Browsing the archives for the Faith versus Reason category

Doesn’t Louisiana have enough on its plate?

in Christianity, Church and State, Design arguments, Education, Evolution, Faith versus Reason, Religion Blog, Science

I’m not sure this school board in Louisiana has thought this through. Benton said that under provisions of the Science Education Act enacted last year by the Louisiana Legislature, schools can present what she termed “critical thinking and creationism” in science classes. Board Member David Tate quickly responded: “We let them teach evolution to our [...]

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Roger Ebert on God

in Faith versus Reason, PHIL 500, Religion Blog, Religious Belief

Just received a Tweet with this link. Really great to hear from non-theologians what they think about God. How I believe in God by Roger Ebert in the Chicago Sun-Times When I was in first or second grade and had just been introduced by the nuns to the concept of a limitless God, I lay [...]

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Where’s the gardener?

in Arguing, Atheism, Books, Christianity, Design arguments, Faith versus Reason, PHIL 500, Philosophers, Religion Blog, Religious Belief

Anthony Gottlieb,writing in the online journal More Intelligent Life takes a look back at philosopher John Wisdom’s parable and an examination of the meaningfulness of statements about God. The parable went like this. “Two people return to their long neglected garden and find, among the weeds, that a few of the old plants are surprisingly [...]

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Doubting and religious belief

in Churches, Faith versus Reason, Holocaust, Religion Blog, Religious Belief, World War II

This is a topic that interests me a great deal. There was a thread on Andrew Sullivan’s blog that I found intriguing. It was prompted by Pope Benedict’s recension of the prior excommunication of a schismatic bishop. (More posts on the current situation coming up.)  Any reasonable person would call this bishop a holocaust denier. [...]

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New natural law and Robert George

in Arguing, Aristotle, Faith versus Reason, PHIL 500, Philosophers, Religion Blog, Theologians, Thomas Aquinas

I’ve just finished reading David Kirkpatrick’s profile of Robert George in the NY Times Sunday. It’s probably no shock that I’m not screeching, screaming conservative. But neither am I a liberal frothing at the mouth. This goes back to my describing myself as a “thinking theist”. I want to avoid getting political here. Rather, I’m [...]

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E.T. phone the Vatican

in Darwin, Design arguments, Faith versus Reason, Religion Blog, Science

OK. Here’s more on the Vatican and space. This time a search for alien life. In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God. “How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?” Funes [...]

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Deism is back

in Faith versus Reason, James, PHIL 500, PHIL 525, Religious Pluarlism, Theorists

Deism is back. This is a very interesting development. There are political ramifications, I suppose. We know that some have pushed the idea that the America’s “founding fathers” were Christians. And by “Christians” they usually mean people who hold the same beliefs as contemporary American evangelicals. The topic of evangelicalism in America is way beyond [...]

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The moody deity

in Books, Faith versus Reason, James, PHIL 525, Religion Blog, Religious Belief, Scripture, Theorists

Salon.com has an interview with Robert Wright, author of The Evolution of God. This quote reminded me of James’ discussion of medical materialism. Here the point isn’t so much what is going on medically (!)  with God, as taking a look at some non-spiritual, i.e., material, causes or explanations for why God’s moods change so [...]

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The always provocative Penn Jillette

in Atheism, Faith versus Reason, PHIL 525, Religion Blog, Religious Belief

Penn (of Penn & Teller) on the difference between an agnostic and an atheist. Share/Bookmark

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The continuing battle between faith and reason

in Arguing, Faith versus Reason, PHIL 500, Religion Blog, Religious Belief, Science

Richard Wolin has weighed in on the debate in this article from the Chronicle of Higher Education. He gives a balanced overview of the history of the debate and its past and current interlocutors. In this short article Wolin takes us through Hegel, Adorno, Habermas, Berger, Dennett, Dawkins, Taylor, and more. I agree with Wolin [...]

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