Estranged Notions: How Richard Dawkins Helps Prove Biblical Inspiration

Today's post (well, it was today's when I started, probably yesterday's by the time this is done):

How Richard Dawkins Helps Prove Biblical Inspiration

The ‘bronze-age goat-herders / desert tribes / whatever’ dismissal of the Bible is probably the atheist meme that I find most annoying. It's true that the Old Testament portrays itself—and of course not merely the Protestant fundamentalists but also a substantial Catholic traditionalist contingent concurs in this—as containing a record of bronze-age events and individuals; but this position has long since ceased to be tenable.

As usual, though, Heschmeyer fails to make any kind of credible response.

Estranged Notions: An Agnostic’s Assessment Of New Atheist Attitudes

Today's post:

An Agnostic’s Assessment Of New Atheist Attitudes

The agnostic in question is John Humphrys, veteran BBC presenter and journalist (and terror of politicians). One might possibly have hoped for a bit less of the strawman approach when dealing with the ‘New Atheists’, but I'm not sure how much of this is down to Nelson's reporting.

Estranged Notions: 15 Surprising Things Atheists are Saying About Pope Francis

Today's post:

15 Surprising Things Atheists are Saying About Pope Francis

Estranged Notions: Why Your Life Does Not Belong to You

Yesterday's post:

Why Your Life Does Not Belong to You

The most obvious issue with this post is that it makes no attempt whatsoever to actually answer the question implied by the title.

Estranged Notions: Is God Too Complex To Be The Creator?

Today's post:

Is God Too Complex To Be The Creator?

This is just the old canard about ‘divine simplicity’. Unfortunately, these days we have better definitions of simplicity, and handwaving by defining God as a mind with no parts is no longer a believable approach.

(Also, it's worth noting that the idea of an absolute beginning to the universe is if anything less strongly supported now than in the past; the latest results are consistent with theories of eternal inflation—which, contra some apologetic claims, are not ruled out by the BGV theorem, and indeed Guth (the G of BGV) is on record as regarding eternal inflation as the most likely result.)

Estranged Notions: The Mystery of God (Sample + DVD Giveaway!)

Nothing here today except a plug for Barron's theological lesson stuff (with bonus nonsense from Horn). Link omitted because who cares?

Estranged Notions: St. Christopher, ET, and the Middle Ages

Yesterday's post:

St. Christopher, ET, and the Middle Ages

This is a Flynn post from 2009, which, fascinatingly, appears to be substantially copied from the Quodlibeta blog post (not actually by Hannam but one of his co-bloggers) linked in the text.

Estranged Notions: Mother Nature is One Unreliable Lady

Today's post:

Mother Nature is One Unreliable Lady

Now newly endowed with a fancier hat, Barron takes a dim view of nature-worship, rightly agreeing with the statement that nature really doesn't care about humans. But inevitably he takes this in the wrong direction, revealing the deep root of Christian anti-environmentalism: the belief that one can worship a powerful creator-god that does care about humans, that created nature for humans.

Of course not all Christian denominations develop this explicitly into an anti-environmental position; but even those that emphasize ‘stewardship’ theology still, at bottom, retain the dangerous belief that nature is for us, rather than that it simply is the environment that we happen to have evolved in. If we modify the environment beyond our own ability to survive, there will be nobody to blame but ourselves, and more importantly, there will be nobody else to appeal to to fix it.

Estranged Notions: Answering the 5 Objections to Proving God’s Existence

Today's post:

Answering the 5 Objections to Proving God’s Existence

These are Augros' answers to the objections posed in his previous post, and almost all of them are just as bad as anyone could expect.

Estranged Notions: 5 Objections to Proving God’s Existence

Today's (half-) post:

5 Objections to Proving God’s Existence

Only half a post, because it sets out some objections without actually making any comment on them—this is left for the next post.

Estranged Notions: Is the Shroud of Turin a Genuine Miracle?

Today's post:

Is the Shroud of Turin a Genuine Miracle?

We have of course heard previously from Longenecker on exactly this subject here.

See also Charles Freeman's article in History Today.

Estranged Notions: Did the Fall of Man Really Occur?

Today's post:

Did the Fall of Man Really Occur?