Can you "provide evidence for atheism, or evidence of absence?"

Reasonable Faith is the website of Dr. William Lane Craig. One of the features of the website is a Q and A section where a reader is able to send Dr. Craig a question and he responds to them in some detail.

You can find the archive of past Q & A's here.

This week's question deals with the debate Dr. Craig had with Christopher Hitchens on the topic of "Does God Exist?" The question, submitted by Steven, is as follows:

Dear Dr. Craig,

I really loved the debate between you and [Christopher Hitchens] and I was impressed at your organization. One thing, however, that I find unfair is that you asked Hitchens to provide evidence for atheism, or evidence of absence. I've thought long about what kind of evidence of absence could possibly be produced, not just for God but for Santa Claus or tooth fairies. I'm not saying that he can ignore the evidences for a God, but I believe that his only job should have been to knock down your arguments.

In short, can you please give me examples of the kind of convincing evidence of absence of a God or other beings?

Thanks!

Steven

Sometimes Dr. Craig will pass-off the question to a Reasonable Faith volunteer or intern, which was the case with this question. I found Shaun's answer to be very interesting.

Check it out here.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Can you be 'Sort of' Pro-life?

My wife was having a discussion with a friend regarding the abortion issue and her friend stated the following:

"I am for the life of the baby, but I believe that others should be given a choice."

Admittedly, this statement baffles me. If you look at the statement again, this person is basically saying:

"I am for the life of the baby, but I believe that others should have the right to kill their baby."

There is no middle ground. The question then arises, "Can someone be personally "for the life of the baby," but then claim that others should have the choice to kill it? Clearly, the answer is no. You are either for the life of a child or you are not. You are either pro-life or pro-death.

Please do not misunderstand the purpose behind this post. I concede that there was a time when one could have gotten away with claiming that the abortion issue was merely a “religious issue,” however, that is no longer the case. Modern science, as indicated here, has proven that life does indeed begin at conception.

Further, philosophers such as Doug Groothuis, provide sound, non-religious arguments in-favor of the pro-life position that can be seen here.

As Groothuis rightly puts it:

"...who are we to say just what qualities make for membership in the moral community of persons? The stakes are very high in this question. If we are wrong in our identification of what qualities are sufficient for personhood and we allow a person to be killed, we have allowed the wrongful killing of nothing less than a person. Therefore, I argue that the best ontology is to regard personhood as a substance or essence that is given at conception. Even if one is not sure when personhood kicks in, one should err on the side of being conservative simply because so much is at stake." [1]

Further, where does the right to choose end? Meaning, if someone believes that they should be able to kill an 8 month old child (late-term abortion), as our current president does, how does one then turn around and say it’s wrong to kill a one-year old child? On what grounds can you say one is right and the other is wrong?

In Greg Koukl's newest book, Tactics, he writes of a conversation he once had with a lady, who was a Wiccan, who believed, "women should have a choice..." It went as follows:

Koukl: "So you're Wiccan?"

Lady(nodding): "It's an Earth religion, like the Native Americans. We respect all life."

Koukl: "If you respect all life, then I suppose you're pro-life."

Lady: "No, actually I'm not. I'm pro-choice."

Koukl: "Isn't that an unusual position for someone in Wicca to take, I mean, since you're committed to respecting all life?"

Lady: "You're right. It is odd. I know that I could never do that. I mean, I could never kill a baby."

Koukl: "Well, maybe you wouldn't do anything to hurt a baby, but other people would. Shouldn't we do something to stop them from killing babies?"

Lady: "I think women should have a choice."

Koukl: "Do you mean women should have the choice to kill their own babies?"

Lady: "Well...I think all things should be taken into consideration on this question."

Koukl: "Okay, tell me: What kind of considerations would make it all right to kill a baby?"

Lady: "Incest."

Koukl: "Hmm. Let me see if I understand. Let's just say I had a two-year-old child standing next to me who had been conceived as a result of incest. On your view, it seems, I should have the liberty to kill her. Is that right?"

Lady: "I'd have mixed feelings about that." [2]

As Koukl goes on to say, "I hope so!"

Conclusion

Many have concluded that being personally opposed to abortion, while believing others have the right to choose it, is some kind of compromise between the pro-abortion and pro-life positions.
It isn't. There exists no difference between one that is pro-choice and one that is pro-abortion. To the baby who dies it makes no difference whether those who refused to protect her were pro-abortion or "merely" pro-choice about abortion. [3]

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Resources:

1. Doug Groothuis, Why I am Pro-life: A Short, nonsectarian Argument, http://theconstructivecurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2009/03/why-i-am-pro-life-short-nonsectarian.html, March 2009, Emphasis Mine.
2. Greg Koukl, Tactics: A Game Plan for discussing your Christian Convictions, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), p. 25-26.
3. Randy Alcorn, Why Pro-Life?, p. 94-95.

Featured Article: It Does Not Matter What the Bible Means to You by C Michael Patton

C Michael Patton, of Parchment and Pen, provides a helpful article dealing with proper biblical interpretation entitled, It Does Not Matter what the Bible Means to You.

Check it out here.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

A Pre-Release Strike: The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown

As some of you may know, pseudo-historian and author Dan Brown is releasing another book on September 15, 2009 entitled, The Lost Symbol. Apparently, Brown is keeping the storyline under lock and key, but has confirmed that it's a sequel to the much celebrate The Da Vinci Code.

Brown has proven in his past fictional novels, such as Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code, that he is not about to let little things like facts get in the way of telling a good story. This, of course, would be of no concern if it weren't for the fact that Brown likes to present his material as based on "historic fact."

The following post is a kind of preliminary strike before the release of Brown's forthcoming book. My hope is to provide resources that help to separate the facts from the fiction found in Dan Brown's novels. Undoubtedly, the release of this book will once again raise long answered questions.

Angels and Demons

'Angels and Demons' critic sorts out 'lies' from fiction by Josh Kimball, Christian Post

The Truth about Angels and Demons

The Da Vinci Code

Apologetics against the Da Vinci Code by Doug Groothuis

Crash goes The Da Vinci Code by Dr. Ron Rhodes

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code: A Critique

Da Vinci Code by Matthew Slick

Debunking Da Vinci

Decoding The Da Vinci Code by N.T. Wright

Dismantling The Da Vinci Code by Sandra Miesel

Exploring The Da Vinci Code with Mike Licona

Josh McDowell Answers Questions about the New Testament

Mary, Mary Extraordinary by Dr. Ben Witherington III

Probe Articles answering The Da Vinci Code, various authors

Was Jesus Married? by Darrell Bock, Ph. D.

The Lost Symbol

Dan Brown to publish long-awaited new novel, The Lost Symbol- here, you can get some of the few known details about the novel

The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown: Dan Brown's New Nobel

More articles will be provided as they are made available.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Featured Resource: 100 Christian Apologists

Just wanted to quickly highlight an awesome post from Apologetics 315 entitled 100 Christian Apologists.

Check it out here.

Many thanks to Brian Auten for all his hard work in compiling the page.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Book Preview: Signature in the Cell by Dr. Stephen Meyer

Dr. Stephen C. Meyer, Senior Fellow of the Discovery Institute, has recently released a book entitled Signature in the Cell: DNA and the Evidence for Intelligent Design. You can take a sneak peek inside the book here.

As the book's website explains:

"In Signature in the Cell, Dr. Stephen Meyer shows that the digital code embedded in DNA points powerfully to a designing intelligence and helps unravel a mystery that Darwin did not address: how did the very first life begin? Follow Dr. Meyer as he investigates how new scientific discoveries are pointing to intelligent design as the best explanation for the complexity of life and the universe."

For more about the book, see here.

On recent podcasts of ID the Future, Meyer discusses how he began to study the origin of life and the contents of his new book.

Part I: The Making of an ID Theorist: Stephen C. Meyer and the Origin of Life

Part II: Delving into Science at Cambridge: Stephen C. Meyer and Signature in the Cell

Part III: DNA Evidence for Design: Stephen C. Meyer and Signature in the Cell

Part IV: The Design Argument is Unrefuted: Stephen Meyer responds to Critics with Signature in the Cell

The book's website also offers some wonderful resources for those wanting to learn more about the book or study the evidence for ID more in-depth.

Check out the following:

Research and Scholarship; this page also includes a complete list of Dr. Meyer's articles. There are tons of articles here!

Media Appearances

News- Follow Dr. Meyer and the latest happenings with his new book

Finally, you can view Dr. Meyer's presentation of Signature of the Cell at the Heritage Foundation here.

I would encourage our readers and team members to check out the books complimentary website, www.signatureinthecell.com. I hope these resources are helpful!

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

Apologist Profile: Dinesh D'Souza

Author Dinesh D'Souza has spent the majority of his career as a political conservative author. Only recently has he stepped into the role as a Christian apologist, on a popular level. His latest book, What's so Great about Christianity, is a bold defense of Christian theism, coupled with fine scholarship. As reviewer Stanley Fish puts it:

"Rather than engaging in the usual defensive ploys, D'Souza meets every anti-God argument head on and defeats it on its own terms. He subjects atheism and scientific materialism to sustained riqourous interrogation and shows that their claims are empty and incoherent."

Dinesh has debated such well-knowns as Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, Dan Barker, Michael Shermer, and Peter Singer. You can view these debates here.

Mr. D'Souza strives to "defeat atheism on it's own terms." Although I haven't always agreed with Dinesh in the past, I find his latest work to be a valuable tool.

Educational Background

A former policy analyst in the Reagan White House, D'Souza also served as John M. Olin Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and the Robert and Karen Rishwain Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1983. [1]

Publications

The End of Racism

Ronald Reagan

What's So Great about America

Letters to a Young Conservative

What's So Great about Christianity

To view a comprehensive list of Dinesh's publications, see here. [Scroll down the middle column]

Articles

Atheism

Atheism Masquerading as Science

Run, Peter Singer, Run

Atheism and Child Murder

Are Atheists Cultural Christians?

My Debate with Atheist Christopher Hitchens

An Atheist Conundrum: Who Made God?

Sigmund Freud's Illusions

Christianity

How Christians Ended Slavery

Taking Christ Out of Christmas

Was Hitler a Christian?

A Christian Foundation

Current Events

Why Bill Maher made Me Laugh

Radical Islam

Political

Secularism is not the Answer

The Prophet at Harvard

Lincoln: Tyrant, Hypocrite, or Consummate Statesman?

Science

The Two Faces of Darwin

When Science Points to God

Debunking the Galileo Myth

For more articles by Dinesh, see here or here.

I hope you find these resources helpful.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

The Apologist's Quiver

What is Apologetics?

Christian Apologetics: An Introduction by Rick Wade

What is Apologetics? by Multiple Authors

What is Apologetics?- taken from The Apologetics Resource Center

What is Apologetics? by Kyle Butt

What is Apologetics?- a video with Mike Licona

Why do Apologetics?

Eight Reasons why we need Apologetics by Matthew Slick

An Apologetic for Apologetics by Ravi Zacharias

The Christian, Apathy, and Apologetics by Chad A. Gross

A Case for Apologetics by Brian Auten

Rediscovering Apologetics by Paul Copan

The Need for Apologetics by Norman Geisler

How to do Apologetics...

Where Do I Start? by Nick Pollard- Part I Part II

Six Rules of Apologetic Engagement by Doug Groothuis

Christian Apologetics Manifesto 2003: Sixteen Theses by Doug Groothuis

Living an Apologetic Life by Ravi Zacharias

Studying...Apologetics? by Tom Price

Apologetics and Evangelism by Jimmy Williams

Audio

Advice to Christian Apologists by William Lane Craig
*View the transcript of this lecture here.

The Ultimate Apologetics MP3 Audio compiled by Brian Auten

Free Graphic Novel: Me, the Professor, Fuzzy, and the Meaning of Life

Hello everyone! Due to the busy nature of my schedule this week, I will not be keeping up my usual post schedule. However, I will be posting when time allows. I hope to return to the usual post schedule next week.

For anyone who has read this blog for awhile, you will know that I love comic books. I always have and most likely always will. I find comics to be an excellent launching place for philosophical discussion and thinking. In some of my past posts, I have actually used comic book characters in an attempt to illustrate a point or challenge the thinking of others. For those interested, see here or here or here.

Today's resource is a free online graphic novel entitled Me, the Professor, Fuzzy, and the Meaning of Life. This graphic novel explores the question, "What gives life meaning?"

Author David Pensgard writes:

"Me, The Professor, Fuzzy, and the Meaning of Life" is a very long title for a book. Yet, these three characters each play an essential role in ferreting out the answers to the big questions. All of these questions, as well as the efforts of all three characters, represent attempts to get at the very meaning of life itself."

This graphic novel provides a fresh way of examining and pondering age old questions.

You can check it out here.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

How Did Jesus Argue? Jesus and Logic

As we bring our series on "The Greatest Apologist who Ever Lived: Jesus" to a close, I want to share an essay by Dr. JP Moreland entitled How Did Jesus Argue? Jesus and Logic.

It seems appropriate to end this series with an article by Dr. Moreland because he is one of the apologists leading the movement to restore the view of Jesus as "the smartest man who ever lived."

Dr. Moreland's book, Love Your God with All Your Mind, co-authored with philosopher Dallas Willard, is considered by many to be essential reading for the apologist and layman alike.

In today's essay, Moreland expands on this idea. He writes:

"To my mind, Jesus was the greatest thinker who ever lived. And while he did not come to develop a theory about logic or to teach logic as a field of study, it is clear that he was adept at employing logical forms and laws in his thinking and reasoning. We who are his followers should go and do likewise."

Regardless of your level of education in regard to logic, this article will challenge you and hopefully assist you in viewing Jesus in a new way: as an intellectual.

Check out this short essay here.

To find other great works by Dr. Moreland [and others], check out The Scriptorium.

Courage and Godspeed,
Chad

For further research, you may want to view these other essays by Dr. Moreland:

How did Jesus Act? Jesus as a Moral Teacher

How did Jesus Train?