Religion

Informal Logic 101: How to Think and Argue Better, Part 2

Posted by on June 16, 2013 at 6:55 pm

Part 2: Propositions and Logical Relationships “Having, then, once introduced an element of inconsistency into his system, he was far too consistent not to be inconsistent consistently, and he lapsed ere long into an amiable indifferentism which to outward appearance differed but little from the indifferentism….”  — Samuel Butler, iconoclastic Victorian author Despite what you […]

Informal Logic 101: How to Think and Argue Better, Part 1

Posted by on June 12, 2013 at 10:40 pm

Part 1:  Firm Foundation “I yam what I yam, and that’s all what I yam.”  — Popeye, the sailorman Given the subjects that I usually read and write about on this blog, critical thinking really comes in handy. Not that I’m some great logician or anything. Far from it! But, over the last few years, […]

Is Sin an “Unintended Consequence” of Creation? (Part 2 of 2)

Posted by on June 5, 2013 at 9:46 pm

“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  — Proverbs 27:17 (NIV) Previously, I introduced “Darryl” and his idea that “sin is ultimately a consequence of Creation… albeit, an unintended consequence.” In fact, in an effort to exculpate God from all responsibility for sin, he hypothesized that perhaps “God sovereignly created a ‘Law of […]

Is Sin an “Unintended Consequence” of Creation? (Part 1 of 2)

Posted by on June 2, 2013 at 11:26 pm

We often hear people speak of “unintended consequences”. It certainly comes up a lot in talks of politics & economics. But, the other day — OK, it was a few months ago — I heard the term used regarding quite a different topic. I was browsing a Facebook thread, in which a bunch of people […]

Can You Accept “Revealed Wisdom” and Still Be “Scientific”?

Posted by on May 5, 2013 at 10:39 pm

“[S]cience and religion are two essential components in the search for truth. Denying either is a barren approach.”  — Dr. Martin Andreas Nowak, mathematical biologist Once upon a time (actually, it was about a year ago) in a land far, far away (OK, it was here in NE Florida), I had a brief but interesting […]

But It’s Only Natural

Posted by on April 28, 2013 at 12:01 am

People make excuses. Nobody likes to be blamed or accused of doing something bad or wrong. We don’t like to be punished or embarrassed. We don’t like to be made to feel guilty — even if we are guilty of wrongdoing. We usually realize that what we were caught doing (or habitually do) is illegal […]

Atheism is Patriotic? What the…?

Posted by on April 7, 2013 at 11:23 pm

The title of this post is in reference to an article I came across several months ago: “Atheists Claim ‘Religion Is Unpatriotic’”. When I read the headline, my first reaction was, “Are they serious?” If we’re talking about America, then I think the sentiment is, well, questionable, to say the least. It seems that, for […]

Biblical Inerrancy and the Resurrection

Posted by on March 30, 2013 at 6:23 pm

“[A]nd if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is vain, your faith also is vain.”  (I Cor. 15:14) Despite the title, I’m not actually going to delve too deeply into the whole inerrancy issue in this post. In fact, I’m not even going to get into detail about the evidences & arguments for […]

Re-Imagine

Posted by on March 17, 2013 at 9:04 pm

Back in high school, a friend and I had fun writing humorous lyrics for new versions of existing songs. The one that comes to mind right now is “Pump On”, a weight-lifting/bodybuilding variation of the song “Sail On” by the Imperials. Kinda silly, but we had fun exercising our creative muscles. (Our actual muscles, not […]

The Reasonableness of Historic Christian Faith

Posted by on February 27, 2013 at 11:39 pm

Everyday, it seems I hear & read statements from people that assert or imply that Christianity is “unreasonable”, “irrational”, “illogical”, etc. These words, while related, all have different shades of meaning and can vary depending on who’s talking, but the gist is the same. It’s true that many Christians act unreasonably, irrationally, or illogically — […]