Greg Koukl/Deepak Chopra debate
Greg Koukl exposes the flaws in Deepak Chopra's worldview.
Monday, February 26, 2007
The Dawkins Delusion?
From bethinkers February 2007 e-mail:
In The Dawkins Delusion?, Alister McGrath and his wife, Joanna Collicutt McGrath, have responded directly to Richard Dawkins claims. The Dawkins Delusion? picks up various themes from Dawkins’ book and exposes them to a ruthless and clear analysis. If you’ve read The God Delusion but weren’t always quite able to pinpoint the flaws in his arguments, then get The Dawkins Delusion? and it will show you the errors and hidden assumptions that Dawkins makes."
The Dawkins Delusion? isn’t necessarily the last word on Dawkins, but it will give most people enough material to respond to those who wave a copy of Dawkins and blithely announce “This is why I’m not religious!” If you need any further encouragement to buy the book, consider the recommendation of the atheist Michael Ruse, Professor of Philosophy at Florida State University. He is quoted on the front cover: “The God Delusion makes me embarrassed to be an atheist, and the McGraths show why.”
No condemnation?
Christ is often portrayed by humanists as this loving and forgiving person who never condemns: sin away my lad, everything will be fine in the end; in fact it is even doubtful if sin is a real concept to them. It was Joseph Kruth who said, “Logic is the art of going wrong with confidence.” Many humanists seem to embody that statement so well.
It is true that Christ accepts people as they are; but what our humanist friends forget, is that he does not leave people as they are. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but he did not condone here behaviour either. “Go now and leave your life of sin” was his dictum.
Christ also pointed out that not to believe in him was a sin. If we are serious about the respect we ascribe to him, this point is especially worth thinking about. He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin because men do not believe in me.”
“As true as John 3:16” is an oft quoted phrase, but what Jesus says afterwards is even more important. He added, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Can we want it any clearer?
God is love. He is forgiving. But one of the characteristics of love is that it “rejoices in the truth”. The truth is, Christ said we would obey him if we loved him. We can obey him by doing the work of God, which is this: “To believe in the one he has sent.” Nothing more, nothing less.
It is true that Christ accepts people as they are; but what our humanist friends forget, is that he does not leave people as they are. He did not condemn the woman caught in adultery, but he did not condone here behaviour either. “Go now and leave your life of sin” was his dictum.
Christ also pointed out that not to believe in him was a sin. If we are serious about the respect we ascribe to him, this point is especially worth thinking about. He told his disciples that the Holy Spirit “will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin because men do not believe in me.”
“As true as John 3:16” is an oft quoted phrase, but what Jesus says afterwards is even more important. He added, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” Can we want it any clearer?
God is love. He is forgiving. But one of the characteristics of love is that it “rejoices in the truth”. The truth is, Christ said we would obey him if we loved him. We can obey him by doing the work of God, which is this: “To believe in the one he has sent.” Nothing more, nothing less.
The Problem with Pluralism by Greg Koukl
"I would like you to consider for a moment how something can be good and evil at the same time. Then I want to explain why this insight is so important for you as an ambassador of Christ." Read full article...
Politicians & Lying
If there is one true thing which could be said of everyone, it is that we have lied at some point in time. “Humankind cannot bear much reality,” wrote T. S. Eliot, and no group of people seem to take that statement to heart more than politicians.
Politicians lie to us; and often. They woo voters with promises they know they cannot deliver on to get elected. This is even truer during wartime. If there is one thing we have learnt from war, it is that the truth is very often the first casualty.
In the January/February 2007 issue of The Atlantic, Carl Cannon writes: At a conference in Tehran in which the Allies discussed opening fronts against Nazi Germany. Churchill stressed the need to keep the Allie’s plans secrets. To Joseph Stalin he said, “In wartime, the truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”
President George W. Bush has been accused of misleading the American public and the wider global community about the reasons for invading Iraq. If the present Bush administration has lied to us, then they are about par for the course. Many, if not all, American presidents have lied to their country (or the global community) at some point in time. I doubt we need to be reminded of: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Land-Lease issue, Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, Watergate, the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon who lied to saved his presidency or Regan who in November 1986, “misled” the public about trading weapons to Iran in return for hostages.
The general consensus (especially during campaign or war time) is that politicians are “unusually good liars”. It is a sad state of human affairs when the perception we have about our leaders is that they are not being completely honest with us. Especially when it comes to issues that directly affect the lives of our families and loved ones, like, the state of the economy, education, health care, housing and the reasons for the high cost of living.
In, The Politics of Lying, David Wise describes it this way, “In place of trust, there was widespread mistrust; in place of confidence, there was disbelief and doubt in the system and its leaders.”
Maybe the electorate needs to examine itself. At the end of the day, they lie to us because if they didn’t we probably wouldn’t vote for them. Maybe the problem lies with the electorate and not the politicians. Maybe T. S. Eliot was right.
Politicians lie to us; and often. They woo voters with promises they know they cannot deliver on to get elected. This is even truer during wartime. If there is one thing we have learnt from war, it is that the truth is very often the first casualty.
In the January/February 2007 issue of The Atlantic, Carl Cannon writes: At a conference in Tehran in which the Allies discussed opening fronts against Nazi Germany. Churchill stressed the need to keep the Allie’s plans secrets. To Joseph Stalin he said, “In wartime, the truth is so precious that she should always be attended by a bodyguard of lies.”
President George W. Bush has been accused of misleading the American public and the wider global community about the reasons for invading Iraq. If the present Bush administration has lied to us, then they are about par for the course. Many, if not all, American presidents have lied to their country (or the global community) at some point in time. I doubt we need to be reminded of: Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the Land-Lease issue, Thomas Jefferson and the Louisiana Purchase, Watergate, the Vietnam War, Richard Nixon who lied to saved his presidency or Regan who in November 1986, “misled” the public about trading weapons to Iran in return for hostages.
The general consensus (especially during campaign or war time) is that politicians are “unusually good liars”. It is a sad state of human affairs when the perception we have about our leaders is that they are not being completely honest with us. Especially when it comes to issues that directly affect the lives of our families and loved ones, like, the state of the economy, education, health care, housing and the reasons for the high cost of living.
In, The Politics of Lying, David Wise describes it this way, “In place of trust, there was widespread mistrust; in place of confidence, there was disbelief and doubt in the system and its leaders.”
Maybe the electorate needs to examine itself. At the end of the day, they lie to us because if they didn’t we probably wouldn’t vote for them. Maybe the problem lies with the electorate and not the politicians. Maybe T. S. Eliot was right.
Reasonable Faith
A tour of lectures and debates with William Lane Craig.
"Bill Craig is an instinctive communicator as well as a fine thinker. He is in great demand across Europe and the USA, yet remarkably is largely unknown in the UK. His lectures and debates are world class and appeal to sceptics and believers alike."
Source: bethinking.org
Friday, February 02, 2007
Finally...
After what seemed like an eternity, I finally got my Oracle University RAC course organized. I'm taking the Oracle Database 10g: RAC for Administrators Release 2 course in New York and will be staying at the Grand Hyatt. Only drawback is that I'll be in the air when SuperBowl XLI is being played. I hope the Colts win this one.
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