argument from evil

Did God Create Nuclear Weapons?

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Christians and other believers in God often say, ‘God created everything.’  If we take this literally, as a young child would do, we might start thinking of some objections or possible counterexamples: ‘Did God create nuclear weapons?’ ‘Did God create the ebola virus?’ etc.  The doctrine of divine creation leads quickly to the problem of evil. … Did God Create Nuclear Weapons?

Evidential Asymmetry, Scientific Confirmation of Prayer, and Horrific Evils

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1. The General Case One of the most important (and equally most often forgotten) lessons that Bayes’s Theorem can teach us about evidence is that the strength of evidence is a ratio. To be precise, let H1 and H2 be rival explanatory hypotheses, B be the relevant background information, and E be the evidence to … Evidential Asymmetry, Scientific Confirmation of Prayer, and Horrific Evils

Stan Stephens’s Categorical Misunderstandings of Atheism

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Stan Stephens has finally decided to respond to my list of sixteen (16) lines of empirical evidence which favor naturalism over theism. Here is the first sentence of his reply. Jeffery Jay Lowder provided a list of empirical proofs. (emphasis added) I’ve emphasized Stan’s use of the word “proofs” because it exposes a fundamental misunderstanding … Stan Stephens’s Categorical Misunderstandings of Atheism

Erik Wielenberg’s argument re sceptical theism defended and developed – forthcoming in Religious Studies

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(revised 9 April 2014) Sceptical theism and a lying God – Wielenberg’s argument defended and developed   Stephen Law Department of Philosophy, Heythrop College, University of London, Kensington Square, London W5 8HX UK s.law@heythrop.ac.uk     Abstract: Sceptical theists attempt to block the evidential argument from evil by arguing that a key premise of that … Erik Wielenberg’s argument re sceptical theism defended and developed – forthcoming in Religious Studies

Sean Carroll’s 11 Lines of Evidence for Naturalism over Theism

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This is my attempt to summarize the slides from Sean Carroll’s recent debate with WLC where he very quickly skimmed through eleven (11) lines of evidence which favor naturalism over theism. I don’t claim this is perfectly accurate; any corrections would be welcome and, in fact, appreciated! Facet Theism (Theistic Prediction) Naturalism (Naturalistic Prediction) Lowder’s … Sean Carroll’s 11 Lines of Evidence for Naturalism over Theism

Plantinga on the Alleged “Irrationality” of Atheism

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I want to comment on Gary Gutting’s recent interview of Alvin Plantinga in the New York Times. Unless otherwise indicated, the quotations are quotations of Plantinga. Still, that’s not nearly sufficient for atheism. In the British newspaper The Independent, the scientist Richard Dawkins was recently asked the following question: “If you died and arrived at the … Plantinga on the Alleged “Irrationality” of Atheism

What’s So Great about What’s So Great about Christianity? – Part 2

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As we saw in my last post, Dinesh D’Souza’s defense of the “moral laws presume a moral lawgiver” argument fails. In this post I want to comment on what D’Souza has to say about atheist “attempt[s] to meet this challenge” (232). 1.Like many partisan diatribes, D’Souza’s book says nothing about the strongest arguments and objections … What’s So Great about <I>What’s So Great about Christianity?</I> – Part 2