On Creationism

An important step in the Argument from Morality is that objective morality necessarily implies God. That is to say, it assumes that if there is an objective morality, then there must be a god. Is that a reasonable assumption? This is related to a couple of other post: Mere Christianity The Argument From Morality What is objective morality?​ The first problem is deciding exactly what objective morality is. Here is one definition that I think works well. Objective morality is the idea that right and wrong exist factually, without any importance of opinion. It's the concept that some actions and beliefs are imperatively good or inherently bad, and that the goodness or badness of those things holds true no matter who you are or what else you believe in.​ Is this what Lewis, for example, was thinking about in Mere Christianity? I am note sure, but I think this is a good starting point. Using this definition, we can say that murder is wrong not because our culture insists it is, but wro...

 Near-death experiences are often cited as evidence for the soul or even for religion. Here are some random thoughts. A good review here: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-near-death-experiences-reveal-about-the-brain/ It is like being on drugs A study indicates that there is a lot of similarity between NDEs and using certain drugs, such as ketamine. The fact that different drugs give different experiences across a whole spectrum, with NDEs being at one end of the spectrum, does point to this being a physiological effect. Vision If a person really does leave their body, and can see what is happening, then that indicates the disembodied soul is interacting with the material world. Photons from all around the room are going to the disembodied soul, and rather than passing through, they are interacting with it. So how come there is not a dark space (or other visual effect) where the soul is? Something like 10% to 20% of near-deaths result in an NDE. we are talking a lot...

"I'm not the Messiah!" "I say you are, Lord, and I should know, I've followed a few!" The fact is that the Jews proclaimed numerous men as the messiah. Jesus was far from unique in that regard. Here are seventeen we know about. Judas son of Hezekiah (4 BC) https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-1-judas-son-of-hezekiah/ Simon of Perea (4 BC) https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-2-simon-of-perea/ Athronges (4 BC) https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-3-athronges/ Judas the Galilean (AD 6) https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-4-judas-the-galilean/ John the Baptist (AD 28) https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-5-john-the-baptist/ The Samaritan Prophet (AD 36) https://www.livius.org/articles/religion/messiah/messianic-claimant-7-the-samaritan-prophet/ King Herod Agrippa I (possibly) (AD 44) https://www.livius.org/a...