Saturday, May 14, 2011

Facepalm of the Day #78 - Sam Harris on accommodationism - Sam Harris - The Moral Landscape - RichardDawkins.net

John Loftus has pointed on a particular post on Richard Dawkins' website. Dr Richard Dawkins has posted a response on Mooney thread commenting on a a couple of paragraphs from one of Dr. Sam Harris' books. Dawkins writes:

The first thing to observe is that Mooney and Kirshenbaum are confused about the nature of the problem. The goal is not to get more Americans to merely accept the truth of evolution (or any other scientific theory); the goal is to get them to value the principles of reasoning and educated discourse that now make a belief in evolution obligatory. Doubt about evolution is merely a symptom of an underlying condition; the condition is faith itself—conviction without sufficient reason, hope mistaken for knowledge, bad ideas protected from good ones, good ideas obscured by bad ones, wishful thinking elevated to a principle of salvation, etc. Mooney and Kirshenbaum seem to imagine that we can get people to value intellectual honesty by lying to them.

I point this out because Dawkins still does not understand what Biblical "faith" is. The Bible does not say that God rewards "conviction without sufficient reason, hope mistaken for knowledge, bad ideas protected from good ones, good ideas obscured by bad ones, wishful thinking elevated to a principle of salvation, etc." When I hear people spewing such ignorance, and refuse to be corrected, I find it nauseating. We have to keep explaining it. Hopefully one day, God will open such people minds so that they will understand Hebrews 11:1-2, finally.


1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for.


No where does it say that it is wishful thinking, or hope in lieu of knowledge. Why constantly argue and debate against a position that Christians do not hold? Silly me, of course, the definition of faith Dawkins gives is the only one he understands.

Sam Harris on accommodationism - Sam Harris - The Moral Landscape - RichardDawkins.net
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Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: NPR Picks up on Harold Camping

As May 21st approaches I expected more of the secular media to be talking more about Harold Camping and his ministry. His gall amazes me. He was wrong about 1994. There was no rapture. Why does he think (why does anyone think) this time will be different? Jesus said no one but the Father knows.That's good enough for me. Jesus did not tell us when He would return. He was clear. We don't need to waste time trying to figure out when. We just need to be ready. Instead of asking yourself when it will happen or if it will happen, we should be asking are we ready? I appreciate James Swan for pointing these NPR reports out.

Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: NPR Picks up on Harold Camping
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Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: He Used to be a Christan...

James Swan has posted really good article about how the United Reformed Churches of North America deals with apostates. I agree with him when he wrote:

Are they non-believers, and always were? Even now, I don't know if they're in a deep period of rebellion against the faith, or are simply examples of seeds that fell on rocky soil.


I think it's important to recognize that from a Biblical perspective we have only these possibilities to explain apostasy and hypocrisy. If the Bible is wrong then how do we know it's right about everything else? We don't and therefore everything is suspect. My own personal experience in talking to and watching apostates is that if they never repent and return to being committed to Christ, they were never really committed in the first place and was only going through the motions and doing it so well that they were deceived themselves and deceived others - but not God. I also like what James White had to say on this subject.







Beggars All: Reformation And Apologetics: He Used to be a Christan...