moral argument

Are There Any “Good” Atheists?

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One of the most popular arguments for God’s existence is the moral argument. It can take different forms, but a popular version runs like this:  If God doesn’t exist, there are no objective moral values or duties.  But moral values and obligations exist – objectively.  Therefore, God exists.  It’s not unusual for someone to say, “Are you saying that all atheists are bad people? Rude!” The Christian apologist will often reply that the issue isn’t about belief in God but whether or not God exists. After all, we all know moral atheists.  It’s true that this is a fundamental misunderstanding of the argument. But do we really know of many good atheists?  Relatively so, absolutely. … Read more

We Know Moral Truths Better Than We Know Many Scientific Claims

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I recently came across this article “10 Things You Should Know About Scientism” by Christian philosopher JP Moreland, and he dropped a truth-bomb that is too good to not share. But let me give you a trigger-warning. This is sure to rankle a lot of atheists who seem to unquestionably accept the philosophy of scientism. Contrary to scientism, there are things we know with greater certainty in theology or ethics than certain claims in science. Consider these two claims: 1. Electrons exist. 2. It is wrong to torture babies for the fun of it. Which do we know with greater certainty? The second claim is the correct answer. Why? The history of the electron has … Read more

3 Ex-Atheists Who Became Christians by Studying Philosophy

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There are dozens of arguments for the existence of God. To rattle off just a few: there’s the moral argument, ontological, religious experience, miracles, consciousness, reason, desire, and the families of cosmological arguments and design arguments.  Some Christians say that while these arguments are good for building up the faithful, they’re useless for apologetics and evangelism. After all, we’re not trying to make generic theists. Even the demons believe in God, but that doesn’t give them a saving relationship with Him! (James 2:20) Apologists using these arguments in conversations or debates are barking up the wrong tree at best, and at worst, are being unfaithful to God.  To make the point, these critics will often … Read more

Do arguments for the existence of God fail because they don’t give us a full picture of God?

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Raise your hand if you’ve ever had this experience: You’ve learned a thing or two about the cosmological argument or the design argument. You eagerly share it with a friend of yours who doesn’t believe in God, and they accept all the premises. But they aren’t moved. They’ll reply with something like: “Even if these arguments work, they don’t prove enough. They show there was a first cause of the universe or a designer, but that is a far cry from the God of traditional theism.” Or they might say “well, that doesn’t prove that the first cause or designer was Jesus or Yahweh. Try harder.” How do you respond to that? This reply is at least as … Read more

Is Jesus Alive?