Faith has countless definitions. Consider how the word faith is used in this sentence: “Melvin subscribes to the Mormon faith, so he thinks his skivvies protect him from tsunamis.”[1]+ In this sentence, faith denotes a sectarian organization or a collection…
Alvin Plantinga’s Properly Basic Belief
Alvin Plantinga’s Properly Basic Beliefs Alvin Plantinga contends that Christianity is a basic belief, a foundational presupposition. He says that Christians like himself “may start with Christian beliefs and theorize on the basis of them.”[1] He compares our awareness of…
Personal Experience – Part 2
If C. S. Lewis was right in saying that personal religious experiences come from within us, then from where within us? Surely not from our goozle, gonads, or gynecomastia. No, religious experiences trace back to the brain, the conduit of…
Personal Experience – Part 1
I promised in the introduction of Religion Refuted that we would examine all three paths to religious belief: natural theology, personal experience, and faith. Our examination of natural theology, which occupies three-fourths of the book, is completed. Congratulations. We’re now…
Of Ants and Algebra
Did the natural realm have a cause? It would seem that the answer must be either yes or no. Let’s consider first the implications if the answer is no. In other words, what would it mean to say that the…
Happiness
Last night I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of Charlotte Freethinking Atheists. The main topic of our group discussion was not directly related to atheism. The topic was, instead, happiness. As I listened to the discussion, I formulated…