meaning of life, philosophers, philosophy, philosophy of religion, religion, skepticism, society & culture, theism Tagged With: , , , , , , , Leave a Comment