Here is a well crafted rebuttal to Richard Dawkins. For those of you that are not aware of Richard Dawkins he has been a large speaking head for the atheist community and has appeared on many US and UK television shows. He also has headlined many large debates. Richard Dawkins' book The God Delusion has been a best seller on a handful of lists. Published just last year it is still in the top 20 rankings on Amazon.com. He has two other recent popular books The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design and A Devil's Chaplain: Reflections on Hope, Lies, Science, and Love. Though it may seem that Dawkins creates many straw men his popularity has given rise to Atheism and a voice against orthodox Christianity. As Christians on mission for Jesus he at least needs to be on the radar as you engage with those that do not know Jesus.
Dawkins along with Sam Harris, former pastor/apologetics guy James Loftus, the Rational Response Crew with their "blasphemy challenge", and the Da Vinci code to some extent are beginning to attract what were before the nominal, passive atheists to begin to speak out against with new found fervor Christianity.(Just type in "blasphey challenge" to youtube) ... Maybe as a growing backlash to the generic evangelical Christianity sterotype, Bush, scandals,... I'm sure the reasons are apparent. The problem with investigating many of their blogs, forums and websites is that a majority of the Christians who are zealous enough to challenge the atheists are consistently much weaker in the knowledge, philosophy and debate part. Often being pulled into complex philosophical arguments around the problem of evil, Ockhams razor, Euhemerism, the epic of gilgamesh ect., which the average believer is unprepared for.
Another problem is the influence these militant atheists are having on the average person. They are, in a sense, starting to evolve into anti-heroes. I see the threads of their ideas in counseling, conversations, unrelated forums and the media. Last week here in British Columbia, I'm flipping through the channels and come across Sam Harris at 11 am ripping apart Christianity for an hour in front of a packed university crowd.
The question is: Do we as Pastors, mentors and teachers disciple believers to be able to present a strong argument for their faith, understand the philosophical arguments, know the proper rhetoric, ect. while understanding the foundation of their faith isn't a polemic argument or intellectual supremacy rather faith, hope and love in the mystery that is Christianity? We as church leaders need to be prepared for this as it will become a major challenge to the faith in the coming years. Hopefully developing deeper believers in the process...
Sorry for the long comment, I guess I've been thinking about this a lot recently.
Also I would recommend www.answeringinfidels.com as an interesting website of believers who seem to be equipped in reaching out to and communicating with atheists. They also have a point by point response to the film "The god who wasn't there" by Brian Flemming.
I'm really interested in hearing more thoughts from others and their observations of this...
VR,
Jason
www.jasonhughlett.typepad.com
I read Dawkin's "Blind Watchmaker" about 8 years ago, and made the mistake of reading his new besteller "The God Delsuion" a couple of months ago only to find a retreaded argument that only makes sense when you begin with the presupposition that there is no God. His conclusions are merely based off of his assumptions, and his "Objectivity" is a product of his own mind, since he still lives under the modernist assumption that his "Objective" mind is free from prejudice, emotion and perspective.
He appears to me as nothing more than a soap box evangelist replete with the dogma and zeal that was once the sole property of the "Ole Time Gospel Hour!" He is bombastic, arrogant, intolerant, and basically a simpleton. I enjoyed Time magazines interview with him and Francis Collins (The geneticist in charge of the human genome project), because a real scientist like Collins can easily expose Dawkins' straw man arguments for what they are.
I have seen him in two different venues spout his dogma that he can't disprove the "Fairy god mother," Santa Claus" and my favorite, the "Spaghetti Monster" (Which is his apologetic of why he doesn't need to or can't disprove God) without anyone reminding him that %97 of the world hasn't been massively affected by any of the aforementioned myths. Mainly because myths die when they're exposed for what they are; MYTHS! Dawkins is trying to enlighten us with his attempt to do the same to the Christian God of the bible only to expose himself as an ignorant fool when it comes to history and biblical exegesis.
There are many articulate atheist who respectively refrain from adhominem argument for the sake of winning the discontent, and I have read and respect many of these men and women. I read Dawkins however to strengthen my faith, remind myself that bigots come in many different shapes and sizes, and of course he makes me chuckle.
I have to say that I'm at loss when it comes to all of these "atheists" that are popping up as of late. I thought that real atheism had become extinct. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that anyone claiming they know that there is no God is at best intollerably arogant and at worst a complete fool.
I understand that some people might be agnostic. Actual honest doubt; I can understand that. But to insist for a fact that there is no God? That's just stupid.
Alvin Plantinga is a major mental-stud and on faculty with the fighting Irish. He recently wrote a review / critique of Dawkins for Christianity Today's Books & Culture. It was very helpful to me.
Dawkins along with Sam Harris, former pastor/apologetics guy James Loftus, the Rational Response Crew with their "blasphemy challenge", and the Da Vinci code to some extent are beginning to attract what were before the nominal, passive atheists to begin to speak out against with new found fervor Christianity.(Just type in "blasphey challenge" to youtube) ... Maybe as a growing backlash to the generic evangelical Christianity sterotype, Bush, scandals,... I'm sure the reasons are apparent. The problem with investigating many of their blogs, forums and websites is that a majority of the Christians who are zealous enough to challenge the atheists are consistently much weaker in the knowledge, philosophy and debate part. Often being pulled into complex philosophical arguments around the problem of evil, Ockhams razor, Euhemerism, the epic of gilgamesh ect., which the average believer is unprepared for.
Another problem is the influence these militant atheists are having on the average person. They are, in a sense, starting to evolve into anti-heroes. I see the threads of their ideas in counseling, conversations, unrelated forums and the media. Last week here in British Columbia, I'm flipping through the channels and come across Sam Harris at 11 am ripping apart Christianity for an hour in front of a packed university crowd.
The question is: Do we as Pastors, mentors and teachers disciple believers to be able to present a strong argument for their faith, understand the philosophical arguments, know the proper rhetoric, ect. while understanding the foundation of their faith isn't a polemic argument or intellectual supremacy rather faith, hope and love in the mystery that is Christianity? We as church leaders need to be prepared for this as it will become a major challenge to the faith in the coming years. Hopefully developing deeper believers in the process...
Sorry for the long comment, I guess I've been thinking about this a lot recently.
Also I would recommend www.answeringinfidels.com as an interesting website of believers who seem to be equipped in reaching out to and communicating with atheists. They also have a point by point response to the film "The god who wasn't there" by Brian Flemming.
I'm really interested in hearing more thoughts from others and their observations of this...
VR,
Jason
www.jasonhughlett.typepad.com
I read Dawkin's "Blind Watchmaker" about 8 years ago, and made the mistake of reading his new besteller "The God Delsuion" a couple of months ago only to find a retreaded argument that only makes sense when you begin with the presupposition that there is no God. His conclusions are merely based off of his assumptions, and his "Objectivity" is a product of his own mind, since he still lives under the modernist assumption that his "Objective" mind is free from prejudice, emotion and perspective.
He appears to me as nothing more than a soap box evangelist replete with the dogma and zeal that was once the sole property of the "Ole Time Gospel Hour!" He is bombastic, arrogant, intolerant, and basically a simpleton. I enjoyed Time magazines interview with him and Francis Collins (The geneticist in charge of the human genome project), because a real scientist like Collins can easily expose Dawkins' straw man arguments for what they are.
I have seen him in two different venues spout his dogma that he can't disprove the "Fairy god mother," Santa Claus" and my favorite, the "Spaghetti Monster" (Which is his apologetic of why he doesn't need to or can't disprove God) without anyone reminding him that %97 of the world hasn't been massively affected by any of the aforementioned myths. Mainly because myths die when they're exposed for what they are; MYTHS! Dawkins is trying to enlighten us with his attempt to do the same to the Christian God of the bible only to expose himself as an ignorant fool when it comes to history and biblical exegesis.
There are many articulate atheist who respectively refrain from adhominem argument for the sake of winning the discontent, and I have read and respect many of these men and women. I read Dawkins however to strengthen my faith, remind myself that bigots come in many different shapes and sizes, and of course he makes me chuckle.
I have to say that I'm at loss when it comes to all of these "atheists" that are popping up as of late. I thought that real atheism had become extinct. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that anyone claiming they know that there is no God is at best intollerably arogant and at worst a complete fool.
I understand that some people might be agnostic. Actual honest doubt; I can understand that. But to insist for a fact that there is no God? That's just stupid.
Where's the new updated articles?
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><)))))> ~ ><))))> ~ ><)))>
www.redeemerbaptist.net
Alvin Plantinga is a major mental-stud and on faculty with the fighting Irish. He recently wrote a review / critique of Dawkins for Christianity Today's Books & Culture. It was very helpful to me.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/bc/2007/002/1.21.html
- Tim
Last Friday, there was a debate between Richard Dawkins and Alistair McGrath. Here's the mp3s: Part 1, Part 2
(HT: Justin Taylor)
Jon Krombein
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