In my previous posts, What is an Argument? and Assessing Arguments, I spelt out some basics as to what an argument is and how to assess arguments. There I noted that a sound argument is one where the premises of the argument is true and the argument is valid. It is impossible for an argument which […]
Entries Tagged as 'Series'
Contra Mundum: Is God a 21st Century Western Liberal?
February 1st, 2011 15 Comments
On 11 September 2001 Islamic terrorists flew two planes into the World Trade Centre killing thousands of innocent people. Ostensibly they did this because they believed God commanded them to do so. This event has invigorated a fear latent in the Western psyche since the 17th century when wars of religion tore Europe apart, the […]
Tags: 9/11 · Contra Mundum · God and Morality · Hermeneutics · J J Finkelstein · Raymond Bradley · Raymond Westbrook · Robert Adams · World Trade Centre
Fallacy Friday: Assessing Arguments
January 28th, 2011 9 Comments
In last week’s post, Fallacy Friday: What is an Argument?, we established that an argument is a set of reasons (or premises) offered in support of a conclusion. We noted that arguments always have two components: premises and conclusions. We also observed that premises sometimes can be implicit or unstated. Of course knowing what an argument […]
Tags: Aristotle · Fallacy Friday
Fallacy Friday: What is an Argument?
January 21st, 2011 45 Comments
When I was doing my PhD at the University of Otago, Madeleine and I would try to save up for a “date night” once a fortnight. Often we would go to the movies. On more than one occasion we would stand in the theatre and look at various options. Madeleine would suggest we see one […]
Tags: Fallacy Friday
Fallacy Fridays
January 21st, 2011 5 Comments
Over the past few years I have occasionally been asked by para-church, church and home-schooling groups to put together a critical thinking or “mini logic” course, with a focus on fallacy spotting, and teach it to their youth. I have done this from time to time and have often found as many adults in attendance as youth; […]
Tags: Fallacy Friday
Contra Mundum: In Defence of Santa
December 25th, 2010 37 Comments
I grasped the sponge, water dripped down my wrist as I took aim. The man from the McGillicuddy Serious Party raised his voice and said “now throw!” The sponge flew through the air from my hand and struck Santa solidly on the chest soaking his red costume. Santa laughed and said “throw another one!” It […]
Tags: Contra Mundum · Investigate Magazine · McGillicuddy Serious Party · Nicholas of Myra · Santa
Contra Mundum: The Number of the Beast
December 1st, 2010 29 Comments
Recently TV3 screened The Omen. This classic horror is a about a boy called Damian who is the predicted anti-Christ and appropriately has the number 666 on his head. This film epitomises how the book of Revelation is understood in contemporary culture; apparently it predicts a future person, the beast or the anti-Christ who will […]
Tags: 616 · 666 · Contra Mundum · Investigate Magazine · Nero · Number of the Beast · Revelation · The Omen
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.
