In our recent discussion on the Bible’s teachings on slavery John Loftus asked Madeleine, “if you were raped you should marry your rapist? Get real. … Would you want to be treated the way the Bible says women and slaves should be treated?” Loftus then dedicated a post on Debunking Christianity to Madeleine’s “stupidity” for […]
Entries Tagged as 'Series'
Sunday Study: Does the Bible Teach that a Rape Victim has to Marry her Rapist?
July 5th, 2009 53 Comments
Tags: John Loftus · Michael Martin · Old Testament Ethics · Sexual Morality · Sunday Study · Theology
Sunday Study: Slavery, John Locke and the Bible
June 28th, 2009 100 Comments
It is often affirmed, as an incontestable and obvious truth, that the Bible supports slavery. Walter Sinnott-Armstrong cites Leviticus 25:44 as evidence of this charge in “Why Traditional Theism is not an Adequate Foundation for Morality.”[1] Although Armstrong is not the alone in making this claim, I think the charge is mistaken; the Bible does […]
Tags: John Locke · John Loftus · Old Testament Ethics · Selection · Slavery · Sunday Study · Theology · Walter Sinnott-Armstrong
Sunday Study: The Virtue of Judging – Jesus was not a Relativist
June 23rd, 2009 3 Comments
About a year ago I gave a talk on moral relativism for Thinking Matters Tauranga. During that talk I noted that relativism entails that one cannot apply the moral principles you (or your culture) accepts to the practices of other people (or cultures). I was critical of this position arguing that it suffers from all […]
Tags: Judging · Relativism · Sunday Study · Theology
Sunday Study: Ask, Seek, Knock – Treating God Like a Genie
June 15th, 2009 Comments Off on Sunday Study: Ask, Seek, Knock – Treating God Like a Genie
This is yesterday’s Sunday study as promised. It’s based on a message I gave at Riverhead Presbyterian Church yesterday. A couple of months ago Madeleine was corresponding with a person who claimed he could prove that God does not exist. Madeleine challenged the person and in the ensuing dialogue it became evident that a theological […]
Tags: Sunday Study · Theology
Sunday Study: Did Christ Abolish the Old Testament Law? Part 2
June 7th, 2009 8 Comments
As I concluded in Sunday Study: Did Christ Abolish the Old Testament Law? Part I , the Apostles rejected the claim that, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”[1] Following Peters position, they decide that Gentiles do not have to follow the Mosaic Law; instead it is affirmed, It […]
Tags: Old Testament Ethics · Sunday Study · Theology
Sunday Study: Did Christ Abolish the Old Testament Law? Part I
May 31st, 2009 8 Comments
At the start of the Sermon on the Mount, Christ states, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of […]
Tags: Old Testament Ethics · Sunday Study · Theology
Sunday Study: Sodom and Gomorrah Part II
May 17th, 2009 9 Comments
In my previous Sunday Study post, Sodom and Gomorrah Part I, I argued that it is a mistake to conflate what scriptural narratives describe with what they prescribe. I suggested that often the characters in these narratives do things that The Torah later explicitly condemns and in this context it is plausible to read the […]
Tags: Old Testament Ethics · Sunday Study · Theology
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
