John Loftus - A Tippling Philosopher

Hitchens's Razor vs Bayes's Theorem

John W. Loftus has just endorsed my forthcoming book on the Resurrection in the following manner: Hitchens’s Razor, not Bayes’s Theorem, is the proper tool to use against the “absolute baselessness” of the resurrection belief (per David F. Strauss, as quoted in this book). There’s no objective

counter-apologetics

John Loftus and the Whole Kit and Caboodle

I have to thank John Loftus (author, ex-minister and owner of the great Debunking Christianity blog) for giving me a leg up in the blogging world when, running a tiny independent version of the A Tippling Philosopher blog as I was, he allowed me to write for him there. From

Biblical Exegesis

The Resurrection: What We Do and Don't Have

John Loftus's The Case Against Miracles (UK) is looking like it should be a cracker of a book as an anthology of chapters from different authors presenting a very strong case against the notion of miracles. I am loving his own chapter on the Resurrection ("The Resurrection

John Loftus

The Case Against Miracles

I have a lot to thank John Loftus for. Not only did I used to blog at his Debunking Christianity site, but he also commissioned me to write a chapter in two of his books (I wrote one on morality and one on free will). John recently sent me his

Epistemology

On the Argument from Divine Miscommunication

The Argument from Divine Miscommunication, as set out by people like John Loftus (for example, in Chapter 7 of The Christian Delusion, titled "The Problem of Divine Miscommunication"), is a glaringly obvious one. There is so much confusion between theists on what God is, what God means, and

John Loftus

Christianity Is Fundamentally Opposed to Freedom of Speech

I thought I'd resurrect this one from a few years back. In reading Richard Carrier's excellent chapter in John Loftus' superb Christianity is not Great in which I have a chapter myself, there is much to glean concerning matters of democracy and the American Constitution

John Loftus

Problem of Evil: Suffering as Necessary for Good

The Problem of Evil (why is there so much suffering in the world given an OmniGod?) is sometimes answered by theists that suffering has to exist so that people have a working knowledge of what bad or evil is in order to know what good is, or indeed that pleasure

agnosticism

Real Deconversion Story #14 - Anthony Toohey

Here is another account in my series of real-life deconversion stories. They are often painful, psychological affairs, as you can see from the various accounts. Anthony Toohey contacted me through facebook and ended up writing this account. Please check out my book of deconversion accounts, edited with Tristan Vick, which

hell

Satan's Incomprehensibility

Many people, particularly fundamentalists, still believe in a real and actual Satan. Of course, to everyone else, this is completely incomprehensible. And here's one reason for why, as John Loftus sets out in his book The End of Christianity (p. 100): That the highest created being, known as

God's characteristics

God as an Abstraction

Some time ago, I finished John Loftus’ The Outsider Test for Faith. There is much to talk about within the pages, not least some of the excellent quotes he has gathered from other writers which he uses to defend his own positions on various topics. For the purposes of this

Biblical Exegesis

Christianity is fundamentally opposed to freedom of speech

In reading Richard Carrier's excellent chapter in John Loftus' superb Christianity is not Great in which I have a chapter myself, there is much to glean concerning matters of democracy and the American Constitution in the context of the Bible and religion.download It is funny how so many libertaria

democracy

Founding Father John Adams: Christianity, Atheism and Democracy

The Founding Fathers are still on the front line of debate amongst atheists and Christians, secularists and theocrats alike. All these years later there is still confusion abounding. Part of the reason why is that there are many misquotes (and this can happen on both sides). Here, for example, is a

bible

First Biblical Contradiction

I haven't done a post like this for ages. Reading, as I mentioned in a previous post, a book sent to me for review, Franz Kiekeben's The Truth About God, the author takes a whistle-stop tour through inconsistencies in the Bible (not so much to list them all, as he only mentions a few, but to illustr

heaven

Problem of Evil: Suffering Necessary for Good

The Problem of Evil (why is there so much suffering in the world given an OmniGod?) is sometimes answered by theists that suffering has to exist so that people have a working knowledge of what bad or evil is in order to know what good is, or indeed that pleasure cannot exist without pain.

God's characteristics

Valerie Tarico on God's emotions in context

I love this quote from Valerie Tarico in her chapter "God's Emotions" in John Loftus' book The End of Christianity. To say that the descriptions of God in the Bible are metaphors does not make the situation any better. A metaphor about something as deep as the human relationship to ultimate reality

God's characteristics

God as an Abstraction, Squeezed out from our World and Universe

Whilst on holiday I finished reading John Loftus’ The Outsider Test for Faith which I greatly enjoyed and will be reviewing in a short while. There is much to talk about within the pages, not least some of the excellent quotes he has gathered from other writers which he uses to defend his own positi

John Loftus

John Loftus leaves SIN

It comes with some great surprise and sadness that John Loftus has decided to leave the Skeptic Ink Network, a platform which he co-founded with Ed Clint for which we are all exceptionally grateful. As you surely know, John is the author of some superb books, one of which I am due to soon review (Th

apologetics

A reply to Rauser on Loftus, God or Godless?, and evidence for God (pt 2). And some.

So Randal has responded to my response to Part 1 of his response to my review of his book. But I have not yet had the chance to respond to his Part 2 of his response to my review of his book. Or something. Anyway, this will combine responding to his Part 2 and commenting on his further reply.

John Loftus

God or Godless?

I am stoked to have received a review copy of John Loftus' latest offering, "God or Godless?" which he has co-written with Randal Rauser, the apologist with whom I had a radio debate on the subject of the nativity. Let me briefly introduce the authors and the book.