thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
If God exists, why is he so hard to see? Why is evidence so hard to find? If he wants us to believe in him, why doesn’t he show himself more? I’ve heard many atheists ask these questions, not so much because they want answers, I think, but as an argument against the existence of […]
Alvin Plantinga is an eminent philosopher, and a christian. He recently released a new book, Where the Conflict Really Lies: Science, Religion, and Naturalism Thomas Nagel is an eminent philosopher, and an atheist. He recently reviewed Plantinga’s book. Judging by the behaviour on both sides of much discourse between atheists and christians, you might expect […]
For many of us, most of the time, the world is a beautiful place – sunsets, falling in love, evocative music, a party with friends, pets and the surf, for example. But we know that isn’t the whole story. Animals prey on each other, tsunamis and earthquakes can kill thousands, while war, rape, murder, child […]
I don’t like to take things on faith, without evidence. I like to research things, gather facts, or alleged facts, sort and sift and mull over them – and then come to a conclusion. And over the past year or so I have been looking at the evidence for miraculous healings.
Is the story of Jesus just a legend, copied from common stories at the time about ‘dying and rising gods’? Some sceptics are saying so, but what are the facts? I have already looked at Mithras, one of the gods most often compared to Jesus, now to consider all the other pagan gods.
Most people believe some things are right (e.g. helping others or being honest) and other things are wrong (e.g. rape, genocide or pedophilia). And if you tried to defend any of those “wrong” behaviours, most people would think you had lost your humanity. They think those things really are wrong. But what makes them wrong? […]
Michael Ruse is a philosopher specialising in the philosophy of science, especially biology and evolution. He is an atheist, but one with more respect for religious belief than many prominent atheists today. Ruse has some interesting things to say about science, belief in God and his more militant atheist colleagues.
I’ve been discussing with atheists and other non-believers on the internet for about 6 years now, and patterns start to emerge. One pattern relates to the evidence required to believe in God. Generally, atheists say that beliefs should be based on evidence, and nothing else. Yet I see approaches to evidence that don’t conform to […]
Atheists sometimes characterise christians as people who believe in myths and magic, based on faith, which is the opposite of reason. I think this can be shown to generally be a mis-characterisation (see Is faith the opposite of reason? and Science, faith and certainty). But what if the tables were turned? What if many atheists […]
I have come across on the internet many atheists who were once christians. With church attendance dropping in most western countries, it may seem like changes in belief are all one way. But statistics show otherwise – that there are almost as many people changing from atheism to belief in God as are going the […]