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Tag: cynicism

Cheap shot skepticism, courage and cowardly ‘free thought’

Today I am enjoying the privilege of sitting in on some high school senior religion classes (through virtual conferencing software) and taking the role of non-believer, challenging the students on what they believe, especially in regards to the resurrection.

Some may think it difficult to take the role of the skeptic but I find it to be astonishingly easy.  So easy, it reminded me of some observations about skeptics and their arguments- or more precisely, the wind that carries them- that I’ll share now.

It’s easy to be a skeptic because it is much easier to not believe something as … continue reading...

Demanding Extraordinary Evidence for Extraordinary Claims Can Render You an Extraordinary Dupe

A couple of weeks ago my ministry hosted an online discussion (voice/text/vid) about the merits of the skeptical mantra, “Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence.”

One of my objections is right to the point:  any notion of what makes something ‘extraordinary’ is hopelessly subjective.  I for one find it deliciously ironic that our hyper-rationalistic scientific minded atheist friends so easily adopt such a weak standard for evaluating claims.  To measure the temperature of water, we’d use a thermometer.  For air pressure, a barometer.  These are scientific tools used by scientific minds;  I’ve never seen an instrument that can measure extraordinariness.

There … continue reading...

Knights of Contention Debate: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?

This ministry hosts a regular online round table discussing matters of substance and controversy.  Christians and NonChristians are invited but it is not necessarily an ‘us’ versus ‘them’ debate.  Past topics have included matters of controversy only amongst Christians and due to the flexibility of the discussion, topics can change on a dime.

The next discussion will be Tuesday, March 8th, 2011 at 9:30 p.m. CST.

The initial topic will be:  “Is it really the case that ‘extraordinary claims’ require ‘extraordinary evidence’?”

To learn more about the Knights of Contention debates and in some cases view past sessions click here… continue reading...

The Growth of the Early Church: A Testimony Believed. Martyrs for what they saw not what they believed.

The Growth of the Early Church: A Testimony Believed.

This essay was written in response to challenges to demonstrate that the early Christians died because of their testimony, and their unwillingness to reject their testimony. In other words, they believed that they had actually seen certain events, and chose to die rather than deny what they had seen. Contrast with an event like 9-11, where we talk about 19 Muslims flying into the towers ‘because of their beliefs.’ I will contend in this essay that the early martyrs were driven on by what they witnessed with their own eyes- externally- … continue reading...