Tag Archives: Atheism

Earth, Air, Fire, Water—and God

Several years ago my wife and I were hiking in the Anaheim Hills when we heard a drumbeat ahead of us. Our first thought was of a Boy Scout troop, but it turned out instead to be a pagan circle chanting their praises to earth, air, fire, and water. I can’t help thinking about that …

August 27, 2011 – 9:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Religions, The Faith | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (25)

Why Scientists Should Reject Methodological Naturalism

This entry is part 4 of 6 in the series Science Doesn't Need MN

(Update 3/29: Please regard this series as a first draft with important revisions yet to come.) Review In three prior posts in this series I shown that Methodological Naturalism (MN) relies on assumptions that are: Theological rather than scientific Disputable rather than firmly established Unnecessary rather than required for science In particular I have shown that …

March 25, 2011 – 1:26 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

So Great Faith

Joseph Bottum Joe Carter, writing at First Things, speaks of atheists’ uncanny powers of belief. Brief, biting, and exactly on the mark. (See the first comment regarding the correction made here ).

May 13, 2010 – 1:16 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged | Comments (7)

The Basis for Moral Realism

Jordan has been saying things on the Manhattan Declaration thread like, Atheism does not entail moral relativism, and theism does not entail moral realism. I’m an atheist, and a moral realist. … I (imperfectly) perceive morality with my moral sense. What is the basis of your “alleged moral objectivity”? I imagine it will be long-winded …

November 23, 2009 – 8:57 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Ethics | Tagged , | Comments (162)

Intelligent Design’s Atheistic Defender

BreakPoint has just published my review of Bradley Monton’s new book, with the unexpected but highly intriguing theme expressed in its title: Seeking God in Science: An Atheist Defends Intelligent Design. Monton is a philosopher on the University of Colorado faculty, and he is indeed an atheist who defends Intelligent Design. He has been the …

July 28, 2009 – 2:57 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

“Atheism Is Not A Belief”

“Atheism is not a belief,” atheists often say, “it’s just a lack of belief in a God.” Today it came up in this form: And, in addition, I would point out that atheism is not my ideology. It simply refers to my not subscribing to a particular belief (theism). It makes no more sense to …

June 15, 2009 – 9:49 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged | Comments (160)

The Atheist Ethicist and “Faith”

I’ve been having an interesting interaction with The Atheist Ethicist on the nature of faith, here and here. Please feel free to join in.

April 8, 2009 – 6:11 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged , | Comments Off

A Man of Great Faith

In his critical review in The New Republic of two theistic evolutionists, anti-theistic biologist Jerry Coyne speaks about various views of our fine-tuned universe. Contrasting materialist science with theism, he writes, Also, scientists have other explanations, ones based on reason rather than on faith. Perhaps some day, when we have a “theory of everything” that …

February 1, 2009 – 2:33 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science | Tagged , , | Comments (2)

What is Atheism?

Last week I started a new series, “What Is Christianity?” I have another shorter series to run parallel with it: “What Is Atheism?” The emphasis this time is on the question mark. The question I most want to address is whether atheism is a belief system. I have been taken to task for thinking that …

September 9, 2008 – 3:50 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged | Comments (6)

“The Darwinian Delusion”

Steve Fuller, Professor of Sociology at Warwick University, England, presents a provocative question in his article The Darwinian Delusion: The next time you want to stop a conversation among the soi-disant enlightened, ask what has atheism ever done for science. It’s one thing to admit that religious dogmatism has periodically halted the march of scientific …

August 2, 2008 – 9:11 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , | Comments (60)