I'm not a preacher. I like to write books. I've never claimed to be an evangelist and I have no formal training in theology. When people ask me questions and I don't know the answers, I'll just say, "I don't know!" because it's the truth. Of all the questions you could ask me, my least favorite is "Why does God allow people to suffer pain? What is the purpose of evil?" My go-to answer for that has always felt like sort of a cop out in my opinion, even though I believe it's true: free will. God has given us this tremendous gift of free will and permitted us the choice between good and evil. I've often said that without pain, we cannot understand pleasure. Without sorrow, we do not appreciate joy. If we've never experienced hate, we have no true concept of love. All this is true. But is that a sufficient answer to the question? Why does evil exist? Why are humans often cruel? Why doesn't God just turn the Earth into Heaven and make everything good? Earlier this morning I watched two short videos I shared on my Facebook page called The God Conclusion, and a "Eureka!" moment occurred to me, although I have managed to refrain from running naked down the street shouting about it at the top of my lungs. The two videos had the same basic message: when we ask God for strength, should God just magically make us stronger, or should He give us difficulties that will ultimately make us stronger? When we ask for wisdom, should God simply make us wiser or give us problems to solve that ultimately make us smarter? If we ask God for courage, should He … [Read more...]
A review of The God Conclusion
One of my atheist friends (yes, I really do have them) promised to read The God Conclusion and said he would publish a review when he finished. Amazon (as typically the case) refused to allow him to post the review, so my friend Tony sent his review to me and I'm posting it on my website. Tony is an honest broker, and fair. I like what he wrote, even when he disagrees with me, and we're going to talk about it in further detail on my next podcast. Here is his review of my book: The Introduction offers important context and sketches some of the arguments to follow. Chapters 1-10 of the book constitute a nearly point-by-point response to "The God Delusion" by biologist Richard Dawkins, with chapters 11-15 forming a positive argument in favour of the author's own position, "The God Conclusion".In his Introduction, Leonard recounts personal experiences that have led him to believe in the Christian God. This sets up the tone of the entire work - this is a book that mixes philosophy, science, and theology with personal thought. To my mind, that is what makes it worthwhile. He also sets up some of the themes he will return to later in the text, including that not believing in God is an act of free will rather than unbiased evaluation. He gives Dawkins credit where credit is due for intelligence and erudition, which is a notable thing contrasted to the generally toxic tone dominating the "God debate". He closes the introduction by pointing out that truth MATTERS. In our current age of "post-fact" discourse, this is also a worthy reminder.Leonard offers responses to … [Read more...]
Is Richard Dawkins lying or stupid?
It is really and truly difficult to imagine that Richard Dawkins could actually be a stupid man, and yet there is some evidence to suggest it. On video, no less. I just finished watching a clip named "7 Clever Atheist Flawless Victories", but saying the video failed to deliver would be a major understatement. Why did I even bother to watch it in the first place? My best, most honest answer would be morbid curiosity. Knowing your enemy seems to be a very sound battle strategy and between theism and atheism there is an ongoing war of ideas. Yet despite the video's provocative title, my expectations going in were low and still went unmet. Frankly, there are no new arguments for atheism, and all the old arguments are incredibly weak. Personally, I don't view individual atheists as my enemy. Atheism is my enemy. I don't hate atheists, but I'm not a fan of atheism. Why? Atheism is the enemy of logic and scientific evidence. My book proves that with a comprehensive argument that is utterly devastating to atheism. That's why I like to offer the atheist visitors to my Facebook page a free ebook copy so they can see for themselves and check all my references. Sadly, far too few accept my generous offer, even if they live in a country where I can upgrade the gift to an audiobook. They would prefer to remain willfully ignorant rather than tackle an argument that could (and would) rock their worldview if they took the argument seriously. This particular video promised not only one, but seven different arguments for atheism that were (allegedly) perfect in their … [Read more...]
The second best argument for atheism
When I try to think of what the best arguments for atheism might be, two immediate possibilities come to mind. The first is the problem of suffering and evil. How does a kind and loving God allow humans to suffer from natural disasters as well as our own evil deeds? Aren't murders, rapes, and incest bad enough without some innocent people enjoying a lazy day at the beach being suddenly swept away by a seismic wave? There is no valid human explanation for the problem of suffering because humans don't like pain but do like pleasure. People never want to experience sorrow; they only want to feel joy. But without sorrow, how do we understand and appreciate joy? Without pain, does pleasure even exist? For a moment let us consider the possibility of a supernatural Creator for this natural world we currently occupy...how could this Creator/God have some purpose for allowing pain and suffering in our imperfect world? Sure He could, and we would still not have the mental capacity to understand the Grand Plan. Naturally, this raises a new question--is there a Grand Plan, or only the illusion of a Grand Plan? To answer that question, I would ask the reader to read my book, The God Conclusion. If expressed in the correct language, the origin of our universe can be reduced to two basic, binary options: the universe was either planned or unplanned. If the universe was planned, we don't need a true multiverse hypothesis, where an unlimited number of failed universes exist only to reduce the improbability of the universe we have and still don't supply a cause for the … [Read more...]
Did God allow Saul to have free will?
My "go-to" attempt at theodicy for the problem of suffering and evil being allowed by a kind, just, and benevolent God has always been free will. I like to point out things like without pain, we would have no way to conceptualize pleasure, and without sorrow we could not truly appreciate joy. Likewise, some of my best evidence that the New Testament is true is that half of it was written by Paul, who persecuted and murdered Christians when he still called himself Saul. Few serious people question whether Paul was a real historical figure or that he went from being an executioner of Christians to ultimately become an early Christian martyr. However, I'm not the least bit afraid of challenging my own beliefs on a regular basis, and the question recently popped into my head: did God interfere with Saul's free will? Saul hadn't been looking for God -- in fact, he was actively searching for more Christians to murder when Jesus appeared on the road to Damascus and completely changed his life. Yet if it weren't for Paul, Christianity would not be what it is today. So, how do we solve this conundrum? Atheists like to argue for determinism, but if determinism is really true, how can we as a society justify putting criminals into prison if they have no choice except to rob, rape, and murder other people? That doesn't seem fair, if we really and truly cannot choose between right and wrong. My counterargument has been that without free will, humans would become slaves to their DNA and their environment. But if determinism is true and we really are slaves to our … [Read more...]
