Occam’s Razor
Posted on Monday Oct 6, 2008 under polemics 11 comments read it »A discussion of how Occam’s Razor is sometimes used as a basis for objecting to Christianity, highlighting some serious philosophical problems with this approach.
The Magisterial Cypher
Posted on Thursday Oct 2, 2008 under polemics and spiels no comments read it »The sad story of a Catholic layman named Juan; a dedicated believer and amateur theologian, who gradually comes to realize that, as one of the laity, he is no more able to understand his religion than the peasants of the middle ages.
The Chronological Priority Objection revisited
Posted on Monday Sep 29, 2008 under correspondence and polemics no comments read it »A defense of biblical foundationalism, in response to the objection that “The Bible is the word of God” presupposes certain more basic truths, and thus cannot function as a first principle. This objection was forwarded to me by my friend David Parker, who encountered it while debating a Randian objectivist.
Is intelligent design science? A response to Ken Perrott
Posted on Monday Sep 15, 2008 under polemics no comments read it »A continuation of my previous commentary on the question of whether intelligent design is a scientific inference. Here, I respond to some objections by kiwi atheist Ken Perrott, pointing out the hypocrisy of secular scientists in labeling the anti-ID thesis as scientific, while denying the same standing for ID itself.
The Protestant’s Wager
Posted on Wednesday Sep 10, 2008 under polemics no comments read it »A brief exposition of the failure of Roman Catholicism to provide a principled advantage in understanding doctrine, over and against Protestantism. I conclude with a serious parody of Pascal’s Wager, arguing that on a Catholic’s own terms, and all other things being equal, it is safer to be a Protestant than a Catholic.
The keys of the kingdom
Posted on Thursday Sep 4, 2008 under polemics no comments read it »An examination of Roman Catholic claims about the keys of the kingdom in Matthew 16:19, listing nine culminating reasons for their failure.
An atheistic greater good argument
Posted on Thursday Aug 21, 2008 under polemics 3 comments read it »A brief interaction with an atheistic argument that the existence of evil, under Christianity’s own presuppositions, disproves the existence of God by contradicting his desire for the greatest good. This argument was forwarded by Stan (and also John Loftus) on Debunking Christianity.