Monday, May 07, 2007
http://www.bethinking.org/
This looks like an interesting site to tell some of our young people about. It has a range of articles / stuff on apologetics, and there are a good number of mp3's for download.
Labels: Apologetics
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Sects and Cults Podcast
Check out the Sects and Cults Podcast at: http://www.liberty.edu/media/1162/audio/podcast.xml
Unlike many xian podcasts on these issues, this is much more objective and presents a more balanced argument on what each of the "sects" or "cults" are about.
You can find this feed listed in iTunes - search for sects and cults. Their website is http://www.liberty.edu/
Unlike many xian podcasts on these issues, this is much more objective and presents a more balanced argument on what each of the "sects" or "cults" are about.
You can find this feed listed in iTunes - search for sects and cults. Their website is http://www.liberty.edu/
Labels: Apologetics
Monday, December 11, 2006
Altruisim
I've just got around to listening to the In our time podcast on Altruisim. Check it out.
Labels: Apologetics
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Humphrys in Search of God
"John Humphrys as you've never heard him before - talking with religious leaders about his unfulfilled desire to believe in God.
How is faith possible in a world of suffering, much of it arguably caused by religion or religious extremism and to which God seems to turn a blind eye? Is there a place for religion in an age dominated by science?
His guests are the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams; Professor Tariq Ramadan, Muslim academic and author; and Sir Jonathan Sacks, Chief Rabbi."
Labels: Apologetics
Friday, November 10, 2006
Richard Dawkins "God almost certainly does not exist"
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Homer proves there is no God
Labels: Apologetics, Video clip ideas
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
The Incredible Design of the Earth and Our Solar System
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
How do we know if God exists - some of the arguments for and against
I've been looking into the arguments further and here is a summary of what I've found so far...
Arguments for:
- Intelligent design
- The apparent design and order of the universe suggests that there must have been a "creator"
- Why do people start of ask these big questions when they take the time to look at the night sky...the stars...nature etc. etc.
- Psalm 8
- Why does bad stuff happen? This can be used to argue for the existence of God - the concept of "good" and "evil" assumes that there is a universal set of moral values. Christians would argue that these come from God.
- It is commonly accepted that humans have a highly developed sense of "right and wrong". We have to ask where has this come from? Theists argue that this is something that God has put within us. If God has not put it there, then where did this sense come from? How is this compatible with evolutionary theory? Surely there is no morality in the "survival of the fittest".
- Archaeology backs up much of the old testament
- New testament history
- Biblical_archaeology
- New_Testament Authorship
- Date_of_composition
- Views_on_New_Testament_authority
- The_Bible_and_history
- Dating_the_Bible
- Christian manuscripts - this summaries a lot of the "standard" evidence that people give to support the Bible
- Pascal's wager - "it is always a better "bet" to believe in God"
- The Watch maker analogy - "an argument in support of the view that the universe are the product of a conscious designer or designers"
- Transcendental argument for the existence of God
- Cosmological_argument - if everything has a cause, then who causes the first cause...God?
Ontological arguments - using logic to argue for the existence of God
Arguments against:
- Incompetent design - some people argue against "intelligent" design by saying that some things show a poor design
- If there is a God, who created him?
- The Problem of Evil / Epicurean paradox - "the problem of reconciling the existence of evil or suffering in the world with the existence of an omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent god". My research on this is here
- Creationism is not consistent with the fossil record
- Some critics have maintained that Christianity isn't even founded on an historical figure whatsoever, but rather on a mythical creation
- Note that some of the arguments "against" are part of the "arguments for"!!
But science has explained everything - evolution etc.
- Primarily a theist will base there answers on the supernatural answers, where as a scientist will base their beliefs on what can be "observed". That, of course, does not mean that the two are entirely mutually exclusive, or that either can prove that the other is right or wrong.
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- See God of the Gaps - the idea that we attribute the bits we don't understand to God. The more we understand, the less need we have for God.
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- Evolution: fact or fiction? The main points in this book are:
- not every scientist believes evolution to be true
- there are two types of evolution - "micro-evolution" which evolution within a specific species and "macro-evolution" which says that one species can create other new species over time
- there is no dispute that "micro evolution" occurs - this can be proved. Those who breed animals do this via cross breeding etc. to introduce small changes.
- there is no direct empirical evidence to support "macro-evolution", be that in the laboratory, or fossils, palaeontology etc. Anybody who says otherwise is basically theorising or taking an educated guess.
- "Evolution requires intermediate forms between species and palaeontology does not prove them", i.e., there is not evidence that shows the gradual changes of one species to another. There are some attempts to explain this, but it's just theory. I heard some argue that can't prove it because it not enough time has elapsed - i.e., if evolution takes millions of years, it might take us millions of years (or a long time) to prove it.
- The fossil records also indicate "explosions" of life in very short periods of time, which does not wholly fit in with evolutionary theory. There is some argument that this points more towards a creationist view point
- The book suggests that homo sapiens are separated from all other species that can not be explained by evolution. There are several listed, including "We [humans] have a spiritual dimension, a sense that these is a world beyond the material". Why is this? Why do we have a spiritual dimension?
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- Young-Earth Creationism
- Old-Earth Creationism
- Theistic evolutionism, also known as "evolutionary creationism"
- Neo-Creationism
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- Even Richard Dawkins doesn't completely rule out the existence of God "We cannot prove that there is no God, but we can safely conclude the He is very, very improbable indeed"
- The Bible was not written from a scientific point of view
Other points of interest
- Atheists - a common mistake that Christians make is assume that Atheists are those who do not believe in God. An Atheist can also be someone who makes no claim either way. I've heard several atheist argue from the point of view that have not yet been convinced that God exists, which from their point of view is different to not believing in God. In several arguments I've heard, the atheist will use this card...i.e., argue I'm not anti-god, it's up to you to prove god's existence to me...
- In debates between Evolutionists and Creationists, some Evolutionists seem to use the term to refer to the whole process of creation where others refer to different sciences:
- the origin of the universe (Cosmology)
- the origin of life on earth (Palaeontology)
- the evolution of life (Evolution)
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- Check out the articles here
- Special revelation - "knowledge of God or spiritual matters that would not be available to mankind without God's intervention to make that knowledge available"
- General revelation - "the knowledge of God and spiritual matters which can be discovered through natural means, such as observation of nature, philosophy and reasoning, or conscience"
- All of nature points to God (is there some verse about nature cries out glory of god etc? Psalm 91:1?)
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- Some Christians argue that their "Faith gives us hope", i.e., that there is something better than this life, this world etc. To an Atheist, this life is all that there is - if there is no hope here, then tough luck!
- Read this for laugh http://www.godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof.htm
If we assume that God does exist...
- The Six Blind men of Indostan - the idea that we all see God from a different point of view...all Gods are the same etc.
Video's you might use
- Video for Fatboy Slim: Right Here, Right Now - http://www.ifilm.com/ifilmdetail/2434562?htv=12&htv=12. Basically this is a music video that show the theory of evolution.
Labels: Apologetics
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Why does bad stuff happen?
I mentioned other week, I'm thinking of doing some sessions on tricky questions such as Why does bad stuff happen. While I don't want this to be an academic debate, I thought I'd try and come up with all arguments and some of the counter arguments. Here are some that I've come across so far:
Maybe God is not in control - he may of created the universe, but he's cleared and left us to it For reasons we don't understand, God chooses to out work his purpose though us...fallible human beings...we are Gods 'instruments'. In other words, we are here to do God's work, and if we don't do it, we add to the suffering. To what extent are the problems of this world the result of our own actions? Did God create evil? Maybe he just created the possibility for evil to exist. If you believe in evolution, then the process its self includes "pain" or "suffering", i.e., for the "survival of the fittest" to become a reality, some must fall. Where is God when things go wrong? suggests something similar on page 14 - if God did not create the universe...and mankind is "just a bit of slime of a planet, why should we be remotely concerned at the systematic slaughter of six million Jews or half a million Rwandans?". It goes on to say "If human beings are simply the result of countless chemical and biological accidents, how can they have any personal value...." I heard Steve Chalk talk about evil a few years ago at Spring Harvest. He suggested that God is not all powerful, but has all the power. This is because his love for us restricts him. I think the talk was called Evil Uncovered. Maybe God's power is limited In a world that favours Moral relativism how can the concept of evil exist? The Bible teaches absolute moral truths, i.e., the ten commandments apply regardless of the situation. Note the paradox within Moral relativism - is this theory an absolute truth or relative? For it to be true, it must be absolute! I've heard some humanists say that moral values are based on the human experience of pain - i.e., if it causes pain, then it's morally wrong. Calvinism vs. Arminianism, i.e., total depravity etc. From what I understand, the idea that only the "elect" are chosen to be "saved" and others aren't. This would suggest that our choices are limited or fated. See The Problem of Evil Romans 8:28
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
James 4:1-5
"Wars and murders come from yourselves because you are greedy and lust for power"
Jesus tells us to pray in Matthew 6:10 "your will be done on earth as it is in heaven".
Where is God when things go wrong? This booklet takes a fairly realistic look at this problem and tries to come up with some answers. Where are some quotes:
Where do sciences live Behaviourism fit into this?
Pain is a warning sign
As we suffer, Christ has suffered too...for you...us...
Psalm 23
Technorati tags: youth talks, youth ideas, Suffering
- A God of love will not force you to do something...he will allow you to make your own choices
- God teaches us through suffering
- Bill Hybels in Finding God in the Storms of Life talks about "rouge winds", suggesting that when they strike it causes us to focus on what is really important. It also results in some people coming to faith.
- God tests us though trials
- God may allow certain things to happen for the greater good - we are not in possession of all the facts.
- Look at the story of Joseph in
- See Matthew 7:7-12
- Rob Bell Nooma "Kick ball" DVD uses this analogy
- James Sire "A transcendent God, as a First Cause, created the universe but then left it to run on its own? ...To the deist, then, God is distant, foreign, alien."
- Bill Hybels in Finding God in the Storms of Life..."God took a risk of unimaginable proportions by giving human beings free will...it's like giving a fifteen-year-old kid the keys to a Ferrari...". He also quotes Jeremiah 17:9 and suggests that sometimes we deceive ourselves. There's an example of some guy who smokes 3 packs of cigarettes every day...he gets lung cancer. Who's fault is this? I guess the same principle would apply to things like drink, stress, work or the way we deal with anger, problems etc.
- Genesis 2:15 - 17 "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
- Romans 3:10 - 18
"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."
"Wars and murders come from yourselves because you are greedy and lust for power"
- "1) Evil and suffering exist in the world 2) If God were all-powerful, he could prevent evil and suffering 3) If he were all-loving, he would want to prevent these 4) If there were an all-powerful, all-loving God, there would be no evil and suffering in the world 5) God is therefore powerless, loveless or non-existent"
- "If all living things on the earth were created by God, and he was a loving God who made man in his image, how do you explain the fact that he must have created the tapeworm, the malaria parasite, the tetanus germ, polio, ticks, mosquitoes, cockroaches and fleas?"
- "When people respond to tragedy by asking, 'how can there be a just God?' their question is logically flawed, as without him words like 'just' and 'unjust' are purely matters of personal opinion"
- "Far from moral problems ruling out the existence of God, our sense of things being right and wrong, fair or unfair, just or unjust is a strong clue that there is some transcendent standard that affects us all"
- "...suffering reminds us of our physical frailty and of our dependence upon God"
- There is an interesting challenge on page 18. Some guy who wants to know why there was "so much evil in the world" is challenged to say "what you have done about the evil you see within you"
- 1 Peter 2:21
- 1 Peter 4:1
- The Death of Lazarus John 11:1 - 44
Labels: Apologetics, Spring Harvest
Friday, February 17, 2006
Humanist Manifesto III
Friday, February 03, 2006
The Da vinci code - separating fact from fiction
I read this booklet on the Da Vinchi code while traveling to the US...it's not a bad read. It attempts to counter some of the arguments / issues raised by the book. The website can be found here.
Labels: Apologetics, Video clip ideas
Monday, December 26, 2005
What is the meaning of life?
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