I read a post over at Thomas Verenna's blog tonight that I found very interesting. He had been discussing the historicity of the gospels with a friend recently, and at one point he posed these two questions: (a) It *may* be true that portrayals of ancient figures have some historical kernels, but not always. How… Continue reading Buffet-style Religion
Category: Agnosticism
Tecumseh the Prophet
I just finished reading The Frontiersmen by Allan Eckert, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I didn't realize how little I knew about this period of American history, until I read this book. Eckert's book is not historical fiction, it's an actual history covering the settlement of the areas around Kentucky and Ohio. It centers mostly… Continue reading Tecumseh the Prophet
KISS
Keep it simple, stupid. One of my college professors reminded us of that acronym constantly whenever we were discussing programming or system design. It tends to be good advice. I was reminded of it earlier today when I heard some people discussing the Sabbath Day. The Ten Commandments tell us that the Sabbath Day is… Continue reading KISS
Can a True Christian Ever Lose Her Faith?
Many Christians believe in the doctrine of eternal security, which teaches that once someone is saved, they can never lose that salvation. It's a very comforting thought, but it's not without controversy. First of all, not all Christians believe in this doctrine, because the Bible gives very mixed signals about it. Secondly, most people who… Continue reading Can a True Christian Ever Lose Her Faith?
The Bible’s Morality
In the last post, I talked about why I still believe in some moral absolutes even though I'm no longer a Christian. In this post, I'd like to dig a little deeper into what kind of morality we find in the Bible. Most of us view things like the Holocaust or the Tiananmen Square Crackdown… Continue reading The Bible’s Morality
Absolute Morality
There are certain things that we all know are wrong -- child molestation, for instance, or murder. But how do we know those things are wrong? Many religious people (and I'm mostly gearing this toward Christians, since they're the group I'm most familiar with) believe that we must appeal to a higher authority in order… Continue reading Absolute Morality
Purpose
For many theologians, their biggest complaint against atheism is that it would mean there is no grand purpose to our existence. I can understand why they would find that depressing, though of course, that doesn't have any bearing on whether or not such a purpose really exists. The truth just might be sad. Nevertheless, let's… Continue reading Purpose
Fact and Truth
While addressing his class, Indiana Jones once said "Archaeology is the search for fact... not truth. If it's truth you're looking for, Dr. Tyree's philosophy class is right down the hall." That quote keeps coming back to me lately. What are the differences between fact and truth? I named this blog "Finding Truth" because that's… Continue reading Fact and Truth
Rethinking His Religion
This article is a little old, but I just ran across it and found it very moving. The blurb is: College had not only given a young man a glimpse of how large the world was but also shamed him about how little of it he knew. It's definitely worth the read. I hope you… Continue reading Rethinking His Religion
What It Would Take
"What would it take for you to believe in God again?" This is what Ryan asked me recently. It's a really good question, and it's one I've thought about a lot. I've also read the thoughts of some other atheists on this subject; one that I think makes a particularly good argument is found here.… Continue reading What It Would Take
Finding Truth 