Category: ChrisBolt
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Atheist, if You Are Deluded Then What Would You Expect?
If you are deluded then the evidence to the contrary, even if it is overwhelming, will not convince you otherwise. Just think of the Mormons. Perhaps you can explain to me why Mormons still believe even though it’s been shown through DNA evidence that Native Americans are not descendants of Semitic peoples: Losing a Lost Tribe: Native Americans, DNA, and the Mormon Church.
Come on now. Think about this. Like the Mormons you have come to a position and you now defend that position in a Christian culture despite the evidence just like they do.
Great line of reasoning there …
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Answering the Argument from Horrific Suffering 2
Mitch originally posted an argument in summary fashion from J.L. Schellenberg found here which I answered here and Mitch subsequently responded to my answer here. There is much to be said about his response, but I will limit this post to focusing upon premise (4) of the argument and where Mitch has made some mistakes.
(4) Necessarily, if God exists, there is horrific suffering only if its prevention would prevent there being finite persons who realize their deepest good.
Mitch believes that the “denial of (4) seems quite the denial indeed.” On the contrary, I find the affirmation of …
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Answering the Argument from Horrific Suffering
Mitch LeBlanc has summarized an argument from J.L. Schellenberg called the Argument from Horrors. The argument begins by defining “horrific suffering.”
Horrific Suffering (def.) = that most awe-full form of suffering that gives the victim and/or the perpetrator a prima facie reason to think that his or her life is not worth living.
Schellenberg’s argument is then stated formally.
…(1) Necessarily, if God exists, finite persons who ever more fully experience the reality of God realize their deepest good.
(2) Necessarily, if God exists, the prevention of horrific suffering does not prevent there being finite persons who ever more fully
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On Using Logic In Apologetics
As I have noted before, every once in a while it is necessary to make plain one’s disagreement with even those closest to oneself in terms of thought for the sake of clarity and development of a topic. I have received a number of questions and comments concerning a recent post by Jamin Hubner called Lessons in Logic and Argumentation: Propositional and Symbolic Logic and Their Place in Apologetics. Since there are some points in the post that pertain to future posts I’d like to write on TAG and since the post essentially would lump me together with skeptics …
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dios_mio and the Proverbs 18.2 principle
A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Proverbs 18.2)
An unbeliever who has made appearances in various places on the Internet under the name dios_mio recently left a comment on one of the posts related to RazorsKiss’s debate with a Muslim. Unfortunately it does not appear that dios_mio (DM) has learned very much since my conversation with him several years ago.
…“Scientific miracles of the Quran” is nothing but dishonest kookery. It belongs to the ranks of ideas such as “the aliens built the pyramids”. Having said that, I should also point out
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Is Fristianity Actual? (Updated with response from David Byron)
UPDATE: David Byron has offered clarification in a comment, but I did not want to risk people missing it. Please see his response now included at the bottom of the body of the post.
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One of the greatest worries with the Fristianity objection is that it is often defined in conflicting ways. For example Sean Choi writes, “Of course, Fristianity is not an actual worldview or religion, as is, for example, Islam. But no one – certainly not I – is claiming this.” Yet in a footnote Choi cites David Byron of the Van Til List as popularizing Fristianity. …
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Is Fristianity Sufficient?
Michael Butler as quoted by Sean Choi contends, “If Fristianity is otherwise identical to Christianity, the only way for us to know [that its god is a quadrinity] would be for the Fristian god to reveal this to us.” Choi takes this proposition to be false and explains why.
…That the Fristian God is a quadrinity is something we know to be true in virtue of stipulation… (Indeed, that is how Butler himself introduced the concept of Fristianity.) Butler is suggesting that there is mystery here when there is none. “Fristianity” has come to mean what it does precisely because
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The Comma Johanneum: A Critical Evaluation of the Text of 1 John 5.7-8
The Comma Johanneum as a Textual Problem
Introduction
The phrase “Comma Johanneum” is the name given to a short clause of a sentence found in 1 John 5.7-8 which has become a famous problem in textual criticism. The word “comma” as it is used here just means a short clause of a sentence and “Johanneum” refers to the writings of the Apostle John.[i] The phrase “Comma Johanneum” thus refers to a short clause of a sentence (comma) which has some relevance to the writings of John (Johanneum). …
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Presuppositionalist Concept of Presupposition
Don Collett argues that traditional forms of argument do not do justice to presupposition as a concept. He works from Peter Strawson’s semantic account of presupposition.
…According to Strawson, a statement A may be said to presuppose a statement B if B is a necessary precondition of the truth-or-falsity of A. Strawson’s interpretation of the concept of presupposition has been restated in succinct fashion by Bas van Fraassen as follows:
A presupposes B if and only if A is neither true nor false unless B is true.
This may also be stated as follows:
(1) A presupposes B if