Category Archives: Atheism

Did he really say that?

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Shared recently on Facebook was an image of Pope Francis and the following quote, attributed to him:-

Now there is some very slippery language here.  In particular, it is not at all clear what the Pope means by ‘a good person’.  Yes, there are some atheists who are kinder, gentler, and more caring than some religious people (shame on us!).  And if that is all the Pope is saying, then it’s true.

But the Pope knows as well as I do that the challenge of the gospel is not to make ourselves ‘good enough for God’, but the ‘believe on the Lord Jesus Christ’. …

God bless the ‘Sunday Assembly’

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Yesterday morning (9th November 2014), the Norwich ‘Sunday Assembly’ held its first meeting.

Describing itself as ‘a global movement for wonder and good’, the Sunday Assembly sets out to offer much that a Christian worship service might offer – including communal singing, time for reflection, an address, tea and coffee at the end (can’t get much more religious than that!) – but without God.

The folks behind the Sunday Assembly are peaceable humanists.  They regard themselves as godless, but not anti-god.  …

The Christian revolution – putting the record straight

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I was prompted by this post to get hold of an (audio) copy of David Bentley Hart’s 2009 book Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies.

I listened to the whole thing during the course of a short walking trip.  Here are a few random thoughts by way of response.

As some other reviewers have pointed out, the book’s main title (‘Atheist Delusions’) was quite possibly chosen by the publishers, and not by the author, and serves more as an attention-grabber than as an accurate guide to content.  …

“The biblical God commanded genocide”

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At last, in chapter 6 of God or Godless?, we have a real problem to debate.

Atheist John Loftus regards this as completely cut-and-dried: in several places in the Old Testament, the biblical God commanded genocide.  He cites the following texts: Joshua 6:16-25; Deuteronomy 2:4-34; 7:1-6; Numbers 31:7-18.  Since there can be no possible justification for this genocide, John thinks that apologists either have to concede that they never took place, or they have to argue that they did take place, but were mistaken in thinking that it was God who had commanded them. …

“Science is no substitute for religion”

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We’re up to chapter 5 of God or Godless, by John Loftus (atheist) and Randal Rauser (Christian).

Randal seeks to support his contention by pointing out that some scientists have a quasi-religious outlook on the cosmos.  The natural world is their God, and the scientific method their dogma.  But this religious impulse should be directed at the Creator, rather than the creation.

John, in his opening statement, pretty much reverses the original assertion by saying, in effect, “religion is no substitute for science.”  Science gives us reliable answers in our quest for knowledge. …

‘The biblical God requires child sacrifices for his pleasure’

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This is the strange theory advanced by John Loftus in chapter 4 of God or Godless?.

I call it ‘strange’ because I had not come across it before.  I hastily looked up the passage he cites (Exodus 22:29-30) to see what I had been missing all these years.  We read:

You shall not delay to offer from the fulness of your harvest and from the outflow of your presses.  The first-born of your sons you shall give to me. 

…

“If there is no God, then everything is permissible”

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This is the topic of debate in chapter 3 of God or Godless?

Randal Rouser opens by imagining the mind-set of someone who tortures and kills people for fun.  He imagines the character denying that what he does is evil, because (on the assumption that there is no God) morality is a purely subjective concept, with no objective basis for deciding whose morality is right and whose is wrong.

John Loftus, in his opener, says that the title of the chapter assumes that there is one God, whereas there are multiple concepts of God, with their own moralities. …

‘The biblical concept of God evolved from polytheism to monotheism’

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In chapter 2 of God or Godless? John Loftus asserts that the biblical concept of God evolved over time from polytheism to monotheism. He infers from this that there is no unified teaching about God in the Bible, and that the choice of one (Yahweh rather than Baal, say) is more or less a historical accident.

John’s argument is full of sweeping statements, right from the start.  When he says, “biblical scholars long ago acknowledged…”, he should have said, “Some biblical scholars think…”.…

“If there is no God, then life has no meaning”

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This is the first topic debated by Randal Rauser (a Christian) and John W. Loftus (an atheist) in their book God or Godless?

John Loftus concedes that if there is no God, then life has no intrinsic purpose and we have to either (a) muddle along in a purposeless existence, or (b) construct some kind of purpose for ourselves.

Yes, I agree with that.  If it were proven to me that God did not exist, life would either become meaningless for me, or I would have to construct some kind of meaning.…

God or Godless?

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This is the title of a recent (2013) book of written debates by John W. Loftus (an atheist) and Randal Rauser (a Christian).

Twenty topics are covered in all, half chosen by one protagonist and half by the other.  For each topic there is an opening statement of about 800 words from each person, rebuttals of about 150 words, and closing statements of 50 words.

It’s an interesting approach, although not without its weaknesses and limitations:-

  • The opening statements were written completely independently, and so sometimes do not focus on the same subject-matter.
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