Posts Tagged ‘atheism’

Three Surprising Facts about Atheists

UnknownThe Pew Research Center recently released a report entitled 10 Facts About Atheism. Many of the facts cited are unsurprising: while on the rise, atheist represent a small percentage of the American population (3.1%), atheists tend to lean liberal and democratic, tend to be younger and male, and are slightly more educated than the general public. Three facts embedded in this report however were quite interesting.

Atheism, Arrogance, and Intellectual Vice

imagesThis past June in Vancouver, the atheists Lawrence Krauss and Richard Dawkins were recorded speaking about the despicable (Christian philosopher and theologian) William Lane Craig at the Imagine No Religion 5 Conference. As I listened to this brief (less than 3 minute) rant, I was amazed at the arrogance of the two. It was a brief window into a not often enough talked about aspect of some within the new atheist movement: smug arrogance and a corresponding intellectual viciousness.

Does Jesus answer our biggest questions?

UnknownAristotle said, “All men desire to know.” He was right. We long to be rightly related to reality. We long to know the truth and to find ourselves in a story that is satisfying. I believe that we can know the truth, and when we find it, we will find answers that satisfy our soul. The answers to our perennial questions of existence, meaning, purpose, love, beauty, morality, and God are found in Jesus Christ and the religion he founded.

God, the reasonable, and the possible

imagesIn my philosophy of religion class we are working through the excellent book Debating Christian Theism, edited by Moreland, Meister, and Sweis. The strength of this book is that it places leading defenders of opposing views on the nature and existence of God in dialogue. The book highlights the current state of play in the God debate as well as the strength (and firm ground) of the arguments for God in the face of atheism. It also highlights what I think is a kind of double standard that is sometimes applied to theistic arguments by its detractors.

The Bad Story that is Atheism

images-1We all love a good story. They awaken our longings for drama and connect us to a deeper reality that is true. Right? Wrong, according to the atheist philosopher Alex Rosenberg. We’ve been duped by stories. They make us feel better. They help us get along. But they do not guide us to the truth of what is. Nor do not awaken us to aspire to what ought to be.

Atheism and Intellectual Bullying: What Gives?

images-1It has been said that there is nothing new about new atheism except for the rhetoric. In this post 9/11 world, we are told that belief in God is dangerousdestructive, and delusional. It is dangerous because people do evil things in the name of God; it is destructive because it forces itself on unsuspecting children under the influence of simple-minded parents; and it is delusional because it bids us to believe contrary to the evidence.

Can we know anything if Naturalism is true? Or: A plea for creativity with Theistic Arguments

In my last post, I considered John Calvin’s claim that we cannot know God unless we  know ourselves and (conversely), we cannot know ourselves unless we know God. Calvin thinks there is a tight relationship between the knowledge of God and the knowledge of man. Here I want to consider a deeper concern: Can we have knowledge of anything if God does not exist?

Atheism and the Unscratchable Itch

It is a fundamental datum of our experience that we all long for meaning; we long for a narrative in which to make sense of our lives, our passions, and our beliefs. But, if God doesn’t exist, the cold, hard truth is there is no meaning. We have a scratch, but no way to itch it.

The revolution of the human heart brought on by Jesus

I just finished reading A Heart for Freedom, the story of Chai Ling, one of the student leaders of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising in Beijing. Her story is a gripping account of the heart’s longing for freedom, purpose, justice, and significance. It is also a picture of the fact that the only true revolution is the revolution of the human heart brought on by Jesus.