The Universe in Essays

Question - "On the issue of the Bible being divinely inspired, how do we know it wasn't meant to be a story to teach children to be good, and not truly god's word?" - Louis. Answer - I am going to use your question, Louis, as an opportunity to develop my thoughts on the gospels alone. Trying to tackle the whole Bible is too big a task for one article. Indeed, whole libraries have been written on the subject! So let us narrow our focus to the four biblical gospels.

Abstract: Did the spread of Christianity lead to the downfall of Rome, and the corresponding "Dark Ages" that lasted for the next thousand years? Bruce and I exchange a few thoughts on this frequently heard claim. Throughout the dialogue, I flesh out two reasons to conclude that the Christian religion, whatever else it might have given to Rome, did not lead to its destruction: (1) the Byzantine empire was predominately Christian, and yet endured for a thousand years, and (2) Christianity is a missionary religion.  My friend Louis and I engage in a few final remarks. Written: July 2015.

Jack  - My claim was not that the majority of philosophers were atheistic moral realists. I said atheism and moral realism were both majority positions, and that many of the main contemporary defenders of moral realism are atheists. There are clearly a great many philosophers who are both atheists and moral realists, if the two were incompatible I would really expect the experts to have noticed.

Abstract: If there were no God, would morality still bind our lives? Would moral duties still guide our actions, and moral values provide goals to strive for? It is my contention that they would not. If God does not exist, an objective moral standard do not exist. By  " objective", one means something like, "valid and binding independently of human opinion." To say that rape is objectively wrong, for instance, is to say that it is wrong to rape another person, whether or not anyone actually thinks that it is. My claim is that if atheism is true, morality cannot exist so-defined. If I am on the right track here, then if God does not exist, genuine moral progress among the world's cultures cannot occur either. But if we think that moral progress does take place, we will conclude that God exists. Below is a conversation I had with an atheist thinker about these reflections on God and morality. Written: June 2015.

Written: June 2015. Question -  I like your genuine pursuit, however there is a fundamental flaw with the process in which you have taken to address my issues, unfortunately; the so called 'infallible word of god' has books that are stolen essentially. Some passages in proverbs, some phrases Jesus has said 'love everyone like yourself' as well as the book of genesis were all clear rip offs of historical books.

Abstract: I love discussing philosophy and religion on online forums. Not only is it an opportunity to develop my communication skills, but it helps me to see how far I've come in my studies. I recently discussed the moral argument for the existence of God with someone who had (what they took to be) some serious objections. Below is my interlocutor's post, and my response. Written: June 2015. Objections -  Hey guys, where I'm at right now I don't endorse the moral argument. Because of this debate between William Lane Craig and Stephen Law (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7FhphWDokA) I believe that Craig's best-outreaching argument based on moral absolutes is isn't sound. Law brought up good points, and because of his objections, (not to mention Craig saying other places that we can say that God's goodness is also established in the moral argument that then flatly denying it here) have led me to believe that the moral argument isn't sound. I reall...

Prompt: To what extent did Peter the Great change Russian society? Written: May 2015 Peter the Great (1672-1735), towering over his peers at nearly seven feet, was one of the most influential Tsars of all time. Prior to his reign, Russia was steeped in economic downturn, rampant poverty, and widespread famine. [1] Under Peter’s direction, Russia was pulled out of its medieval stupor, westernized in every conceivable way, and transformed into a power to be reckoned with. Specifically, Peter the Great revolutionized Russian society through domestic, military, and government reforms.