Posts Tagged ‘ Christianity ’

Faith Fails; Use Skepticism To Appraise Religion, Find Truth

May 7, 2013
By
John Loftus

John Loftus

Believers Should Be Skeptical of Their Religion – And Worried, An Interview With John Loftus

Minister-turned-atheist and author John Loftus and I consider how to appraise religions skeptically and fairly. We talk about issues raised in his new book, The Outsider Test for Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True. In the 1980s Loftus earned three masters degrees in theology and studied under the tutelage of prominent Christian apologist William Lane Craig. He spent 14 years in Christian ministry, and in the 1990s experienced a full-blown crisis of faith. In 2008 he published a book titled Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity. After my discussion with Loftus I’ll refute some arguments I recently discovered while visiting Christian apologetic websites. These claims are directly related to Loftus’ book and our conversation. That is at the end of the podcast (at the 33:15 mark).

MP3 File
(43 minutes, 36 seconds, 20.93 MB)

Here are some links mentioned in this podcast:
Faith: ‘wishful thinking’? by Steve Wilkinson at the Christian Apologetics Alliance
Common Objection #19- “Why Won’t God Heal Amputees?” by Chad at Truthbomb Apologetics
Can Science Lead to Faith? by Gary Marcus at The New Yorker

Author, Skeptic Opens Dialogue With Christians

April 15, 2013
By
Author Guy P. Harrison

Author Guy P. Harrison

Guy P. Harrison Seeks Mutual Understanding and Honest Conversation With His New Book

I’m pleased to welcome author Guy P. Harrison back to the podcast to talk about his new book, 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian. I spoke to him a year ago about his previous book, 50 Popular Beliefs That People Think are True. Harrison’s writing focuses primarily on science and skepticism. He’s held numerous positions in the news industry, including editorial writer, world news editor, sports editor, photographer, page designer, and columnist. His new book is not intended to be argumentative or disrespectful, but to promote dialogue and understanding. Harrison asks questions such as, “What is the born-again experience?” “Why would God want to sacrifice his only son for the world?” “Do miracles really happen?” “How reliable is the Bible?” “What is the rapture?” and, “Why isn’t everyone a Christian?” Harrison follows each question with thoughtful analysis. Throughout the book Harrison takes care never to condescend or treat the reader poorly.

MP3 File
(55 minutes, 50 seconds, 26.33 MB)

Listen to my audio commentary titled, Islamohysteria: The Misguided Attacks on Sam Harris, at the end of this podcast starting at the 41:22 mark.

Click here to read On Islamophobia and Libels, by Sam Harris, and here to read Greenwald and Hussain on Sam Harris and Racism, by Robby Bensinger

The Demons Never Came (Conclusion)

June 22, 2012
By

Deboarding the Jesus Train This is the conclusion of a multi-part series detailing my path from Christianity to non-belief. Click here to read the previous chapter, The Women-Hater’s Handbook. My previous post described the repugnance I felt while reading the Bible after more than 20 years since my devout Christian…

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The Demons Never Came (Part 3)

June 19, 2012
By

The Women-Hater’s Handbook This is the third of a multi-part series detailing my path from Christianity to non-belief. Click here to read the previous chapter, From Religious Credulity to Healthy Skepticism. My previous two posts detail my Christian past, and how I eventually began to question my beliefs after the…

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Science Has No Need of the Religious Hypothesis (Part 1)

June 6, 2012
By

When French mathematician and astronomer Pierre-Simon Laplace presented Napoleon with a book of his work, circa 1800, Napoleon asked him why it didn’t mention god. Laplace purportedly replied, “I had no need of that hypothesis.” Physicist Victor Stenger marks this event as the start of the modern break between science…

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Physicist Vic Stenger & the Science, Religion Divide (Podcast)

June 4, 2012
By
Physicist Victor Stenger

Physicist Victor Stenger

An Interview with physicist Victor Stenger

In his new book, God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Religion and Science, physicist Victor Stenger presents historical, philosophical and scientific reasons why the two aren’t compatible. Stenger is a retired elementary particle physicist and author of eleven books, including the 2007 New York Times bestseller God: The Failed Hypothesis, How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist. After discussing early Greek thought, Arabic science and other historical events, Stenger considers modern scientific philosophy. He also discusses the fallacy of the fine-tuning argument and the bad science used by Intelligent Design proponents. For more information and a complete list of Stenger’s books, see his web page here.

How Christianity Failed Science

May 31, 2012
By

In an essay titled Christianity Was Not Responsible for Modern Science, Richard Carrier loosely defines delusion as an easily falsifiable belief held disproportionately to the evidence. Carrier’s essay, which appeared in the 2010 book, The Christian Delusion, Why Faith Fails, easily discredits the fantasy that Christianity begat science. I recently…

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How to Eliminate Faith: A Lesson

May 27, 2012
By

One indefatigable participant in the admirable goal of separating people from the delusion of faith is philosopher Peter Boghossian, who describes faith as a cognitive sickness. So far this year, the controversial Portland State University professor has delivered speeches (see here and here), given interviews (see here, here, and here),…

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Philosopher Seeks to Devalue Faith

May 12, 2012
By

Philosopher Peter Boghossian continued his criticism of faith with a succinct and cogent speech on May 6 in Portland, Ore. The Humanists of Greater Portland sponsored and hosted the Sunday morning event, which drew so much interest that the group opened three overflow rooms during the talk, said one volunteer. I enthusiastically support…

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Christian Writer’s Childish Notion of ‘Secular’

May 8, 2012
By

Writer Andrea Palpant Dilley left the Christian church at the age of 23. She rose in the middle of a sermon and walked out after leaning over to her father and whispering, “This is bullshit.” In a recent column for CNN.com she writes, More than just that sermon, I was…

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Next Podcast

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

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