Calling Right Wrong and Wrong Right
It’s complicated!

“If the indiscriminate slaughter of human beings can be called ‘good and righteous’ then all moral and ethical absolutes are destroyed.”

Authors Copan and Flannagan disagree.
We’ll see why!

The Problem with Pious Prevarication
How’s that for alliteration?

Atheist Raymond Bradley charges that the god of the bible commits, causes, commands, or condones violence in violation of objective moral principles.

How will authors Copan and Flannagan deal with Bradley’s logical quandaries?

Guilty of Not Being Innocent
Did the Canaanites deserve to be slaughtered?

According to Copan and Flannagan the answer is YES.

They base their argument on three
biblical justifications. 

But are they valid?

A Morally Questionable Escape Clause
The bible doesn’t condemn divinely commanded violence… but we should.

“Anyone who condones, the deliberate and merciless slaughter of men, women, and children who are innocent of any serious wrongdoing, …should be regarded with abhorrence.”
Raymond Bradley

Would that include Copan and Flannagan?

Biblical Contradictions 1/4
Batter Up! 

Answering the Music Man contributor Thomas Baker steps up to the plate to take a swing at Dan Barker’s list of biblical contradictions and discrepancies.

Will he hit a home run or strike out?

Biblical Inerrancy IN Peril 2/4
Biblical Contradictions

Thomas Baker appears willing to sacrifice biblical inerrancy to protect his belief in the existence of God.

Has atheist Dan Barker won the war of words?

Biblical Inerrancy 3/4
A Pious Fraud

In October of 1978, over 200 evangelicals gathered in Chicago to formulate a written statement defending the position of biblical inerrancy.

Turns out their defense was as errant as the book they were defending. 

Biblical Inerrancy 4/4
Protecting the Christian Narrative

In this blog we explore the possible reasons evangelicals feel the need to defend biblical inerrancy so fervently.

It’s more about power than protecting the integrity of the bible.

What John D. Ferrer doesn’t reveal about his personal beliefs, and why he’s reluctant to share them.

Ferrer claims to have the intellectual high ground over atheist Dan Barker, but a deeper dive into Ferrer’s actual beliefs tells an entirely different story.

Are Faith and Reason Compatible?
B. Kyle Keltz

The Bible tells us that “faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Keltz writes that simply having “faith” is evidence enough to assume that God actually exists.

Wait, what?

How Christians Define Faith
A critique of Keltz’s
definition of faith

According to Keltz, Barker’s definition of faith is not how christian theologians understand faith. Which begs the obvious question. How do christians define faith?

We shall see!

The Philosophy of
Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas is famous for his 
Five Ways to Prove God’s Existence.

But do they?

Dan Barker and the Immoral God of the Bible Part 1

Steve Lewis PhD attempts to discredit renown atheist Dan Barker who says…

If you claim to be a good person, then the bible should embarrass you and disgust you. 

The Jealous God of the Bible

Lewis says that the God he believes in is incapable of experiencing jealousy.

But is that the God we find in the bible?

The Bible and Slavery Part 1

Lewis justifies slavery as found in the Old Testament.

How Antebellum Christians
Justified Slavery

“The right of holding slaves is clearly established in the Holy Scriptures.”

Richard Furman

Dismantling the Myth That Ancient Slavery Wasn’t That Bad. 

A conversation about the true nature of biblical slavery.

How Antebellum Christians
Justified Slavery Part 2

Antebellum pastors used the bible to justify slavery. Abolitionists also used the bible to oppose slavery.

Who was correct?

How Christians
Justify Acts of Genocide

Lewis continues his defense of the moral goodness of Yahweh as he justifies the divine violence of genocide as found in the Old Testament.

Warning! His defense will be shocking to people with a well-developed moral conscience.

Disassociating God from Biblical Violence
Getting God Off the Hook for Genocide

Christian Gatekeepers attempt to Get God off the hook for the violence found in the Old Testament.  
It’s rather amusing to observe the mental and moral gymnastics some christians will perform in order to “get God off the hook.” 
But will it work?

Reevaluating the Destruction of the Canaanites
Letting God Off the Hook for Genocide.

Christian writer Charlie Trimm attempts to make sense of the violent passages found in the Old Testament.  

“If you believe that mass killing are always bad, then you can’t also believe that God is good.” Trimm’s ideas present some significant conundrums for believers.

Reevaluating the Violence in the Old Testament
Letting God Off the Hook for Genocide.

We’ll explore a christian school of thought that justifies mass killings in the Old Testament, by saying that the victims of Yahweh commanded genocide deserved to be annihilated.

Using New Testament Theology to
Justify Old Testament Genocide

As we have seen, christians will go to great lengths to justify stories of genocide in the Old Testament.
But we seriously question the sanity and compassion of those christians who use the New Testament to do so. 

1/3 The Full Armor of God

Bibleinfo.com discusses the articles of the Full Armor of God as found in Ephesians 6. In this blog we’ll explore the viability of the Belt of Truth and the Breastplate of Righteousness. 

2/3 The Full Armor of God

Bibleinfo.com discusses the articles of the Full Armor of God as found in Ephesians 6. In this blog we’ll explore the viability of the “shoes of the gospel of truth” and the “shield of faith”.

3/3 The Full Armor of God

Bibleinfo.com discusses the articles of the Full Armor of God as found in Ephesians 6. In this blog we’ll explore the viability of the “helmet of salvation” and the “sword of the spirit”.

Can an Evangelical Enjoy Meaningful Communication With An Atheist?
Or vice versa?

Christian author Dr. Elizabeth Youmans thinks so… at least that what she writes.

Dr. Youmans is an advocate for christian education, which she believes should be based entirely on the bible. Just how willing is she to have “meaningful communication” with someone who doesn’t believe in the bible? We’ll find out!  

It’s the Work of the Devil

Dr. Elizabeth Youmans believes that our English vocabulary is being “robbed and pillaged” by none other than the devil himself.

I contacted her to ask about what she had written, and to my great surprise she actually responded. Here is her reply…

“Meaningful Communications”
Is Not In the Bible

We put a secularistic spin on Dr. Elizabeth Youmans supernatural beliefs that the devil is hard at work changing the definitions of words.

A theology of War

Christian author Dr. Elizabeth Youmans is clearly at war, and she sees herself as a warrior. You might be surprised by who she considers her enemy and how she uses spiritual weapons of warfare against them.

1/9 Foundation of their Faith

3/9 God’s Relationship with Humanity

5/9 Humanity’s Relationship With God

7/9 Purpose of Spiritual Community

9/9 LGBTQ Inclusion

A Conversation With
Pastor Jenny

Jenny is a pastor of the progressive congregation that provided the happy ending to the Church on Marion Street. 

During our conversation Pastor Jenny talked frankly about her spiritual journey to reconcile her love of God, her lifelong devotion to ministry, and her identifying as being gay.