By definition of agnosticism, I’m somewhat agnostic, and yet, I am a strong theist. The two can coincide because agnosticism is concerned with knowledge, and "theism" focuses on belief. Agnosticism describes God as unknowable, and through a means of natural knowledge, I agree in terms of knowing God fully, though one can come to partially... Continue Reading →
Knowledge: Virtue or Vice?
Have you ever read the book Flowers of Algernon? This story always comes to mind when I think about knowledge, particularly the extent to which it is a blessing or a curse. In brief, the novel by Daniel Keyes follows a character named Charlie who is developmentally disabled and part of a controversial surgical procedure... Continue Reading →
How can there be a God and Evil/Suffering in the World?
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) was a popular agnostic philosopher and religious skeptic. He argued, "If God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent, there could be no evil," which meant that he essentially believed that an all-powerful, all-knowing and genuinely-good God would not allow the evils that are quite apparent in our world today to exist. Though,... Continue Reading →
Hell is for real
You've probably heard of of Tod Burpo's book, Heaven is For Real, and maybe you've even seen the movie. I'm sure I did at some point, but I really don't remember it all that well. It is a beautiful story, but for skeptics, it's just another seemingly-unrealistic Christian testimony that isn't relatable or inclusive of... Continue Reading →
Which religion is ‘true’?
If multiple weren't so convincing, containing so many similarities, we wouldn't even have this question. Of course, society would say that I'm biased because I adhere to a particular belief already, so to attempt to reduce the likelihood of skeptics not wanting to hear what I have to say, I'm not going to directly give... Continue Reading →
Vital tools “missing” in Christian Evangelization
If Jesus' followers could heal the sick, speak in tongues, and raise the dead... why can't we? Why don't people today? This seems to be a fairly common critique about the Christian religion, especially from those who view the bible as nothing more than an old story written to scare people into doing the right... Continue Reading →
Born Good or evil?
Fun Side-note on the featured image: Aren't babies just adorable?! In all seriousness, though, wouldn't we all like to know whether we are truly good or truly fallen beings? Maybe some of us do. I want to provide a brief theological walk-through of the major monotheistic traditions' approaches toward "The Human Condition." What makes human... Continue Reading →
Is morality objective?
Of course, there are many different perspectives of this topic with those who debate morality is always objective, objective only in certain contexts, or entirely subjective. Most religions today support and firmly teach the first two, although it appears that our popular culture prefers the latter. Let's examine why and see if we can answer... Continue Reading →