No, Dan Barker. COVID-19 Doesn’t Disprove God

Not one to let a good crisis go to waste, former minister and atheist activist Dan Barker tells us that the coronavirus proves that the Christian God doesn’t exist. Why? Because God promises to answer prayer. People have prayed for COVID-19 to stop. The virus continues to spread and people continue to die. Therefore Christianity must be false. Here’s Barker in his own words:  The Christian god makes a crystal-clear pledge: “I will answer your prayers.” Jesus stated boldly: “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”(Matthew 21:22) There is no ambiguity here. “All things” means “all things.” He even clarified: “Even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up … Read more

Is Faith Futile In the Face of the Coronavirus?

Everyone is talking about the Coronavirus. And for good reason. I’m sure we can agree that we’ve never seen anything quite like this in our lifetime. Tragedy often drives people to their favorite soapbox. And this is true with this pandemic, as some atheists have used it as evidence that faith is untrue and worthless.  Here’s an article titled “As Coronavirus Spreads, the Futility of Religion Becomes Obvious“. I’ll quote his main points:  “Many believers face these choices as the coronavirus spreads. There is no religious response to the pandemic unless we count abandoning religious rules in favor of science and medicine. Faced with these choices, most people accept that religion is pointless, at best, … Read more

Answering Ehrman: Why We Won’t Lose or Abuse Free Will in Heaven

The problem of evil comes up a lot when talking to non-believers. If you haven’t got the question about why an all-good, all-powerful God allows evil, you need to step out more. Why are there suicide bombers, school shooters and people that eat Tide Pods? Why does God allow such pointless evils? The standard Christian rejoinder is that God gave man free will. He doesn’t want Stepford Wives, he wants people who can make free choices. Free will makes love possible, but it also makes evil possible as well. Now that’s not a bad response to the problem of moral evil. There’s a problem, though. Christians are also committed to the idea that the saints … Read more

Is Jesus Alive?