Resolving doubts.
Renewing purpose.

There are many good and important ways that Guidepost’s final report holds RZIM accountable. I’m grateful for how this very imperfect process yielded some valuable insights.

11 min read

Should you read this newsletter?

I love seeing people in person. And after a year of mandated Zoom meetings, who wants to attend another virtual conference? How about an after-work Zoom party? Any interest in celebrating a live-strea

3 min read

How can we discern who really loves Jesus?

… and who is faking it? So many people claim the name of Jesus. But sometimes, what looked like love for Jesus turns out to be a mask that conceals a lust for money, power, fame, or sex. It is a stunn

4 min read

9/11 and the Gift of Gratitude

It took 20 years after the 9/11 attacks to realize how much of this tragedy I had simply blocked from my mind. The overwhelming barbarity and evil of these terrorist attacks was more than I could pay

4 min read

What’s Wrong with Relativism?

For at least two decades I have understood and taught that the main problem with relativism is that it is false. Further, relativism isn’t just false, it is also illogical, irrational, self-defeating

3 min read

Does teaching the Bible lead to abuse?

Let’s get the Sunday school answer out there: no, teaching the Bible doesn’t lead to abuse. It doesn’t. After all… how could teaching God’s own words lead to abuse? Remember, 2 Timothy 3:16 assures us

6 min read

Who are your enemies?

I remember sitting in a dull, dingy classroom with about thirty people to learn about Muslims and Islam. It was a careful, respectful, and thoughtful experience. So I’m sad to tell you that I’ve forgo

3 min read

Why is Christianity so disappointing?

What’s not to like about Christianity? Eternal life. Forgiveness of sins. Love poured into your heart by the Holy Spirit. A free gift received by faith. Jesus willingly gave his life to save us from o

1 min read

Who Created God?

A surprising agreement with Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and an author of worldwide renown, has on many occasions challenged the idea that Christianity is a

4 min read

What I have learned from Ravi Zacharias and RZIM, Part 2

The catastrophe of Ravi’s double life, and the failure of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) to notice it, much less provide accountability, are now well established facts. Instead of gawk

9 min read

A Template for Evaluating the Miller & Martin Report and RZIM’s Response

Published February 2, 2021 My understanding is that Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM) will receive the final report from Miller & Martin in the next week. Miller & Martin’s complete findi

8 min read

Three Reasons Every RZIM Supporter Should Want The Thompson NDA Terminated

Published January 22, 2021 There are three simple, clear, and powerful reasons that every RZIM supporter — whatever they believe about Ravi Zacharias – should want the NDA between himself and the Thom

8 min read

An Assessment of the December 23, 2020 RZIM Board Statement

Published December 29, 2020 The ‘intermediate statement’ released by The Executive Committee of the RZIM Board of Directors contains extremely damaging and grievous confirmation that Ravi Zacharias ab

7 min read

Published December 22, 2020 I privately sent this apology to the Thompsons on Monday morning. I am publishing it now with their permission. I am not trying to be an example. I only want my apology to

5 min read

A Catastrophic Betrayal

Published December 21, 2020 The “Greatest Apologist” was the Greatest Fraud As a young man with a passionate love for Jesus, many of my dearest family and friends asked me difficult questions about Ch

7 min read

Distracted by Excellence

We live in a culture that habitually, even casually, assumes that excellence is a noble and worthy value. The famous CEO of Apple, Steve Jobs, told us, “We don’t get a chance to do that many things, a

5 min read

All for Jesus

There’s a very simple message at the heart of the Christian message: by faith in Christ, be transformed by the love of God into a new creation. Then, by the renewing love of the Holy Spirit, we love G

5 min read

The Euthyphro Dilemma and the Triune God of Love

The Euthyphro Dilemma, a Socratic dialogue found in Plato’s writings, famously challenges the ideas that ‘the gods’ are a legitimate source of morality. In the dialogue, Socrates asks his friend Euthy

7 min read

Knowledge and Christian Belief by Alvin Plantinga — A Book Review

During my undergraduate studies in philosophy at Rhodes College, under Dr. Larry Lacy, and at St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, one of the questions that preoccupied me was this: how can we know that G

6 min read

Reality Has Consequences

Reality has consequences. This is a more important truth than the very popular (and important) saying “Ideas have consequences.” And it is far, far more important than the saying “Elections have conse

7 min read

Delighting in the Trinity by Michael Reeves — A Book Review

Recently a subscriber to Reasons for God wrote and asked me, “Can you recommend any in-depth books on the Trinity?” This question spurred me to research, and ended with me encountering one of the most

7 min read

The Challenge of Revelation

As an apologist and a philosopher, my default approach to the complexity of religious (and a-religious) ideas is to listen, to think, to reason, and then, as best I can, to draw logical conclusions. B

5 min read

Christmas and the Birth of Hope

In the midst of the cheerful season of Christmas, The New York Times recently surprised again, this time with some powerfully nihilistic writing. The article, by Roy Scranton, is gloomily titled, “We’

8 min read

What is the power of your life? How far does your influence go? As it turns out, the impact of our lives is far more than you might imagine. Give yourself a baseline: take the next five seconds and wr

3 min read

From the start of humanity, we have found ways to separate ourselves from God and one another. From Adam and Eve rejecting God, to Cain murdering his brother Abel, we have had a rocky start to stickin

6 min read

Books For A New Apologist

I want to recommend some books for starting an apologetics library. These books are accessible to a motivated high school student (and middle schooler), but also respect the intelligence of adult read

10 min read

This is a book about spiritual dynamics. Effective spiritual ministry flows out of being, and God is concerned with our being. He is forming it. The patterns and processes He uses to shape us are wort

6 min read

What’s better? To be fully reasonable or to have faith in God? Many atheists think it is better to be fully reasonable and scientific than cling to the false comfort of religious stories. A leading ex

6 min read

In preparing for the upcoming launch of True Reason: Confronting the Irrationality of the New Atheism (March 1), I’ve been reading and re-reading the work of many New Atheists. It is a bit tiresome, a

7 min read

Nabeel is a friend and colleague of mine; my review of his book is therefore ‘biased’ in the sense that I do not have a studied distance by which to evaluate it. But then again, that is also part of w

5 min read

Context matters. For instance, if you’re lying in a dark place and a strong man flashes a knife above your chest before plunging it down into your body, it makes a difference whether you are in a hosp

3 min read

On Guard, by Dr. William Lane Craig, is an excellent introductory text on Christian apologetics. It is, therefore, a good resource for both Christians and those interested in Christianity alike. The b

8 min read

For many Christians, the idea of spiritual disciplines or spiritual formation has become an abstraction, something vague, or a set of pietistic rituals. Whether it is prayer or Bible reading or fastin

9 min read

In my last post, Two Common Evangelism Mistakes, I talked about two ways Christians often get evangelism wrong. You can… Present the wrong message. Live like you don’t believe a word you are saying. I

9 min read

Don’t you sometimes wish that life came with a giant eraser that you could use to get rid of really big mistakes? This would be nice even when you order dessert and then realize about an hour later, o

7 min read

At the 2013 Harvard Law School Commencement, the J.D. speaker, Josie Duffy, shared a beautiful insight from the beginning of her studies. To set the stage, Josie related a story from one of the first

5 min read

One of the more challenging claims against the Christian faith is the historical claim that the earliest writings about Jesus don’t even claim that Jesus was God. After all, if the earliest biographer

20 min read

Have you been studying apologetics for a while? Perhaps you’ve read Reasonable Faith by William Lane Craig and dug into a few books by C.S. Lewis. Armed with this new and exciting knowledge, you’re fi

6 min read

As you may have heard, there is a tremendous debate about the best explanation for the emergence of all the many varieties of living things on our planet. As the documentary Flight: the genius of bird

8 min read

Are you considering if you want to become a Christian? Then you need to know if Jesus bodily rose from the dead. Are you already a Christian? Then you need to know if Jesus bodily rose from the dead –

6 min read

Five Challenges For Your Secular Friends

Do you feel like you’re always on the defensive about Christianity? There’s the Crusades, Westboro is probably inappropriately protesting something, and a prominent Christian leader has likely said so

7 min read

Are you tired of trying to define yourself? There is enormous pressure to define yourself well. What is your personal brand on social media? Or are you simply invisible and irrelevant to the global, h

8 min read

Have you ever heard of experiential learning? From ropes courses to trust falls, or hearing a ‘what is the meaning of life?’ talk while standing in a cemetery, the point of experiential learning exerc

6 min read

Have you seen the documentary Kumaré? It is a fascinating expose of false religious movements: how they are created, maintained, and grow to influence others. The filmmaker, Vikram Gandhi, said he mad

9 min read

Now that Boston is secured, Tamerlan Tsarnaev is dead, and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is in custody, people are starting to ask: what is the best punishment for Dzhokhar? Many want to hold him responsible for

8 min read

“Why Naturalism Is False (or Irrational)” is a talk given to student organizations at both Harvard University and Boston College Law School in April 2013. The following notes reflect the substance of

30 min read

Do you ever feel overwhelmed about defending the truth of Christianity? It seems like there’s a lot of information to remember! Philosophy is complicated. Sometimes apologetics feels like math (with a

4 min read

Many feel that Jesus was just a good moral teacher. Others believe Jesus was a prophet. Some are unsure, but don’t think Jesus was crazy enough to think he was divine. Perhaps Jesus was an inspiring t

13 min read

Do you love your skeptical neighbors? Its a question I don’t hear very often, but one that Christians need to regularly ask one another. According to some studies, up to 20% of Americans are not relig

7 min read

As a Christian, I have been the recipient of some really bad attempts at evangelism. One of the most puzzling was a fairly long airplane ride. I don’t recall talking to the person next to me at all –

5 min read

Intellectually honest people don’t want to believe something because they find it comforting. Rather, they want to believe whatever is true, no matter the consequences. However, this very good commitm

8 min read

The idea that faith is opposed to reason is a popular one. But is it true? For instance, some Christians feel that “faith needs no reasons.” I mean, if you really believe in God, what is the point of

8 min read

One of the most common misunderstandings, in even the most gracious and empathetic conversations between Christians and atheists, occurs because of the difference between ontology and epistemology. Bu

4 min read

A common idea is that Christians are particularly prone to circular reasoning. For instance, Winston Wu pulls no punches at DebunkingSkeptics.com, saying, “Christian beliefs are based on 100 percent c

7 min read

Many atheists claim that the proper definition of atheism is, as Austin Cline of the Atheism channel on About.com states, “simply the absence of belief in gods.” But if atheism is a lack of belief and

11 min read

Books for Skeptics and Seekers

Do you ever feel like you have to have all the answers for your skeptical friends? Here’s the problem: it is way, way easier to ask a hard question than to give a good answer. In the space of five min

7 min read

Why didn’t Jesus teach His disciples the basics of public health? That’s one of the questions that Dr. Richard Carrier raised in a debate with Dr. David Marshall on February 9, 2013. Carrier raised th

13 min read

In this post I am going to teach you a process that will let you answer your friends’ questions. Seriously. You can do this. Before we begin, though, we need to recognize a more general point. Wheneve

8 min read

In a recent article for The Huffington Post, Michael Shermer, the founder of The Skeptics Society, called me a skeptic! Admittedly, he didn’t use my name, but he did define my position. Here’s how he

7 min read

On February 1, Purdue University, in partnership with Biola University, hosted a debate between Dr. Alex Rosenberg and Dr. William Lane Craig, on the topic “Is Faith in God Reasonable?” You can alread

5 min read

As part of one of the biggest religion stories of the past few years, Time Magazine said in March 2012, in an entry titled “The Rise Of The Nones,” that, “The fastest-growing religious group in the U.

8 min read

Christianity Is For Failures

I am the kind of guy who can watch The Biggest Loser (a show about people losing weight) while I sit on the couch, eating cake and ice cream. I find that the subtle pressure of needing to live a healt

8 min read

In a culture that often prizes authenticity above all else, there is no greater sin than self-deception. Ironically, this facilitates self-deception, because the intensified pressure to be authentic s

9 min read

Do you want other people to be happy? If you had a choice between making the world either happier or more miserable, which would you choose? Which choice would be the moral one? These are questions th

8 min read

One of the most common questions I receive is on the topic of the unique truth claims of Christianity. This is also known as the problem of pluralism. The basic issue is that there are many religions

7 min read

Who doesn’t want to be part of an exciting, growing, and large church? The greater the desire for a bigger and better church, the more important church growth strategies are. The motivation from this

3 min read

People are changing their minds about a great deal of moral and religious truth claims. Because of these dramatic changes, I’ve heard many people advocate for adopting the future moral consensus as th

5 min read

This talk was given at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church during their 2012 “Voices of the Nativity” Advent Forum. A quick summary of the talk: Main point: The wise men were wise because they pass

17 min read

Every time a major tragedy grips the conscience of America, some prominent Christians will offer unhelpful explanations. I’d like to look at some of the most embarrassing examples, consider a few reas

9 min read

How do we love our friends on Facebook? It is a new tool, so I’m not sure we have the answers we need to this important question. But with over a billion users, when Christians participate on Facebook

6 min read

The Apostle Paul led an amazing life. It seems that everything he did somehow advanced the gospel. Even when he persecuted the church, dragging men and women into prison, and oversaw the martyrdom of

6 min read

Many pastors would like to include apologetics in their preaching and teaching. Why? Because they know that people in the pew are starving for reasons to believe in Christianity, struggling with doubt

10 min read

One of the most common phrases I hear about research scientists is that they love to be wrong. Why? Because when they are wrong, it means there’s a good chance they have discovered something new. This

8 min read

Christians seem to have a poor reputation for answering questions. Would you like to know why people don’t listen to our answers? And do you want some ideas for changing this situation? Then this post

6 min read

Jesus was once asked what the most important commandment of all. How did he reply? The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with

4 min read

Looking for a fast-paced, exciting story about how a trouble-making washout became a highly-trained Navy SEAL who loved to party, but then gave his life to Christ and became a full-time evangelist? Th

8 min read

Many people think that God is basically mysterious. This is both a pop sentiment, like, “OMG! God is like, so, you know, mysterious! I mean, God is GOD, so that’s BIG!” And it seems to be the careful

5 min read

Recently I heard someone object to the idea that we can know anything at all by saying, “How do you know the universe wasn’t created five minutes ago?” I responded: “What in the world do you mean? Why

7 min read

Would you be willing to share your ‘darkest’ secrets in order to serve others? Have you ever bared your most intimate struggles, on a highly controversial issue, knowing that the mean-spirited will us

7 min read

What if God doesn’t exist? What if Jesus never rose from the dead? Assuming that we accept naturalism as true, how might an accurate historian have explained the events of Acts 2? Here’s my attempt at

4 min read

The disappointing gospel is a very real problem. I’m not talking about the gospel itself, but the gospel that becomes disappointing because of how we present it. The disappointing gospel is one of the

5 min read

The parable of the blind men and the elephant “has crossed between many religious traditions and is part of Jain, Buddhist, Sufi and Hindu lore.” One version goes like this: “A number of blind men cam

4 min read

In this post I want to explore a very specific objection: is it delusional to believe in God on the basis of personal experience? First, what does it feel like to have personal experience of God? This

4 min read

Imagine overhearing someone say: “I love my unicorn Billy. He is the best imaginary friend! He always encourages me when I’m feeling down and he makes the rainbow shine so bright. Billy is the best un

4 min read

Earlier this week a student at Harvard asked a great question in a small group meeting: How should a nihilist behave? When asked for the context, he said he had just had lunch with another student, wh

3 min read

Dr. Matt Dickerson, a professor of computer science at Middlebury College, recently gave a lecture at MIT on the relationship between physicalism and reason. The lecture was based on the fourth chapte

5 min read

One of the common attacks on the reliability of the Bible, and the New Testament in particular, is the idea that “people back then were a lot more gullible about things like miracles and people rising

14 min read

Ghandi is reported to have said, “I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.” And what could be more different than the example of a homeless, penniless, persec

6 min read

When I ran cross country in high school, my team’s coach changed the workout schedule every week. Why did he do that? Because after following his workout plan for one week, we were in better shape and

3 min read

Bias. In order to undercut an unpleasant argument, just claim that prejudicial self-interest blinds another person from seeing the error of their ways. So what to make of Dr. Berlinksi, with a Ph.D. f

7 min read

Has your office ever announced a “new and exciting mission statement” that is subsequently ignored? We all know, whether from real life or from Dilbert, that good intentions and eloquent documents don

2 min read

The Reason for God, by Tim Keller, is an outstanding response to the biggest questions of our day. (In the very unlikely chance that anyone is wondering: no, there is no connection whatsoever between

7 min read

Let’s say that you are now excited to develop your own Life Plan. How do you go about writing it down? What does that process look like? Your number one enemy is procrastination. So the best strategy

3 min read

Our voices can, obviously, be used to communicate. But did you know that, under the right conditions, the sound waves of the human voice are powerful enough to break glass? Though this was once though

9 min read

The following is the transcript of a talk given at Church of the Cross during the “Dealing with Doubts” series on August 19, 2012. Today we are going to look at perhaps the most difficult question tha

15 min read

One of the most honest and heart-wrenching objections to Christianity that I’ve ever heard goes like this: “I would absolutely love to believe that Christianity is true. The idea that I am uncondition

6 min read

Putting together a Life Plan is an exciting process! Once you get going, you might feel a surge of energy as you dream about your future. Pretty soon you’re cramming it full with your entire ‘bucket l

4 min read

So you’ve decided to write (and follow) a Life Plan! But what do you put in your Life Plan – and what do you leave out? I’ve interacted with dozens of students as they’ve put together, worked on, and

6 min read

The Next Christians, by Gabe Lyons, offers a provocative but ultimately encouraging vision for the flourishing of the Christian faith in 21st century America. Both big-picture vision and practical ide

7 min read

The idea of a Life Plan is an ancient one. It goes back to the Garden of Eden, when God advised Adm and Eve, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish

6 min read

Mastering Monday, by John Beckett, provides excellent guidance for integrating the Christian faith with the responsibilities of work. By all accounts, Beckett practices what he preaches, and this book

6 min read

Legalism is the attempt to be somebody, apart from the grace of God, by keeping a set of rules. Some people seek to ‘win’ through success in business and financial gain. Others do it through their goo

4 min read

Whatever their worldview, everyone has doubts. Christians are no different. Given this pervasive experience, every local church needs to acknowledge the reality of doubt. In preparing to respond to do

25 min read

Have you ever volunteered to be harnessed by a straight jacket? I know that I haven’t. In fact, I hope to never be trapped into such a claustrophobic experience. As far as I’m concerned, a straight ja

3 min read

The other night, while I was at an outdoor cookout, I got into a very interesting conversation with a friend of a friend. Her outlook on life was quite different from my own, which led me to ask a num

5 min read

Self-deception is a universal problem. For instance, we are prone to believe that we are all above average. Here are some particularly humorous examples to illustrate the point!: From the academic wor

4 min read

I love to say “yes” to people. There is a real pleasure in making someone else happy, seeing their needs met, and in honoring God, all by using the gifts He’s given me to benefit another person. Sayin

5 min read

“A Collision with God” is a sermon on Mark 10:35-45, given on June 24th, 2012, at a regional worship gathering for Church of the Cross in Boston, MA. You are welcome to give this sermon in other conte

12 min read

Casual vs. intentional A few years ago I played in an Ultimate Frisbee league in Boston. The league is a casual one. Generally, teams don’t meet up to practice, but the members show up each week, play

3 min read

Home Decoration and Life Focus When I was younger (and, more importantly, single), I had a habit of typing up Bible verses, printing them out, and taping them to doors and walls in my apartment. In re

4 min read

What is the most important question in the world? That’s hard to say, but one weighty contender has to be the question, “Who is God?” Whether you’re Richard Dawkins or a Bible-thumping KJV Christian,

3 min read

Do you have a plan for personal growth? Do you know where your life is headed? If not, you need to develop a Life Plan! If you already have a plan for personal growth, you know why I’ve decided to foc

2 min read

Earlier this week I posted “Moral Clarity and Richard Dawkins,”which was then reposted and discussed at the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science website. My first response to the comment

14 min read

This week the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason & Science decided to link to my post “Moral Clarity and Richard Dawkins,” which resulted in a vigorous discussion on their website. Two kinds of res

8 min read

Moral confusion is a common problem. When a conversation begins about the difference between right and wrong, everyone can feel the tension, because admitting you’re wrong isn’t just about saying you

7 min read

Does moral relativism make sense? Are all ethical theories equally good and deserving of our respect? Can a moral code be wrong? Should we always tolerate people and cultures who have different moral

6 min read

Escape from Camp 14, by Blaine Harden and Shin In Geun, is a powerful expose of the ongoing horror story that is North Korea. As you read, consider the question: is evil real? Is the North Korean pris

5 min read

About a year ago while I was at Harvard, talking with one of the students I regularly mentored, it happened that two of his friends walked by and stopped to say hello. We began to talk about their per

5 min read

The following talk was given at Boston College Law School on March 19th, 2012, through a partnership between the Christian Legal Society and Telos Ministries. We are grateful for the partial funding p

28 min read

At yesterday’s Reason Rally, the acknowledged headline speaker was the famous Richard Dawkins. And Dawkins, true to form, managed to display both hypocrisy and irrationality in the course of his fifte

6 min read

Hemant Mehta, who runs The Friendly Atheist blog, and who has been helping to organize The Reason Rally, has recently addressed a number of criticisms of The Reason Rally. But surprisingly, Mehta’s ar

6 min read

A few days ago, as a formal sponsor of the Reason Rally, Jim Klawon of the National Atheist Party sent a formal invitation to the Westboro Baptist Church. This is interesting because Westboro is class

5 min read

Imagine with me two different parenting styles: Type A and Type B. When these two types are scientifically compared to one another, and the outcomes of each approach to children are carefully measured

7 min read

The Reason Rally, hosted by “many of the country’s largest and most influential secular organizations, will feature “music, comedy, speakers, and so much more.” As “the largest secular event in world

4 min read

On March 24th, Richard Dawkins and other atheists plan to host a “Reason Rally” in Washington, D.C. As their website explains, “The Reason Rally is an event sponsored by many of the country’s largest

5 min read

The problem of Christian hypocrisy is a major reason for unbelief. As Ghandi perceptively noted, “If Christians would really live according to the teachings of Christ, as found in the Bible, all of In

9 min read

At The Richard Dawkins Foundation For Reason and Science you can find a witty and urbane video of TV host and comedian Bill Maher. In the video Maher is primarily arguing that “atheism is not a religi

4 min read

In The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins writes that “a Christian child” is nonexistent. As he puts it: Atheists need to raise their own consciousness of the anomaly: religious opinion is the one kid of p

5 min read

In a recent opinion piece for The Washington Post, Paula Kirby writes about how she and other atheists find meaning and purpose for their lives. As she sees it, their appreciation of life’s meaning co

5 min read

In the course of having thousands of conversations about the ultimate issues of life, I’ve encountered many skeptics who, out of a deep respect for their religious friends, are reluctant to explain th

7 min read

In recent years, many atheists have prominently championed their allegiance to intelligent thought. For instance, there is “The Richard Dawkins Foundation For Reason and Science” and Sam Harris’ book

8 min read

In talking with skeptical students around Boston, I have learned that few things drive them as crazy as Christians with a blind faith. They are perplexed: “How can your core convictions be completely

4 min read

One very common question about Christianity goes like this: “If you were born in another country, a place like Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Iran, would you still be a Christian?” The presumptive answer, fro

3 min read

Depending on where you grow up or currently live, it is possible that all or nearly all the Christians that you know strike you as crazy. For instance, they might: Be opposed to science Be hypocritica

5 min read

Our experiences, perhaps more than anything else, powerfully shape our lives and our beliefs. There’s a reason “love at first sight” is a cliché, but “love after multiple, rational deductive tests” is

2 min read

Has science replaced religion as a guide to morality? Are our genes a better guide to right and wrong than revelation from a divine being? Can science lead us to a new morality? A recent study, by Abi

3 min read

The search for God can seem so puzzling and so difficult that many people feel like, “All that God-stuff is a mystery, and no one really knows what’s true.” If this is how you are feeling, it makes se

4 min read

Is human life absurd, meaningless, and empty? Or do our lives have purpose and significance? One way to find an answer to these big questions is to ask another question: if we never existed or ceased

3 min read

The word “spiritual” is a common, everyday word that many people use to describe a wide variety of apparently transcendent experiences. But should we be more careful? Has “spiritual” become a word tha

3 min read

Paula Kirby, a “consultant to secular organizations,” recently wrote in an article for The Washington Post that, “Religion is a parasite that feeds on all that is good in humanity as a whole and then

4 min read

In a post reflecting on the terrorist attacks of 9/11, Dr. Sam Harris speaks about religious practice in sharply negative terms. For instance: Parents teaching religious doctrine to their children is

3 min read

According to some estimates, there are about 2.1 billion Christians in the world, or around a third of the world’s population. Whether you are a Christian questioning your faith or simply curious abou

5 min read

The New York Times recently published online a piece entitled “Confessions of an Ex-Moralist” by Dr. Joel Marks, a scholar at the Interdisciplinary Center for Bioethics at Yale University. His post of

6 min read

Today I’d like to look at a very commonly held idea regarding religious belief. It is often expressed somewhat like this, “It is arrogant to say that Christianity is true and that all other religions

3 min read

My goal is to clarify the logical connections between atheism, determinism, and negative social outcomes. (Please notice how I define atheism). It is very important to note that I am not saying that a

3 min read

Another great quality of many atheists, which is too often unappreciated by Christians and other religious people, is an openness to doubt, a flexibility to look at the world from different angles, an

4 min read

In a desire to foster a great respect and appreciation between atheists and Christians, and for other religious people, I want to celebrate the high esteem that we often share for science: for the sci

3 min read

One of the important qualities that religious dialogue often lacks is respect. We need to be deliberate in considering the strengths of the positions with which we disagree. I have noticed that lookin

2 min read

The standard disclaimer: I am not speaking about or attacking atheists. Instead, my goal is to rationally work through the logical implications of the atheistic worldview. (Please notice how I define

6 min read

On his blog earlier this week, Sam Harris argues for “Morality Without ‘Free Will.’” Sam Harris has become an influential public intellectual through his three New York Times bestsellers, his articles

7 min read

As I have argued earlier, atheism leads to determinism. (Please notice how I define atheism). The most important reason that atheism leads to determinism is that atheism requires that everything be su

2 min read

I want to clarify the problems with determinism under atheism. (Please notice how I define atheism). Thankfully, Sam Harris has already identified one of the problems for us:

2 min read

Many atheists, dedicated to doing what is good, are offended by arguments that the atheistic worldview has problems with morality. It is frustrating for an atheist who genuinely loves doing kind actio

4 min read

Many (but not all) atheists argue for and accept that “free will” in an illusion. Why? Because this conclusion follows logically from the basic principles of atheism. I want to clarify why all atheist

4 min read

Let’s look at the relationship between atheism and selfishness. Let’s be clear: I am not discussing atheists and accusing them of selfishness. Many of my secular friends are generous, kind, hospitable

6 min read

Have you ever felt wretched, just sick to your stomach, over how you’ve hurt someone else? I want to talk about how atheism deals with these experiences. (Please notice how I define atheism). At a tim

3 min read

One of the most notable and repeated ways that atheist leaders such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens have attacked religion is by attacking religious people. Quotes abound, but here are a f

4 min read

As a response to an earlier discussion of atheism and morality, one person wrote, writing, “Atheists have morals and act morally because morality isn’t related to existence of gods.” I think this rais

6 min read

Christopher Hitchens, in his Introduction to the Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever, has a witty counter to those who claim that religious people are especially good: My own resp

5 min read

Atheism – the worldview, not the people group – has a problem with evil. (Please notice how I define atheism). The problem is sometimes called “the naturalistic fallacy,” which states that “you cannot

5 min read

It seems the atheistic universe has no room for purpose. (Please notice how I define atheism). Its important to remember that I cheerfully acknowledge that many atheists take themselves to be living p

5 min read

There is a tension within atheism (Please notice how I define atheism): 1. On a personal level, many if not most atheists are generally hopeful people. 2. On a philosophical level, atheism as a worldv

5 min read

“And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified Jesus, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.” – Luke 23:33 Historically speaking, there’s nothing spe

2 min read

Let’s talk about memorizing the “Did Jesus rise?” argument. (I recognize that if you’re still weighing whether or not the argument is true, this is probably not your first concern, and I appreciate th

2 min read

In their excellent book, The Case for the Resurrection of Jesus, Gary Habermas and Michael Licona offer a very readable and thoroughly researched argument for the publicly accessible, historical, bodi

3 min read

There are a lot of unending processes in the world. Crops will always need rain. Cars need maintenance. Dishes have to be washed, clothes need to be cleaned, floors must be swept and mopped. We all ha

1 min read

When we are hurt by someone, one of the most fundamental temptations is to react with anger and a determination to strike back. Whether they have been insensitive, mean, violent, or disrespectful, we

2 min read

In an chapter in Passionate Conviction, which is a superb collection of essays, Craig Hazen argues that, among all the great religious traditions in the world, Christianity is the best place to start

3 min read

One of the responses to yesterday’s item was this insightful comment: “[A] lot of people have the impression that they would be different. They’ll say, “Sure, those silly Israelites made that mistake,

3 min read

One of the more frustrating elements in the search for God’s existence, at least for some people, is this nagging question: why doesn’t God just shout “HELLO! YOU THERE! BELIEVE IN ME! I AM REAL!” On

4 min read

Debating between monotheism, polytheism, and atheism leads to one of those famous “stay-up-late-in-your-dorm-room-and-talk-for-hours” conversations. Typically these discussions bring in all kinds of o

1 min read

“Does God exist?” is a huge, daunting question. When you’re trying to figure out the existence of God, you need to break the intellectual search down into smaller pieces. Here are some good questions

1 min read

If you’re trying to find God, one thing you need is humility. What is humility? First, humility is not thinking terrible, false thoughts about yourself. It is no virtue to believe harsh, negative lies

2 min read

One often neglected component that is essential, when conducting a thorough investigation for God’s existence, is participating in community. Think about it: how did you learn math or chemistry or Eng

2 min read

One of the most important virtues, in a genuine search for truth, is open-mindedness. The Free Dictionary defines open-mindedness as, “Receptive to new and different ideas or the opinions of others.”

2 min read

Today we’re taking another close look at a statement from The Octavius of Minucius Felix. This writing comes from 160-250A.D. and includes a long section of objections to Christianity from a man named

2 min read

Let’s go back 1,800 years to one of the earliest Christian apologetic writings. There is a very interesting writing, The Octavius of Minucius Felix, which can be dated to 160-250A.D. In this document,

3 min read

One of the most common phrases I hear as I talk to students at Harvard University is “Prove it to me!” Have you ever said this or heard this? Perhaps you personally want 100% certainty before you will

1 min read

Your friend wants to know: “I understand you have a basically trusting attitude towards knowing things. But this strikes me as naive. Don’t you watch The Daily Show? Have you been in a cave while the

2 min read

We all fear being wrong. Nobody likes to be embarrassed, hurt, or put down because they made an error. This is, to a large degree, a very sensible fear that often leads us to seek truth and avoid erro

1 min read