In this two-part series I will sketch and defend Alvin Plantinga’s proposal that evolution should not be taught as “the sober truth” in state schools. In Part I, I will sketch Plantinga’s position and the arguments he provides for it; in Part II, I will look at what should be taught and then I’ll defend […]
Entries from June 30th, 2009
Evolution should not be taught in State Schools: A Defence of Plantinga Part I
June 30th, 2009 55 Comments
Tags: Alvin Plantinga · Evolution · Public Policy · Public Schools · Religion in Public Life · Robert Pennock · Science and Religion · State Schools
Bloggers Drinks this Thursday
June 29th, 2009 Comments Off on Bloggers Drinks this Thursday
On the first Thursday of every month, Auckland bloggers gather for the Bloggers Bar Bash: What: A social gathering of bloggers and bloupies (those who read, comment on and hang out with bloggers)When: 2 July from 6.30pmWhere: Galbraiths, 2 Mt Eden Road, Mt Eden, Auckland Open to any blogger who happens to be in Auckland. […]
Tags: Events
Sunday Study: Slavery, John Locke and the Bible
June 28th, 2009 100 Comments
It is often affirmed, as an incontestable and obvious truth, that the Bible supports slavery. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong cites Leviticus 25:44 as evidence of this charge in “Why Traditional Theism is not an Adequate Foundation for Morality.”[1] Although Armstrong is not the alone in making this claim, I think the charge is mistaken; the Bible does […]
Tags: John Locke · John Loftus · Old Testament Ethics · Selection · Slavery · Sunday Study · Theology · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Michael Jackson Dead
June 26th, 2009 1 Comment
I just turned on the news and saw that Michael Jackson died a few hours ago, aged 50, apparently from cardiac arrest; the Herald has the story, Pop Star Michael Jackson Dies. I saw him in concert when he came to New Zealand in 1996. Whatever one can say about his personal life, the man […]
Tags: Michael Jackson
A Counter-Point on the David Bain Re-Trial
June 26th, 2009 Comments Off on A Counter-Point on the David Bain Re-Trial
David Farrar links to this interesting opinion piece in The Press on the David Bain re-trial, Plenty of Doubt in Bain Jury’s Verdict. While we normally do not link to media reports of trials, because the media tend to publish selective, sensational snippets of trials removed from their context, this piece is different. It is […]
Tags: Justice
Issues to Consider in Moving from Blogger to WordPress?
June 25th, 2009 33 Comments
Our comments feed died a few weeks ago. Not only does our recent comments widget no longer work but we get no notification of new comments so if people leave comments on old topics we have no idea. It is extremely annoying and it means we cannot properly manage our blog; if someone left something […]
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Sunday Study: The Virtue of Judging – Jesus was not a Relativist
June 23rd, 2009 3 Comments
About a year ago I gave a talk on moral relativism for Thinking Matters Tauranga. During that talk I noted that relativism entails that one cannot apply the moral principles you (or your culture) accepts to the practices of other people (or cultures). I was critical of this position arguing that it suffers from all […]
Tags: Judging · Relativism · Sunday Study · Theology
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
