Category Archives: Selected Articles
Elliott Sober, Alvin Plantinga and the Design Argument
Can we really say how probable it is that God would design our universe?
The design argument has enjoyed a new lease of life in the last few decades, with attention being drawn to cosmic fine-tuning in particular. Scientists have increasingly become aware that the universe is ‘just right’ for life. Had the ratio of the electromagnetic and gravitational forces differed by 1 part in 1040 then planets capable of supporting life could not exist.
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Posted in Existence of God, Selected Articles
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Richard Dawkins, Slenderman and the Terrible Power of Fantasy
Not too long ago, Richard Dawkins asked parents: “Is it a good thing to go along with the fantasies of childhood, magical as they are?” Dawkins’ genius for publicity rivals Katie Hopkins’ and Miley Cyrus’s. When Richard wants a headline he shall have a headline: he uses preposterous statements and ludicrous questions to generate absurd amounts of free-advertising on Twitter and in newspaper columns.
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Posted in Quick Thoughts, Selected Articles
Tagged Dawkins, Imagination, Morality, New Atheism, Popologetics
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Why It’s OK to #PraytoEndAbortion
Now and then, #PraytoEndAbortion trends on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, most of the comments are unreservedly hostile. Among some of the printable tweets are:
Why do we always have to include religion?!”,
“Yes, please #PraytoEndAbortion. That way it will continue, like everything else anyone has ever used prayer to solve”,
“Religious, holier-than-thou, judgmental bigots: objectifying the subjective for 2000-odd years.
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Posted in Quick Thoughts, Science and Christianity, Selected Articles
Tagged #Pray-to-End-Abortion, Abortion, Pro-Life, Secularism
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The Argument from Consciousness in Eight Quick Points
1) We cannot directly observe another creature’s consciousness, and we cannot measure or quantify conscious experiences. If we could describe every physical fact about a bat’s brain in every detail, we would still not have a description of what the bat experiences.
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Posted in Existence of God, Science and Christianity, Selected Articles
Tagged argument from consciousness, Christianity and Science, consciousness, Evidence, Evidence for God, Faith and Reason, God and Science, Things Science Can't Explain
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Science, Scripture and Some Trouble with Camels
There’s been a lot of fuss recently over camel bones found in the Aravah Valley in Israel. Two archaeologists from Tel Aviv University have dated the bones, which were found in an ancient copper smelting site, to the last third of the 10th century BC and claim that this represents the earliest appearance of domesticated camels.
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Posted in Existence of God, Quick Thoughts, Selected Articles
Tagged Faith and Reason, Revelation, The Bible Tells Me So!
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