Sunday, April 04, 2010

Empty!



















Mark 16:6 And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.


Image courtesy of Dan Lietha

Thursday, March 25, 2010

William Lane Craig Debates Michael Tooley on the Existence of God

William Lane Craig is considered by many to be the world's foremost Christian apologist alive today. That claim is quite understandable, once you have seen or heard him debate.

Some of my family members attended his debate last night against Michael Tooley at the University of North Carolina in Charlotte and I've gotten some good feedback so far.

For those of you interested in audio and video of Craig's debates, here is an extensive list with links to audio, video, and transcripts where available. It is grouped by topic rather than date, and I don't know if it's a comprehensive list, but there is enough here to keep anyone busy for quite a long time!

If you are interested in links to other debates and commentary, Wintery Knight has a great list here. His list includes debates between such notables as N.T. Wright and John Dominic Crossan, Michael Shermer and Jonathan Wells, Stephen Meyer and Michael Shermer, etc.

Friday, March 19, 2010

A Simple Case For Intelligent Design

Atom, commenting at William Dembski's blog uncommondescent, made the following case for Intelligent Design. I have paraphrased it slightly, but you can find the original in the comment section here.

1) It is a given that complex, integrated, functional machinery exists.

2) There are two logically possible causes for 1: A) intelligence, and B) non-intelligent forces of nature and chance.

3) Non-intelligent causes have not yet been empirically demonstrated to produce complex, integrated, functional machinery. This has only been assumed (see just-so stories).

4) Intelligent causes have been, and can be, empirically demonstrated to cause such machines. (Computers, cars, aircraft, etc.)

5) Therefore, intelligence is currently the best and only explanation for 1. Until another causal class can be empirically demonstrated as a viable cause, Intelligent Design is the default position.

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Pi Day

If you have been to Google today, you know that today is Pi Day. Today is 3/14 and Pi, the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter, starts with 3.14.

Pi is a special number in that it is irrational (it cannot be written as a ratio of whole numbers) and transcendental (it cannot be expressed as the result of any finite series of mathematical equations). Pi, written π, has been calculated to over a trillion digits, but if it could be written down, it would fill the entire universe.

To see one million digits of Pi, go here.

It's interesting to search for strings of digits in this list. So far, I've found the 6-digit birthdays of most of the people in my immediate family.

Thursday, March 04, 2010

God, If You're Real...



For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Courtesy of Dan Lietha

Monday, January 25, 2010

Who is Really Fair and Balanced?



















This chart from johnny dollar's place shows the percentage of the Massachusetts Senate candidates' speeches which were aired by CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News on the night of the election.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Would You Consider Abortion in These Four Situations?

Today is the 36th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade supreme court decision legalizing abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, 45 million legal abortions were performed between 1973 and 2005.

Would you consider abortion in the following situations?

1. There is a preacher and wife who are very, very poor. They already have 14 kids. Now she finds out she is pregnant with her 15th. They are living in tremendous poverty. Considering their poverty and the excessive world population, would you consider recommending abortion?

2. The father is sick with sniffles, the mother has TB. They have 4 children. The first is blind, the second is dead. The third is deaf and the fourth has TB. The mother finds she is pregnant again. Given the extreme situation, would you recommend abortion?

3. A man abused a 13 year old girl and she is now pregnant. If you were her parents, would you consider recommending abortion?

4. A teenage girl is pregnant. She is not married. Her fiancee is not the father of the baby, and he is very upset. Would you recommend an abortion?

If you have answered “yes” to any of these situations...

In the first case you would have killed John Wesley, one of the great evangelists of the 18th century.

In the second case, you would have killed Beethoven.

In the third case you would have killed Ethel Waters, the great gospel singer.

In the fourth case you would have recommended the murder of Jesus Christ.

From http://earnestlycontending.com/maranatha/?p=604