Posted by Anthony on January 19, 2010
It is not so common in philosophical debates to arrive at points of contentions where there really, truly, is indisputable refutation or demonstration. Usually, it is a question of interpretation and the argument can continue on. On my blog I have documented over the years a few points where the argument against the atheist was incontrovertible. The result: silence.
I would like to give free-thinking objective and even handed and mentally superior atheistic friends an opportunity to exhibit integrity by highlighting the three examples (plus a bonus one) that come to mind and calling upon the atheists and their defenders to own up to these refutations. If I had to make a prediction, it would be that they will exhibit all that they renounce in ‘religious fundamentalism’ and do essentially as Dan Rather did in Rathergate, standing by the story after the facts supporting it have been withdrawn.
1. Richard Dawkins. Not long after Dawkins released his Delusion, I tracked down a quote that he employed to further his argument that Christianity was against knowledge and stifled curiosity. The quote was from Augustine’s Confessions but the 45ish word quote was actually spliced selectively out of a longer section 750ish words in length. See my evidence. Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on July 10, 2009
Here is a short story I wrote inspired by the comments in this thread on PZ Myer’s blog. Enjoy!
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Adam and Eve and the Tree of Knowledge of Knowledge
“I got here as fast as I could!” gasped the old man. He put one hand on the hood of the squad car and bent over as he tried to catch his breath.
The annoyed chief stared at the man waiting for him to explain who he was because the chief didn’t recognize him at all. At last, the balding and sweating gentlemen stood erect and stared back at the chief expecting some word of thanks or gratitude from him. But the chief was silent.
“Well, don’t you want my help?” the old man snapped.
“I don’t know who you are,” the chief grumped back.
“Don’t you know who you’ve got up there?” the old man gestured in the direction of the top of a seven story building that was the object of all the attention.
The chief shrugged, irritated, “Two people threatening to jump?”
The old man scowled.
“This is what I’ve been trying to tell you, chief,” said a police officer standing nearby.
“What? Just tell me already!” the chief cried out, slapping his hand on the hood of the car.
“That’s Adam and Eve,” the old man snarled, “and I’m Dr. Stein Franken.”
“Good grief,” the chief exhaled. “Give me those binoculars!” Officer Todd handed them over and the chief gave a closer look to the man and the woman standing on the edge of the building. “Good grief,” the chief said again, adding some profanity under his breath.
Dr. Franken put his hands on his hips and assumed a posture that had proven itself effective over the years. “Now, tell me what’s going on? How did those two get up there?”
“Well,” the chief began, “as near as I can tell, it began about an hour ago at the local book store. These two had gone in and got themselves caught switching books in the mythology and science sections-”
“That’s not a crime,” Dr. Franken snapped. “I myself take books out of the science section and put them in the mythology section where they belong. I do that all of the time.”
“No, they were doing it the other way around,” said Officer Todd.
Dr. Franken gasped in shock, “Why, that’s a felony.”
“Exactly,” said the chief.
There was irony here but Dr. Franken didn’t realize it. Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on September 29, 2008
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” He called a little child and had him stand among them. And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:1-4
Christianity (and religion in general) is often maligned as being anti-curiosity. Passages like the one I just quoted are often cited. This understanding is fueled by two flawed notions. 1. Faith is belief apart from evidence, or in Dawkinian terms, even in spite of the evidence. 2. A child’s faith, which Jesus calls people to have, is simplistic and unquestioning.
Let me first take aim at Dawkins (and the other New Atheists) on this. The man is flat out wrong. I believe that I am the only person to have done the research to prove that either he is a lazy scholar, and outright biased maniac, or a flat out liar, (or evil, but I choose not to think about that) in regards to one of his quotes in The God Delusion where he tries to show that Christianity is outright against curiosity and learning using a quote from Augustine’s Confessions to make his case. The man is wrong. Much of the advances in science and philosophy for hundreds of years were done by Christians- a point he acknowledges by saying that these Christians, had they been born today, would have been atheists. Nonetheless, they were Christians and they were inquisitive. I guess Christianity isn’t incompatible with curiosity after all. Anyway, if you’re interested in my trouncing of Dawkings on this point, read this.
Now let me take aim at the two contentions above, beginning with #2.
Anyone who has kids knows that they ask a lot of questions and they are increasingly more sophisticated. My oldest child is only six and he has already asked me why bad things happen to good people if God is loving and can do anything. If you can find me an adult with anything more sophisticated than that, I’m their huckleberry. I often wonder if people who think ‘faith like a little child’ is ‘childish’ spend much time around children. I know that my experience is not merely anecodotal. As one who was in charge of Sunday School programs and was a teacher at the junior and senior high level and two years of college, I can testify that kids ask a lot of hard questions.
I can also testify to the fact that the difference in the age groups doesn’t have anything to do with sophistication of the questions but rather the attitude in which the questions are asked. A six year old asks a question because he really wants to know. A thirteen year old wants to play gotcha. A senior in high school already knows the answer and knows you’re wrong. A college kid wants to tell you the answer. Sometime in college it begins to sort out so that a person raising the question could be in any of the categories of attitude I just listed. Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on October 17, 2007
I have in hand C. Vaughn Doner’s book “The Late Great Evangelical Church: How an Age-Old Heresy is Killing the Modern-Day Church and How it Can still be Saved.” It is set to be released soon, but you can pre-order it through their website and it is listed on Amazon.com: The Late Great Evangelical Church
Doner aims to diagnose the ailments of the Evangelical church and comes to the conclusion that Gnosticism is the chief culprit. Gnosticism was repudiated by the early church but Doner argues that it was actually re-introduced by many church fathers via Plato and Philo and others. Gnosticism continued to arise under different guises and often succeeded because of its ability to adapt and employ arguments based on the Christian Scriptures, thus making the Christian Church itself the primary source for new Gnostics.
Tracing this pattern, Doner finds that it leads to a pack of Catholic mystics who in turn influence and infect early founders of the Evangelical church such as John Wesley before given real life under Charles Finney and D.L. Moody, and then generating real power when armed with the Dispensationalist teachings promulgated by Scofield’s Reference Bible which came out in 1909. Making the matters worse, the Evangelical churches abandoned the heritage handed down by the Apostles through the church fathers and set aside the principles of Calvin and Luther which aimed to reform the catholic (universal) church and do so while recognizing the weight of the historic orthodox Church.
The result, Doner argues, is an America filled with Christians who do not act like Christians, at least and especially outside the homes and the local church building. After all, Gnosticism holds a dualistic view of the world where matter is evil and our quest is to set aside such inferior entrapments and pursue true reality, the spiritual. Why try to engage society when you think it is all crude and inferior, anyway? Doner argues that this attitude also led to an emphasis on nothing more than individual salvation as being the goal of church activity. The net result is Christians who don”t know anything about their historic roots (orthodox or heretical) who focus only on their own personal piety (thou shalt not drink, smoke, or dance) who in the American tradition are contemptuous about ecclesiastical authorities such as the clergy or scholars and who do very little to affect society, to “disciple all nations.”
That is the basic argument. Doner’s book is well-researched and there are plenty of references. Doner makes it clear that he himself shared this background and was actually a leader of the Evangelical church operating on the same principles he is now rejecting. Before I go on to add some of my own reactions to his book, let me state in no uncertain terms that this is a book that should be read by millions. If you are a Fundamentalist Dispensationalist you will not like this book, but you should read it. Those from traditions that remain more in line with Calvin and Luther will find it intriguing to say the least. I would say that even Roman Catholics would be helped.
This review goes on for a ways. Read on.
Read the rest of the entry… »
Posted by Anthony on October 7, 2007
 
The idea to produce bulletin inserts with apologetic content goes back several years with me. I had to set the idea aside because of pressing financial concerns.  My beloved wife has always insisted that it is one of my better ideas, so she prompted me to re-consider. Some friends ratified her view. Also, increasing the awareness within the Christian church of the facts beneath the faith has become an important part of my vision of late. The more I interact with atheists and seekers and Christians on the ropes, the more I realize that most objections could have been handled pretty early on. By the time I present information, it is often too late: a bad attitude has set in.
In other words, let’s keep people from leaving the faith in the first place. These bulletin inserts make use of the readings in the Church year and are geared towards this coming Advent season (December 2007). They play upon the texts and give examples of archeological corroboration of the Christian Scriptures, insights from the Greek and Hebrew, and also commentary by the Church fathers, like Augustine and Justin the Martyr.
Fully implemented, the Apologetic bulletin insert idea would be expanded so that each week of the three year church calender (quick math: 156 separate inserts) would have their own insert. A congregation that implemented such a program would slowly educate their members on all sorts of matters. Perhaps it doesn’t seem apparent how a reading from Justin the Martyr could possibly be relevant to today’s challenges. Here is where a certain trust in my experience as an apologist kicks in.
The passage in question argues against Trypho the Jew’s allegations that Christianity is a borrowed pagan myth. Only a brief time on the Internet will show how that could be relevant. Seeing how such challenges are not even new in the slightest but addressed not much more than a century after Christianity’s conception can go a long way to help people see that even if they themselves are not knowledgeable, there are Christians that are, and modern ‘objections’ were defeated by our ancients forbears.
The content in the insert is necessarily brief. It may sometimes be over people’s heads. However, my goal is to slowly build up people’s knowledge. If they don’t understand something this time around, three years from now when Year A in the church calendar comes, hopefully they’ll see the relevance and understand the significance much better.
Please check out the page describing this more and tell all of your friends.
