Category Archives: Evidences

Coyne Was Right After All: Science Has Vanquished Christianity

I ended last night’s post by asking whether Jerry Coyne might have been right when he wrote, Many religious claims about the “truth” have already been disproven by science. There was a second part to that claim (that religion has never disproved science) which I invite you to continue responding to on that other thread. …

December 19, 2011 – 9:10 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , | Comments (4)

Jerry Coyne: Intellectual Dishonesty, Or … ?

This is not the first time I’ve had occasion to ask Jerry Coyne, which is it?  Is it culpable ignorance or is it intellectual dishonesty? In light of the accusation he makes of Alvin Plantinga, “Remarkably stupid remarks by a sophisticated theologian,” one is tempted to wonder whether another term fits Coyne even better, one he …

December 18, 2011 – 5:51 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, New Atheism | Tagged , , , | Comments (16)

“Why Atheism Will Replace Religion” — Psychology Today

Nigel Barber writes: It seems that people turn to religion as a salve for the difficulties and uncertainties of their lives. In social democracies, there is less fear and uncertainty about the future because social welfare programs provide a safety net and better health care means that fewer people expect to die young. In social …

December 3, 2011 – 1:02 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, The Faith | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (15)

A Great Answer To a Different Question

My most recent Daily Press column, A Great Answer To a Different Question, begins Here’s a snippet of a conversation I hear frequently, not exactly in these words, but something like it: Question: “I’ve been wondering something about people who believe in the Bible. How do you know that it’s true?” Answer: “Because it’s God’s …

August 22, 2011 – 5:02 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Bible, Evidences, Thinking Christianly | Tagged , , , , | Comments (25)

The Same Arguments for Thor?

Someone on a discussion forum wrote this about my divine hiddenness argument for Christianity: I could mount those same arguments for Thor, the Norse god of Thunder. He real? If I were interested in registering for this forum, I’d ask him to show how he would do that. It would be entertaining, at least. Anybody want to …

August 14, 2011 – 9:17 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences | Comments (5)

The Morality of Christian Exclusivism

The morality of Christian exclusivism: exclusivism-ly at First Things: Evangel.

June 10, 2011 – 2:41 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics, Evidences, Postmodernism/ Relativism, The Faith | Comments (24)

You’ve Never Heard a Talk Like This—But You’ll Want To

What do you think: were the four gospels legendary accounts? Were they any more trustworthy than the apocryphal gospels? Did the four gospel writers know what they were talking about? You may think it’s a matter of faith, maybe even gullibility. I have a few more questions for you then: Are you a numbers/science/quantitative kind …

June 7, 2011 – 1:19 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences | Comments (48)

So Many Misconceptions—Where Even to Begin?

Discussion on this very long thread has branched off onto another topic, which isn’t going to be good for the original topic there, so I’m opening up a new thread for this new subject. Greg Magarshak has posted a few comments listing a litany of reasons he thinks Christianity and the Bible cannot be true. …

June 2, 2011 – 8:26 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences | Comments (270)

The Ehrman Project

I love this: The Ehrman Project. Short promo video: It’s Campus Crusade for Christ, UNC-Chapel Hill’s response to the infamous professor’s popularized attempts to tear apart the New Testament. It features scholarly responses on video to Ehrman’s major works. (His newest, Forged, does not appear to have a response posted there yet. I’m confident it …

May 19, 2011 – 7:08 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, New Atheism | Comments (7)

Questions From a Reader: The Flood

A while ago a reader named Greg left a comment on the thread, Did God Create the Laws of Physics? He prefaced it with “WARNING: LONG COMMENT AHEAD,” which was certainly fair notice. I thought his questions might better be dealt with on another thread, and he gave me the okay to do it that …

May 13, 2011 – 10:05 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Evidences, Origins and Science | Comments (168)