Kevin Stilley

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May 28, 2012 by kevinstilley

Christianity’s Cultured Despisers (and Uncultured Despisers)

Citing the Bible as evidence for anything is like saying that the sun is in fact a chariot of fire that races across the sky because we read about it in Greek mythology.
~ Stephen Ban

It is impossible to use electrical light and the wireless and to avail ourselves of modern medical and surgical discoveries, and at the same time to believe in the New Testament world of spirits and miracles.
~ Rudolf Bultmann

I would never want to be a member of a group whose symbol was a guy nailed to two pieces of wood.
~ George Carlin

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, the best the world ever saw or is likely to see; but I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts of his divinity.
~ Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Ezra Styles, March 9, 1790

Religion is comparable to a childhood neurosis.
~ Sigmund Freud, in The Future of Illusion

I imagined that if a Christian had a brain cell, it would die of loneliness.
~ Josh McDowell, in More Than a Carpenter, talking about the way he thought prior to his conversion to Christianity.

Of all the systems of religion that ever were invented, there is no more derogatory to the Almighty, more unedifying to man, more repugnant to reason, and more contradictory to itself that this thing called Christianity.
~ Thomas Paine, in The Age of Reason

A London lady sat next to Bertrand Russell at this party, and over the soup she suggested to him that he was not only the world’s most famous atheist but, by this time, very probably the world’s oldest atheist. “What will you do, Bertie, if it turns out you’re wrong?” she asked. “I mean, what if–uh–when the time comes, you should meet Him? What will you say?” Russell was delighted with the question. His bright, birdlike eyes grew even brighter as he contemplated this possible future dialogue, and then he pointed a finger upward and cried, “Why, I should say, ‘God, you gave us insufficient evidence.’”
~ Al Seckel, in the preface to Bertrand Russell on God and Religion

 

On Being Born Again

The trouble with born again Christians is that they are an even bigger pain the second time around.
~Herb Caen

Born again?! No, I’m not. Excuse me for getting it right the first time.
~ Dennis Miller

Making fun of born-again Christians is like hunting dairy cows with a high powered rifle and scope.
~ P. J. O’Rourke

Why do born-again people so often make you wish they’d never been born the first time?
~ Katherine Whitehorn

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Filed Under: Blog, Quotes, Theology Tagged With: agnosticism, Atheism, quotations, quote

November 21, 2009 by kevinstilley

Debating God

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Recently my colleagues and I attended a debate on the topic “Does God Exist?”.  The primary audience for the debate was private high school and middle school students. In our post-debate debrief one of my friends stated, “If you are going to put on a debate like this for a group of kids, you’d better be sure you win.”  Unfortunately, it was none to apparent that the pro-God side won.  At best it was a draw.

Dinesh D’Souza was the voice of theism in the debate.  I have heard him many times and he is quite competent in such a forum.  However, the voice of atheism, Dan Barker, was also quite effective in planting the seeds of doubt.  And, I am convinced that many a student left the auditorium with the suspicion that Barker was what he claimed to be — the voice of  “reason and kindness”.

The school planned follow-up discussions with the students in their classrooms.  Hopefully, that time was used effectively in exorcising residual suspicions and fears.  Even now I am praying for those who were in attendance.

That is the background, now let me get to the point.  Students need to be confronted with arguments against their own beliefs and worldview.  If they are not exposed to opposing arguments and claims in an environment where those arguments and claims can be effectively debunked then they become prime targets for sophists and philosophical snipers.  Thus, it is a GOOD thing to expose your children to error.  If you are doing so in a controlled environment you are inoculating them against many dangerous viral ideas.

HOWEVER, when attempting to inoculate the young, you must make sure that you exposing them to error in a controlled environment.  Or, as my friend said, you’d better make sure you win.  Truth has nothing to fear in the marketplace of ideas.  But, truth poorly defended when error has a fully loaded arsenal can be as harmful when presented in a Christian environment as it is in the homeland of error.

Careful, careful, . . .

Filed Under: Apologetics, Blog, Front Page, Philosophy Tagged With: Apologetics, Atheism, Dan Barker, debate, Dinesh D'Souza

November 7, 2009 by kevinstilley

The Existence of God – select quotes

Casteth he his eye towards the clouds, findeth he not the heavens full of his wonders? Looketh he down to the earth, doth not the worm proclaim “Less than omnipotence could not have formed me!”
~ Akhenaton

Proof is only applicable to very rarefied areas of philosophy and mathematics…. For the most part we are driven to acting on good evidence, without the luxury of proof. There is good evidence of the link between cause and effect. There is good evidence that the sun will rise tomorrow. There is good reason to believe my mother loves me and is not just fattening me up for the moment when she will pop arsenic into my tea. And there is good reason to believe in God. Very good reason. Not conclusive proof, but very good reason just the same…. I believe it is much harder to reject the existence of a supreme being than accept it.
~ Michael Green, in Faith for the Non-religious

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RELATED CONTENT

  • Index To Great Quotes

__________

Book Cover

Filed Under: Apologetics, Blog, Quotes Tagged With: Atheism, existence of God, quotations, quote

December 21, 2008 by kevinstilley

H.G. Wells – Select Quotes

Man is an inhabitant of a thin rind on a negligible detached blob of matter, belonging to one of the millions of stars, in one among millions of island universes.

Filed Under: Blog, Quotes Tagged With: Atheism, God, H.G. Wells, man

September 12, 2008 by kevinstilley

Is God Real?

The following books are recommended for further reading in “Is God Real” by William Lane Craig and Charles Taliaferro.

Can Man Live Without God (Ravi Zacharias)

The Real Face of Atheism (Ravi Zacharias)

Mere Christianity (C.S. Lewis)

The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe (C.S. Lewis)

Knowing God (J.I. Packer)

Jesus Among Other Gods (Ravi Zacharias)

I Believe In The Holy Spirit (Michael Green)

Psalm 1-72, Psalm 73-150 [Tyndale Old Testament Commentary Series] (Derek Kidner)

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Apologetics, Atheism, theology proper

May 30, 2008 by kevinstilley

Are Professors Being Expelled

Expelled Dembski“Professors aren’t being fired because they support intelligent design, they are being fired for lots of other reasons and then they have to justify their firing to other people and say it was because they advocated ID, rather than admit they were in some other way inadequate.”

That is what I was recently told by a cheeky fellow who was trying to cast an aura of confidence and disdain.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Apologetics, Atheism, Ben Stein, Blog, Education, expelled, id, intelligent design, movie, Movies, professor, Science, Seminary, Smithsonian, Southwestern Baptist, SWBTS, William Dembski

May 4, 2008 by kevinstilley

Do Pain And Suffering Disprove God’s Existence?

Does pain and suffering disprove God’s existence? William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, addresses the issue during one of his debates.

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Books By William Lane Craig

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Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: antinomy, Apologetics, Atheism, Axiology, Blog, Ethics, evidence, evil, God, morality, morals, Philosophy, polemic, suffering, theism, Theology, William Lane Craig

May 4, 2008 by kevinstilley

Can The World Have Morals Without God?

Can the world have morals without God? William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, argues that objective moral values require the existence of God.

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Books By William Lane Craig

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: antinomy, Apologetics, Atheism, Axiology, Blog, Ethics, evidence, evil, God, morality, morals, Philosophy, polemic, suffering, theism, Theology, William Lane Craig

May 4, 2008 by kevinstilley

Can Good Come From Suffering And Evil?

Can good come from suffering and evil? William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, addresses the issue during one of his debates.

[The video may take up to one minute to load.]

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Books By William Lane Craig

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: antinomy, Apologetics, Atheism, Axiology, Blog, Ethics, evidence, evil, God, morality, morals, Philosophy, polemic, suffering, theism, Theology, William Lane Craig

May 4, 2008 by kevinstilley

Can You Argue Against The Case For Atheism?

William Lane Craig, Research Professor of Philosophy at Talbot School of Theology in La Mirada, California, argues that the case for atheism is not only weak, but nonexistent.

[The video may take up to one minute to load.]

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Books By William Lane Craig

Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover Book Cover

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Apologetics, Atheism, Axiology, Blog, Ethics, evidence, God, morality, morals, Philosophy, polemic, theism, Theology, William Lane Craig

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