Tag Archives: Religion

Syncretism at Home

My monthly column is up now at BreakPoint: Syncretism (noun): “the amalgamation or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought.” I first heard of syncretism in a seminary course on missions that I took many years ago. It plagues missionaries across the world. New peoples in new places come to faith in …

January 17, 2012 – 6:49 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Religions, Worldviews | Tagged , , | Comments (8)

It Must Be Christmas: I Agree With Jerry Coyne!

I’ve been quite critical of University of Chicago biologist Jerry Coyne on more than one occasion, so I was quite surprised to find myself nodding in agreement with him today on a religion-related topic. He opened up this blog post saying, There’s a pretty dreadful piece by Tim Padgett in the latest online Time Magazine (I’m …

December 23, 2011 – 6:16 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Postmodernism/ Relativism, The Faith, Thinking Christianly | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

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)

On the Passing of Christopher Hitchens

He was an ardent opponent of Christianity, but I will miss him. I sat in the front row for his debate with Dinesh D’Souza in Charlotte, NC last year (or was it in 2009?). Hitchens spoke first. It may have been the only time he had D’Souza completely flat-footed and unable to disagree with him. …

December 16, 2011 – 9:36 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism | Tagged , , | Comments (15)

Something In the Air: Science’s Supposed Superiority To Religion

I got an email recently from “Loren,” who sought to inform me, Science is knowledge of proven facts, religion is a belief system based on unproven theory. The matter is closed, science is alive and growing where as religion is based on ancient history. That’s all she wrote. (I know both men and women named …

December 14, 2011 – 11:02 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Origins and Science, Thinking Christianly | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (45)

Richard Dawkins’ Anti-Scientific Hypocrisy

In honor of Richard Dawkins’ refusal to debate William Lane Craig tomorrow, I’m re-posting a piece I wrote for the Newport News Daily Press early in 2007, highlighting his hypocritical willingness to ignore science when it suits his purpose. This article was also published at BreakPoint. Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion has been a …

October 24, 2011 – 3:29 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in New Atheism, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments (6)

“Moon Not Made of Cheese, Physicist Explains”

Not as trivial as you might think it is: “Don’t think that you fully understand the properties of lunar green cheese…. The answer is that it’s absurd to think the moon is made of green cheese. “And the formalization of that absurdity is that we are allowed to use other things we know about the …

October 21, 2011 – 6:00 am | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Just For Fun, Origins and Science | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

Of Interest: “Pastor Hosts Assemblies at Texas High School Despite Atheist Protests, Christian News”

Okay. Who’s running the real ploy here? A Texas high school allowed an Assemblies of God pastor to lead two school assemblies Wednesday despite sharp criticism from a number of atheist organizations. The pastor, Kyle Embry, didn’t speak about faith or even introduce himself as a pastor during the event, yet some are accusing him …

October 17, 2011 – 2:08 pm | By Tom Gilson | Posted in Miscellanea, Worth Reading | Tagged , , , , | Comments (1)