benefits of religion

One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 4

In A Companion to Philosophy of Religion, there is an article by Jeffrey Jordan on “Pragmatic Arguments”, that covers Pascal’s Wager. According to Jordan, there are at least three versions of Pascal’s Wager. In this post I will examine one of the three versions, which goes something like this: 1. Either God exists or it One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 4

One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 2

Here is another argument for God, based on answered prayers: 1. If God exists, then it is very likely that prayers to God for healing from injury or disease would usually be immediately followed by instantaneous and complete healing, except when the injury or disease was the result of self-destructive, foolish, or morally wrong actions One Man’s Modus Ponens…Part 2

One Man’s Modus Ponens…

Here is an argument for the existence of God: 1. If there is a God, then it is very likely that there is a book that was written many centuries ago that is purported to be a divine revelation, and that is widely known about, and that is filled with nothing but true facts and One Man’s Modus Ponens…

Arrogant Atheists?

This is more than two months old, but I still think this is interesting. What’s interesting to me is that, according to these survey results, there is a certain symmetry between, on the one hand, theistic stereotypes about atheists, and, on the other hand, atheistic stereotypes about theists.   Dominant Theistic View Dominant Atheistic View Arrogant Atheists?

The Alpha course vs. Philosophy

Extract from my OUP book Humanism: A Very Short Introduction, which references the Alpha Course (it’s from chpt 7) Religion vs. shallow, selfish individualism   Let’s now turn to religious practice. Setting aside the issue of whether God exists, perhaps it might still be argued that religious reflection or observance is required if our lives The Alpha course vs. Philosophy

Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi: Morality and Immorality among the Irreligious

Courtesy of Google books, the entire chapter by Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi is available online for free.  Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, “Morality and Immorality among the Irreligious” in Atheism and Secularity (ed. Phil Zuckerman, ABC-CLIO, 2009), 113-148. You may need a valid Google account in order to access the content. Also, you will probably need to scroll down to Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi: Morality and Immorality among the Irreligious