Repost: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence (ECREE), Part 2: Is ECREE False? A Reply to William Lane Craig
(This article was originally published on this blog on June 21, 2012. I am reposting because William Lane Craig recently tweeted a link to a video in which he objects to ECREE.) In my last post, I offered a Bayesian interpretation of the principle, “extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence” (ECREE). William Lane Craig, however, disagrees with … Repost: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence (ECREE), Part 2: Is ECREE False? A Reply to William Lane Craig
Are Atheism and Moral Realism Logically Incompatible?
I am a regular reader of Victor Reppert’s blog, Dangerous Idea. In the combox for one of his recent posts, Steve Hays claimed that atheism and moral realism are logically incompatible. I wrote a lengthy reply to Hays in the combox and have decided to republish it here. Before I republish my comments, I will make one … Are Atheism and Moral Realism Logically Incompatible?
Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 1
I was recently asked to participate in a public discussion/debate about the question “Did Jesus Exist?”. I don’t plan to argue in favor of the mythicist position, just because I don’t think I would do it justice. I’m not a mythicist, and I have not studied any mythicists in recent years (I read some of … Did Jesus Exist? Ehrman’s Complete Failure – Part 1
Draft Paper on the Jewish Hearsay Testimony and the Empty Tomb
I wrote this about 10 years ago but never finished it. In light of recent discussions, however, I thought it might be of interest to some readers. Please do not cite without my permission. Jewish_Hearsay_Evidence_v1.0_DRAFT_1 Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)
William Lane Craig Admits that His Fine-Tuning Argument is Based Upon Speculation
In my last post, I reported that WLC has reached the same conclusion I have regarding the scale of the universe as evidence against theism. After re-reading his article, I realized I missed an even more important announcement. Although he would deny it, in the same article he also admits that his fine-tuning argument is … William Lane Craig Admits that His Fine-Tuning Argument is Based Upon Speculation
William Lane Craig Endorses My Argument from Scale against Theism!
He doesn’t mention by name, of course, and may not have even had my argument in mind, but the sort of Bayesian considerations he raises support my Bayesian argument from scale, in two ways. First, he agrees with me about the “direction” the evidence points (against theism). Second, he agrees with me about the “magnitude” … William Lane Craig Endorses My Argument from Scale against Theism!
Naturalism, Theism, and Moral Ontology: A Reply to William Lane Craig
(Reposting since this seems to be so popular. So far as I am aware, neither WLC nor anyone else has responded to this.)Abstract: This paper considers William Lane Craig’s metaethical argument for God’s existence. Roughly, the argument is that the existence of objective moral values provides strong evidence for God’s existence. I consider one by one … Naturalism, Theism, and Moral Ontology: A Reply to William Lane Craig
Response to William Lane Craig – Part 15
Here is my main objection to William Craig’s case for the resurrection of Jesus: In order to prove that Jesus rose from the dead, one must first prove that Jesus died on the cross. But in most of William Craig’s various books, articles, and debates, he simply ignores this issue. He makes no serious attempt … Response to William Lane Craig – Part 15
William Lane Craig’s Logic Lesson – Part 4
In the March Reasonable Faith Newsletter William Craig asserted this FALSE principle about valid deductive arguments that have premises that are probable: … in a deductive argument the probability of the premises establishes only a minimum probability of the conclusion: even if the premises are only 51% probable, that doesn’t imply that the conclusion is only … William Lane Craig’s Logic Lesson – Part 4
William Lane Craig’s Logic Lesson – Part 3
I had planned to discuss counterexamples (to Craig’s principle) that were based on dependencies existing between the premises in some valid deductive arguments. But I am putting that off for a later post, in order to present a brief analysis of some key concepts. It seems to me that an important part of understanding the relationship … William Lane Craig’s Logic Lesson – Part 3