If only I had time to run a blog...
For now, I will use this site to update a collection of PDF files. There isn't much of a need to go into detail here about anything since the documents already do most of the talking.
Most church-goers I know simply take their views for granted and are unwilling to make a case for it that goes beyond some form of "personal experience" or "faith" to back it up.
I won't write about how my views have swayed in and out on Christianity or religion as a whole here. But I will say that if you think you can expect our youngest generation as well as skeptics to be convinced by "faith" alone (exactly what does that mean to you?) then you are naive at best.
My goal is to collect some of the more accessible yet persuasive online articles out there on why Christianity is indeed a credible thing to accept. I'm not saying anything can be accepted with 100% certainty. But I do claim that we can be just as certain about this topic as anything else if we explore it in depth.
So here is a link where someone has uploaded it for me:
https://mega.co.nz/#F!gU1jlCAb!WmkcE9gPXBXIDOnqVdWrkQ
Take the time to read the text file, which describes what each document is about. You don't need to finish a document before you read the next, but I decided to number them in what I think would be an effective way of pouring through the material.
Saturday, March 14, 2015
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Anti-Christian Bias in Academia
This video does a really good job of summing up the topic at hand. Understanding what kind of influence higher-ed has is critical if you want to most effectively confront it.
Evidentialist Megapack 1.0
3/14/15 edit: This now has over 20 files that contain plenty of material for those wanting to understand how to make the case for Christianity as something of merit.
Well it looks like I haven't done much with this blog and probably never will - consistently that is.
But recently I found a new use for it. I can link to things and direct people to this site for the sake of convenience.
This megapack is a file collection of a bunch of documents relevant to evidentialist matters. I will update it as necessary.
Enjoy!
https://mega.co.nz/#F!gU1jlCAb!WmkcE9gPXBXIDOnqVdWrkQ
Well it looks like I haven't done much with this blog and probably never will - consistently that is.
But recently I found a new use for it. I can link to things and direct people to this site for the sake of convenience.
This megapack is a file collection of a bunch of documents relevant to evidentialist matters. I will update it as necessary.
Enjoy!
https://mega.co.nz/#F!gU1jlCAb!WmkcE9gPXBXIDOnqVdWrkQ
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
About this Group
This is a rush post - and not much else. So chances are, this page will change from time to time to accommodate new information that should be of use to anyone new to all this.
To start, allow me to explain the meaning behind this book group's name. Many people who identify as Christians today follow something that I (for the most part) think needs to be ditched where possible: Presuppositionalism. This is the idea that we should start with the assumption that Christianity is true in the name of "faith" or "personal experience."
There is some slight merit to such a position. We take a lot of things for granted every day on the basis of faith - we trust our own thoughts and senses of what's around us. Assuming that you aren't just some brain in a vat also requires some degree of faith. Personal experiences are what lead all of us to conclude the fact that dreaming exists, even though we only have proof of proxies for that (rapid eye movement, brainwave changes, etc).
But reliance on faith alone to justify a belief runs into one problem: someone with a different belief (or lack thereof) can use the same reasoning to justify what they hold to be true. Reliance on faith or personal experience is does not make you better at persuading others that your viewpoint is true.
This is where Evidentialism enters the picture. In simple terms, this means that when you present your views to other people, you actually present an evidential case in favor of it. Does God exist? Did Christ really die and conquer death? Is the Bible truly the word of God? These are just a few questions that require extraordinary evidence to justify a "yes" answer to, and learning about as well as discussing that evidence is what this group is all about.
To finish this page off for now, consider reading the following blog post by the guy that inspired this whole project in the first place:
To start, allow me to explain the meaning behind this book group's name. Many people who identify as Christians today follow something that I (for the most part) think needs to be ditched where possible: Presuppositionalism. This is the idea that we should start with the assumption that Christianity is true in the name of "faith" or "personal experience."
There is some slight merit to such a position. We take a lot of things for granted every day on the basis of faith - we trust our own thoughts and senses of what's around us. Assuming that you aren't just some brain in a vat also requires some degree of faith. Personal experiences are what lead all of us to conclude the fact that dreaming exists, even though we only have proof of proxies for that (rapid eye movement, brainwave changes, etc).
But reliance on faith alone to justify a belief runs into one problem: someone with a different belief (or lack thereof) can use the same reasoning to justify what they hold to be true. Reliance on faith or personal experience is does not make you better at persuading others that your viewpoint is true.
This is where Evidentialism enters the picture. In simple terms, this means that when you present your views to other people, you actually present an evidential case in favor of it. Does God exist? Did Christ really die and conquer death? Is the Bible truly the word of God? These are just a few questions that require extraordinary evidence to justify a "yes" answer to, and learning about as well as discussing that evidence is what this group is all about.
To finish this page off for now, consider reading the following blog post by the guy that inspired this whole project in the first place:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)