According to the drumbeat from religious leaders and the media, religion and science are heading for a profound reconciliation and synthesis that will benefit all humanity. The purpose of this discussion is to expose the irrationality of this contention and state the proper relationship of the two. Let’s deal first with the claims that religion and [...] [...more]
The word “faith” is short and appears innocuous. But it has caused much human misery in history and continues to do so presently. A good first step in addressing this problem is to appreciate that “faith,” like most words, has multiple meanings. The type of faith discussed in this essay will be confined to religious [...] [...more]
Most people don’t have to think very hard to come up with organizations they believe are compassionate and moral. Churches and faith-based organizations usually come to mind. It’s a misconception, however, that “religion” is the only measure of morality and that only religious people do good work. There are also many secular/atheist charitable organizations in the [...] [...more]
If God is all powerful and knowledgeable, why aren’t we all born with the belief in the same God, instead of being indoctrinated into our parent’s religion and belief in their God? [...more]
For those that send out those sappy Regina Brett style, life-affirming, Jesus-loving, emails which are full of the “wisest things they’ve learned in life,” most of which aren’t very accurate but sound warm and gooey, like: “It’s OK to get angry with God. He can take it,” here are some of the things I’ve learned [...] [...more]
Bart Ehrman is a bible scholar who started his career as a conservative evangelical, but eventually became an agnostic. Most of his students and colleagues are believers so he never ridicules Christianity. He just gives a clear, dispassionate account of its historical origins. For me, his polite tone made his critique even more devastating. For example, [...] [...more]
If you ever want to blow your mind, I suggest attempting to read the Bible as an unbiased, critical thinker. My guess is that smoke will start pouring out your ears before you make it halfway through Leviticus. To save you some of the effort, and the risk to your sanity, I’ll periodically post some [...] [...more]
When considering ancient stories of miracles, we have to keep in mind the problem of translation and revision. For instance, many scholars believe that the word people have translated through the ages as “carpenter” may have been mistranslated. “Laborer” is probably more accurate. (See, for one, Gospel Truth by Russell Shorto). For all we know, [...] [...more]
Here’s the question: Does the team that prays together get arraigned together? And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts of the Apostles 16:31, King James Version) A few football seasons ago I discovered that if a football coach fervently believes in the Lord Jesus Christ, his [...] [...more]
