The End of Biblical Studies

Still a Child Evangelist

A Survey of the Temper Tantrums of Hector Avalos

James Patrick Holding

…It will become clear, however, why I have chosen my title as I have. Avalos is, like Price and Ehrman, of the worst sort of “fundy atheist” — an atheist who has not abandoned the black and white mentality of the fundamentalist, and so continually errs in his assessments of evidence and arguments, or else feels that it is perfectly fine to manipulate the truth in service of what he thinks the greater good. I have also chosen the title and front-page illustration for a reason, in this vein. Avalos was once a child evangelist, and he remains one to this day: An evangelist, for atheism, with the same fervor and willingness to manipulate emotions and/or truth; and a child, in that his fundamentalist mindset, still retained, has prevented him from truly growing up, being honest, and thinking critically.

More: http://www.tektonics.org/af/avalos01.html

A New Edition of Apologetica Now Available!

Are Christians delusional?

Read the latest edition of Apologetica for a response to Richard Dawkins attempt to answer intelligent design theorists regarding irreducible complexity.

Is Natural Selection sufficient to produce the obvious elements of design found in the universe? Brian Thomas doesn’t think so! He argues that the concept of irreducible complexity eliminates the possibility of a graduated development of biochemical “machines” that are essential to functioning cells.

To find out more read the new edition of Apologetica.

Sign up to receive Apologetica by email: cca@apologeticscenter.org

J.P. Moreland on "Kingdom Triangle" at NPC 2007

Oxford Scholar John Lennox on Atheism and Richard Dawkins

Well - has science buried God? Of course not. John Lennox answers his own question decisively. No one who understands what science really is and is not could suppose that such interment was ever on the cards. No one who understands what religion really is, beneath its sometimes ugly face, could suppose that it would be good to bury it.

From article:

“He is taken seriously in this not because his arguments are sound but because he is an outstanding rhetorician. It is the art of bamboozlement.”

Source: http://books.guardian.co.uk…

Dinesh D’Souza Debates Daniel Dennett

Thanks to Richard Dawkins dot net for this material!

Description:

Dinesh D’Souza, Christian and best-selling author, faced off against Tufts professor, author, and atheist Daniel Dennett in a debate on the existence of god. The resolution for the debate was as follows: “God is a manmade invention.” Daniel Dennett argued the affirmative, and Dinesh D’Souza the negative.

Full debate - VIDEO QuickTime format (185 MB, 2:15:12)

Full debate - AUDIO only mp3 (60.9 MB, 2:15:12)

Part 1

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God and the Flying Spaghetti Monster

Dear Professor Craig,

The cumulative case for the existence for God proceeds from some data (physical constants, sentient souls, testimonies for miracles, etc.) to the existence of God as the best explanation of these data. There are some important objections. 1. Such inference does not show why theism is a better explanation than, say, the hypothesis of the existence of a very powerful Flying Spaghetti Monster. 2. Neither it says why some evil being - some powerful, malevolent being, say, something like Satan - is not a better explanation than God; especially when the existing evil is included in the data. How would you counter? Thank you very much.

Answer here:

http://www.reasonablefaith.org…

Meeting: December 2007 — Who was Jesus Christ and did He have a Christmas tree?

Hi everyone. We are having our final meeting for the year at 7-9pm, Monday 10^th December at Saint Albans Church, 339 Albert Street, Palmerston North. I have described the next meeting as follows:

Who was Jesus Christ and did He have a Christmas tree?

Merriment aside, the Bible makes comes outlandish claims such as: Jesus was born of a virgin?!?

Why do Christians insist upon this seemingly unreasonable claim? What happens to Christianity if Jesus’ unnatural conception and His resurrection from the dead were falsified? Why did ‘God become flesh’ in the person of the God-man, Jesus Christ? Why has this seemingly outrageous set of claims lasted well into the scientific age?

Joe Fleener (B.Sc., M.Div.) from the Shepherd’s Bible College in Hasting will address this topic.

Greg Bahnsen - Defending the Christian Faith (part 1)

Letter to a Maladjusted Misotheist (Sam Harris)

Published by permission (http://www.tektonics.org/gk/harrisletter.html)

November 2, 2006

Dear Mr. Harris,

Greetings to you. I am writing to you because I am in possession of your latest work, Letter to a Christian Nation, and I have been asked to deliver a detailed response to it, which I intend to do over the next few days. Before I begin writing you letters in earnest, however, I thought I ought to let you know when the first time was I ever heard of you: I saw your appearance in Brian Flemming’s film, The God Who Wasn’t There.

Now if you know this, you will understand why, quite frankly, I consider you a non-starter as an ideological opponent, rather than any sort of informed, worthwhile threat. For you see, it is my policy as a defender of the Christian faith to ignore those who show little or no interest in presenting a fair, accurate, and above all informed critique of Christianity.

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