Alvin Plantinga on Naturalism

“Given Darwinism, even our cognitive faculties must be the result of natural selection. Every aspect of human brain physiology and psychology was entirely fixed by its survival value. This means that nowhere along the human evolutionary path did a concern for truth necessarily come into play. So long as an organism’s cognitive apparatus enables it to stay alive, its beliefs need not be true or even reasonable. There is no necessary connection between the survival potential of a cognitive system and the truth of the beliefs it produces...this means that if naturalism is true, then we have no reason to be confident that any of our beliefs are actually true, and the includes our belief in the truth of naturalism.”

As quoted by James Spiegel in The Making of an Atheist, p. 58-59

Article: The Moral Argument for God's Existence by Paul Copan

In today's featured article, philosopher Paul Copan provides a version of the Moral Argument for God's Existence.

He argues the following:

1. If objective moral values exist, then God exists.

2. Objective moral values do exist

3. Therefore, God exists.

Copan writes:

"Intrinsically-valuable, thinking persons do not come from impersonal, non-conscious, unguided, valueless processes over time. A personal, self-aware, purposeful, good God provides the natural and necessary context for the existence of valuable, rights-bearing, morally-responsible human persons. That is, personhood and morality are necessarily connected; moral values are rooted in personhood. Without God (a personal Being), no persons - and thus no moral values - would exist at all: no personhood, no moral values. Only if God exists can moral properties be realized."

You can find the rest of the article here.

For a different take on the Moral Argument, see this article by Peter S. Williams.

Courage and Godspeed,

Chad

Audio: "A Universe from Nothing" with William Lane Craig

Scientist Lawerence Krauss has recently released his book A Universe from Nothing:Why There is Something Rather than Nothing.

In these podcasts, philosopher William Lane Craig discusses Dr. Krauss's book, his hypothesis and whether or not he is really talking about "nothing" in the literal sense.

You can checkout Part 1 here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here.

Further, you can hear Dr. Craig debate Dr. Krauss here.

Courage and Godspeed,

Chad

Article: Ghosts for the Atheists by Robert Velarde

While doing some research recently I stumbled upon an article entitled Ghosts for the Atheists by Robert Velarde, author of numerous books, including Conversations with C.S. Lewis which is recommended by scholars such as Doug Groothuis and Peter Kreeft.

In the article, Velarde writes:

"In the world of the occult or paranormal, a haunting refers to a recurring manifestation of a ghost, usually at a particular location such as a home or other building. Haunting can also mean to disturb or bother the sensibilities or mind. It is in the second sense that this article will provide “ghosts” for the atheist, not as occult phenomena, but as apologetic arguments intended to nudge atheists from their worldview in the direction of Christian theism by weaving cognitive tensions in the fabric of their view of reality. These tensions can fester, bothering atheists because their worldview becomes haunted by ideas that favor the existence of God."

He goes on to list 10 of these so-called "Ghosts." You can find out what they are here. The PDF is here.

I encourage our readers to check out this excellent article.

After all, I did...because "I ain't afraid of no ghost!" Sorry...I couldn't resist!

Courage and Godspeed,

Chad

Free E-Book: The End of Infidelity by Jason Engwer and Steve Hays

Jason Engwer and Steve Hays over at Triablogue have written a response to John Loftus' and colleagues latest book The End of Christianity.

You can find the free e-book here.

We have also added it to our Free Online E-book Library.

Courage and Godspeed,

Chad

Why I'm Not Worried about Richard Dawkins "Destroying Christianity"

Richard Dawkins has stated that it is his goal to "win" and to "destroy Christianity." However, I'm quite confident that Dawkins will not achieve his lofty goal when one considers that he has so far offered 11 excuses as to why he will not debate Christianity's top defender, Dr William Lane Craig.

Does anyone else miss Christophter Hitchens?

Courage and Godspeed,

Chad

Theoretical Physicist John Polkinghorne on the Human Paradox

"The human paradox is that we perceive so many signs of value and significance conveyed to us in our encounter with reality, yet all meaning is threatened by the apparent finality of death. If the universe is truly a cosmos, if the world is really intelligible through and through, then this life by itself cannot be the whole story."

- Belief in God in an Age of Science, p. 23.