What had happen' was.....

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Answering Muslims: ABC News Promotes Revolution Muslim as America's First Line of Defense against Terrorism

ABC recently aired a program about Islam. I'm glad we have people like David Wood who can unpack the dishonest reporting by ABC News. ABC News fair and balanced? Not even a tinsy bit.

You can watch the show here.

Answering Muslims: ABC News Promotes Revolution Muslim as America's First Line of Defense against Terrorism
David Wood: Islam: Questions & Answers: An Assessment of the Recent ABC Television Special

Confident Christianity: The Berkeley Mission

Mary Jo Sharp has posted an interesting article on her blog about a student study group that teach Christian teens about apologetics anhttp://www.blogger.com/blog-this.do?zx=145028px5tdprd then take them to UC Berkeley campus to hear presentations of opposing viewpoints. This is a brilliant idea. I'm certain everyone involves get value from it. In addition, I'm interested because I was a student at Berkeley during the 1990's and I know about the wide and diverse opinions that are there. This type of ministry is sorely needed! Brilliant. I wanna go.

Confident Christianity: The Berkeley Mission

Sam Harris “The Moral Landscape” aka “The End of Morality”, part 2 of 2 | True Freethinker

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I've been waiting for the final part of Mariano's essay regarding Sam Harris' book the "The Moral Landscape". Follow the link to read it.

Sam Harris “The Moral Landscape” aka “The End of Morality”, part 2 of 2 | True Freethinker

Answering Atheism - audio, page 2 of 3 | True Freethinker

Mariano has posted the second part of his series summarizing resources for answering atheism. Very, very helpful to have so much in one place.

Answering Atheism - audio, page 2 of 3 | True Freethinker

Thursday, October 7, 2010

FacePalm Quote of the Day #11: Debunking Christianity: God Cannot Exist if Yahweh Didn't.

Almost everyday John Lofuts writes something so silly that he provides no end of material for posts like this one. Thank you, Mr. Loftus. Look at one of his latest posts to see what I mean.

Yahweh did not exist. He is much too tribal of a god, created the world in conflict with the sea God Rahab, married to Asherah, accepted child sacrifice, commanded genocide, forbid worship of all other gods (didn't deny their existence), and chose Israel like the others gods did to other nations.

Why is this a failed argument? Simple. What does it mean to be "too much of a tribal god"? Yahweh was the one who promised Abraham that through him all nations would be blessed. How does that mean that Yahweh is only concerned with Jews? Look at the promise God made to Abraham.

¹ The LORD had said to Abram, "Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you.

² "I will make you into a great nation
       and I will bless you;
       I will make your name great,
       and you will be a blessing.
³ I will bless those who bless you,
       and whoever curses you I will curse;
       and all peoples on earth
       will be blessed through you." - Genesis 12:1-3

What about sending Jonah to Nineveh so that the city would be warned to repent and when the people of the city humbled themselves and repented, they were not destroyed. Get a clue...the people of Nineveh were not Jews. Child sacrifice was completely condemned and was never accepted by Yahweh. If John Loftus has Jephthah in mind as evidence that the God of Bible accepted child sacrifice I sure would like him to point out where Jephthah was commanded to sacrifice his daughter (she was a young adult of marrying age too not a child) or where he was commended for it. He made vow that no one asked him for and he was bound to his word. Not God's fault. If Loftus has Isaac's near sacrifice in mind we must remember that Abraham was not required to go through with it and again we don't know how old Isaac was at the time. Some Jews teach that Isaac was adult who allowed his father to strap him to that altar - It was meant to foreshadow what Jesus would ultimately do for us.
Also where does it say in the Bible that the world was created through conflict? Most creation myths say that...the Bible doesn't. No where in the Bible does it say God has or ever has had a wife.
The commandment was to have no other gods ahead of Yahweh. Anything can be placed too high in your life to be worshiped instead of Yahweh.It doesn't have to be an idol made of stone, wood, or gold or even some supernatural being. It could be yourself putting your desires above God's purpose for your life. Of course it doesn't deny the existence of other gods because it leaves room to cover anything and everything.
I'd also argue that Yahweh did not choose Israel like other gods chose their nations. The story of God choosing Israel does not start in Exodus. It starts when Adam was created and all the way through choosing Abraham. He picked one man...brought him out of his culture and trappings and made a nation that continues to exist today out of him! Who else is like that? I know what Loftus and others are suggesting: That people write stories about gods sponsoring their nations because they are special in some way. The problem with that logic is that Israel does not fit that model. In the Old Testament, God says why He chose Israel for himself out of all the other nations on earth.

³³ Has any other people heard the voice of God speaking out of fire, as you have, and lived? ³⁴ Has any god ever tried to take for himself one nation out of another nation, by testings, by miraculous signs and wonders, by war, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, or by great and awesome deeds, like all the things the LORD your God did for you in Egypt before your very eyes?
³⁵ You were shown these things so that you might know that the LORD is God; besides him there is no other. ³⁶ From heaven he made you hear his voice to discipline you. On earth he showed you his great fire, and you heard his words from out of the fire. - Deuteronomy 4:33-36
⁶ For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be his people, his treasured possession.
⁷ The LORD did not set his affection on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples. ⁸ But it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your forefathers that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt. ⁹ Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands. Deuteronomy 7:6-9

Do you really think a man would write that kind of humbling and scaring thing about why they were chosen by the most powerful and awesome God ever?! I don't think so.
Lastly, the sentence "Yahweh does not exist" is a contradiction . The Tetragrammaton, YHWH (Yahweh), literally means "He is". The name literal means there has never been nor will there ever be a time when Yahweh does not exist! So in effect Lofus wrote: "HE is does not not exist." Truly a completely nonsensical statement.. just like the rest of the argument.

Debunking Christianity: God Cannot Exist if Yahweh Didn't.

The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument «

Courtesy of Brian Auten I heard of a blog post by J.W. Wartick. In the post he explains and defends the Cosmological Argument for the existence of God starting from the point of view of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz. I enjoyed the post because Leibniz is one historical person I admire for his contributions to Mathmatics and Science. Without his work, my occupation would not be possible. He was very intelligent and he believed that the God of the Bible exists and cares about us. I agree with Leibniz that the point of science and mathematics is to get closer to God. I love this stuff. Read the link to see Wartick's article.

The Leibnizian Cosmological Argument «

Marvel and DC Roll Back Comics Prices From $3.99 to $2.99! - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

One thing I have certainly noticed since I first started collecting comic books in the 1980's is that the price of Comics books have certainly increased. Therefore I'm greatly pleased to see the cost of comics come down by a $1.

Marvel and DC Roll Back Comics Prices From $3.99 to $2.99! - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

The Army Of The Future Could Look A Lot Like Iron Man - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

It's nice to see that research in exoskeletons has progressed. I've wrote about such technology before on this blog, but I'm glad to see more information. When I was a student at UC Berkeley, a similar project was underway. I'm not sure where they are on theirs but I think I may do some research to find out. I love the idea. It has applications far beyond war. Construction and medical prosthesis technologies would greatly benefit.

The Army Of The Future Could Look A Lot Like Iron Man - ComicsAlliance | Comics culture, news, humor, commentary, and reviews

Answering Atheism - audio, page 1 of 3 | True Freethinker

Here is a great summary of audios about answering Atheism that Mariano has compiled and put on his blog. Check it out. Some of them I have listened to and some I have not.

Answering Atheism - audio, page 1 of 3 | True Freethinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/blog_this.pyra?t=&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.truefreethinker.com%2Farticles%2Fanswering-atheism-audio-page-1-3-4&n=Answering+Atheism+-+audio%2C+page+1+of+3+%7C+True+Freethinker

Smallville and Friedrich Nietzsche — Superman and the Ubermensch | True Freethinker

Image by xploitme via Flickr
I enjoyed this post by Mariano so much I had to link to it. I do understand exactly what he means because I saw the latest episode of Smallville and Nietzsche's philosophy was brought up and endorsed.
Mariano wrote:

In the most recent episode Carter Hall aka Hawkman refers to Friedrich Nietzsche, “To him, the true hero was the person who embraced the life that he or she was given and made it better. He called that person ‘ubermensch” to which Lois Lane states, “A Superman.” Yet, along with the concept it is stated that, in essence, we can all be an ubermensch.

I like science fiction and fantasy because you can explore themes and ideas that can't be reasonably done in other genres. This is a good example. I think we should be careful in embracing Nietzche's ideas because while he did have some good ones that can be spun positively as it has on Smallville, his philosophy was also an inspiration for the Nazis. Also I don't think Nietzsche thought all people could be ubermensch - only the elite. And when you look at how Nietzsche's ubermensch is described by Nietzche himself do you really wanna be that kind of person? Mariano wrote:

I do not know if they realize that whist to the unlearned in this area this sounds very nice—I can be Superman, after all—to Friedrich Nietzsche the ubermensch were merciless and uncompassionate iron fisted survival of the fittest domineers. Keep in mind that uber is translatable as "super," "above," "over," etc.

I most definitely don't want to be that kind of person if that is what an ubermensch is supposed to be.
Smallville and Friedrich Nietzsche — Superman and the Ubermensch | True Freethinker

Free audio book: John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book One” | True Freethinker

Mariano has posted a link to an audio book of some of John Calvin's most important works. Follow the link to go to his blog to get the audios!

Free audio book: John Calvin, “Institutes of the Christian Religion, Book One” | True Freethinker

Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: My Study Bible

Dr Mariottini has posted a great article regarding a new online suite of tools from Lifeway publishing. IT seems impressive. I'm planning to use it. Follow the link to read his post!
Dr. Claude Mariottini - Professor of Old Testament: My Study Bible

FacePalm of the Day Quote #10 - Debunking Christianity: The Irrational Christian: The John Loftus Trinity Argument

John Loftus endorsed the following video on his blog. He said:

Some things are hard to explain in a video, but Rhetorical Bullshit gives it a try:

Truly an epic fail. But I am gratified that the comments on the post are lively and informative. There is so much wrong with the analysis of the Trinity given in the video. But let's just discuss the first key point. Neither Loftus nor the video author understands what the Trinity is - so of course it doesn't make sense. It is also not what I believe.
One of the comments made by john I summed up my main problem with the video:

the continual use of terms like "3 people but 1 person" and "3 beings but 1 being" shows this guy does not understand the trinity as defined by theists. if this is a remake of Loftus' argument, and Loftus uses the same language, Loftus doesnt get it either.
its hard to criticize something you don't understand. however if either does actually understand it, but explains it like this on purpose, then both are just attacking a strawman, and purposefully misrepresenting the trinity in an effort to make Christians appear illogical.
philosophers a great deal smarter than these two, even atheists, recognize the trinity as properly defined, is not illogical.

I agree with him. The problem is that they wrongly equate "person" with "being". They are not the same thing and can't be used interchangeably. Being is "what" and person is "who"? There is one "what" and three "whos". God is one being! The Trinity is the doctrine that three persons make up the one being. Three people cannot equal one person and three beings cannot equal one being. That is truly illogical, but that is not what Christians are saying.
I did see the point that many Christians do explain the Trinity, and even outright reject it, the way it's explained here, but it just means that they don't understand who and what God is. All I can do personally is just follow what I understand from Scripture. Understanding the Trinity does not save you. Neither does misunderstanding the Trinity damns you. Romans 10:9-10 tells you all you need to be saved and it does not include a correct understanding of the Trinity. Good thing because I don't think anyone fully understands it...but that doesn't make it untrue.
I have to give this one my FacePalm of the day because the argument has been knocked down for 2000 years. Please get something else.
Debunking Christianity: The Irrational Christian: The John Loftus Trinity Argument

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

THE APOLOGETIC FRONT: Mormonism and multiple godheads

As you probably know, Mormons do not believe in the Trinity. Mike Felker has posted a video that addresses Mormon polythesism.

THE APOLOGETIC FRONT: Mormonism and multiple godheads

Another atheist against my article on atheism | True Freethinker

Mariano has answered the one most ubiquitous objection against Christianity that keeps getting trotted out as if its new and convincing:

How on earth can I, or any other thinking adult, accept a dismissal of Epicurus' lethal refutation of the existence of god on the grounds that, well, god really wants to eliminate evil, and he can do it, but he will do it in his own time?

Why can't people come up with something that hasn't been answered or refuted? Read Mariano's answer at the following link:

Another atheist against my article on atheism | True Freethinker

Christopher Hitchens Elucidates the Atonement | True Freethinker

Christopher Hitchens speaking at The Amazing M...

Image via Wikipedia
Mariano has done it again. I really enjoyed this essay. In it Mariano makes an important argument about ethics:

Now, he [Christopher Hitchens] considers that “human solidarity” is “in our genes” and “inscribed” because “we wouldn't have gotten this far if we didn't have these qualities.” In other words, this is another it just is of the gaps: it must be because if it were not we would not be here to discuss it. Moreover, it is so because of Darwinian self preservation and reproduction.
What Christopher Hitchens has hit upon is an affirmation of the Bible’s statements about ethics, some of which are:
“I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33, reiterated in Hebrews 10:16).
“the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing” (Romans 2:15).
Thus, “human solidarity” is “in our genes” and “inscribed” but not because of animalistic concerns of self preservation and reproduction but due to humans being an expression of God’s image; God who is relational and loving in nature.

I totally agree.

Christopher Hitchens Elucidates the Atonement | True Freethinker

FacePalm Quote of the Day #9 - Debunking Christianity: Bill O'Reilly vs. Bill Maher On Religion - 09/30/10

John Loftus have posted this clip from the Bill O'Reilly show where O'Reilly interviews Bill Maher on Religion. Both of them deserve facepalm because of their arguments. IT was like watching a train wreck. I have to give Maher some credit, he understands the Bible better than O'Reilly does although Bill O'Reilly claims to be a Christian. Of course Maher gives with one hand but takes with two. Maher attempted to argue that the Bible was immoral because of the law to kill someone for not resting on Sunday. Although Maher got the day wrong - the Bible says "Sabbath" not Sunday - at least he knew about the law and O'Reilly didn't. It quickly degenerated into a shouting match and to be honest O'Reilly only managed to prove he didn't know what he was talking about. It was an excellent example of Biblical illiteracy - on both sides! I'm afraid that Glen Beck seems to know more about what the Bible actually says than either of these guys. I want to see Bill Maher actually go up against a scholar who knows how to defend Christianity and give answers to the questions Maher asks. One thing that makes Maher successful is that he asks the questions that everyone, who gives any thought to religion, asks but he spins it to make it seem like that there are no answers and only morons believe what the Bible says. Maher seems to find people to talk to who couldn't possibly answer his questions. His movie "Religulous" is all about him tripping up people who have not really given any thought to what they believe and why and may have never been challenged on it. If Bill O'Relly is a Christian and really wants to further the work of Christ he should do one of two things:
1. Educate himself so he can truly dialogue on such matters;
2. Stand down on religious matters - he is embarrassing himself and the rest of us.
I'm hoping he takes the first option.
The most embarrassing thing about the segment was at the end, O'Reilly tried to make it seem like Bill was completely wrong about killing your neighbors for desecrating Sundays when he did not know anymore but less than what Maher knew about it. To make it worse, he even gave the wrong answer to the objection!!! A complete facepalm.

Debunking Christianity: Bill O'Reilly vs. Bill Maher On Religion - 09/30/10

Biblos.com: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages

Biblos.com is a one-stop shop for Bible study online. It offers tons to tools plus the Bible in many different languages including Greek and Hebrew that you can read and peruse online!

Biblos.com: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages

Greek Bible

I found a great website for searching the Greek New Testament. You can actually see what the original text looks like online this day. One way to use it is to see how Greek words are spelled and then it's even easier to look up the word in a lexicon if you can't use one of the numbering systems.

Greek Bible

Iron Sharpens Iron: Fred G. Zaspel: The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary

I really enjoyed this episode of Iron Sharpens Iron. I don't know much of Warfield but I have heard of him. It seems like reading Zaspel book will be a good way to learn more. follow the link to hear the interview.

Iron Sharpens Iron: Fred G. Zaspel: The Theology of B. B. Warfield: A Systematic Summary