Table of Contents
Introduction xi
1 Standards 1
Legal Standards 2
A Legal Evidence 2
B Burden of Proof 6
Scientific Standards 8
A The Scientific Method 10
B Hypotheses and Theories 13
C Science and Religion 17
Historical Standards 24
A Multiple Independent Attestation 25
B Principle of Dissimilarity 25
C Principle of Analogy 26
D Summary 28
Philosophical Standards 30
A The Foundations of Knowledge 32
B Faith and Reason 37
C Objective versus Subjective Worldviews 44
D Positing Belief in God as Properly Basic 46
The "Surprise Factor" 47
2 Definitions 51
A Brief Discussion of Christian Apologetics 51
A Brief Discussion of Christian Theology 58
A Brief Discussion of Atheism, Naturalism, and Humanism 61
A Atheism 62
B Naturalism 65
C Humanism 69
3 Avoiding Errors in Logic and Reason 73
Logical Fallacies and Concepts Common to Apologetics 76
A The Argument from Ignorance 79
B Shifting the Burden of Proof 82
C Retreating to the "Possible" 86
D Ockham's Razor 87
E Ad Hoc Explanations 90
F Appeal to "Cumulative" Arguments 94
G Appeal to Mystery 96
4 Arguments for Christianity 101
Natural Theology 102
The Existence of the Universe (Cosmological Arguments) 104
A Everything That Began to Exist Had a Cause 106
B The Universe Began to Exist 110
C The Christian God Is the Cause 114
D The Modal Cosmologica! Argument 117
E Philosophical First Cause 119
The Argument from Apparent Design (Teleological)/The Argument from Complexity 119
A Charles Darwin Provides a Viable Alternative 122
B The Theory of Evolution Evolves 125
1 Comparative Anatomy 127
2 Comparative Embryology 128
3 Vestigial Structures 128
4 Biogeography 128
5 Genetics 129
6 Observations of Natural Selection at Work 129
7 Computer Modeling 129
C The Rise and Fall of intelligent Design 130
D Not-So-Intelligent Design 133
E Theistic Evolution 136
The Fine-Tuning Argument 139
A Our Universe Is Not Especially Hospitable to Human Life 140
B We Cannot Say Our Universe Is Finely Tuned for Any Life 144
C Probability Arguments Are Red Herrings 145
D God Would Have No Need for a Finely Tuned Universe 149
E Positing the Multiverse 149
F A Finely Tuned but Ultimately Baseless Argument 152
The Argument from Life 153
Consciousness, the Soul, and Mind-Body Dualism 154
A Dualism and the Mind-Body Problem 155
B Conceptual Problems with Dualism 157
C What the Science Reveals 159
Miracles 164
Morality 170
A God Is the Only Plausible Explanation for the Intuitive Sense of Right and Wrong That Seems to Apply across Human Cultures 171
B Morality Is Self-Evidently Objective, and Only God Can Provide a Transcendent Objective Standard for Morality 176
1 There Is No Evidence That Moral Values Are Objective 176
a Morality Is Necessarily Subjective 178
b Two Approaches to Ethics and Morality 182
2 Even If Moral Values Were Objective, That Would Not Make the Christian God More Likely 185
3 The Christian God Cannot Be Considered Good in Any Meaningful Sense 187
4 Goodness Defined by Divine Command 190
5 Objective Morality, If It Existed, Would Be Useless to Humanity Because We Have No Access to an Objective Moral Code 194
C Without Christian Morality, People Would Descend into Moral Anarchy 200
The Transcendental Argument (TAG) 207
The Argument from Reason 209
The Argument from Determinism 212
The Sensus Divinitatis 213
The Popularity of Christianity 219
A Christianity's History of Conquest and Political Power 220
B The Need for Certainty, Simplicity, Understanding, and Closure 222
C The Need for Coherence 224
D The Satisfaction of Emotional Needs 225
E Cognitive Biases 228
F Childhood Indoctrination 230
G Social Acceptance 231
H Cultural Momentum and Tradition 234
I Malleability 236
J Conclusion 237
Societal Value 238
Personal Experience 239
5 Arguments against Christianity 241
God's Silence Regarding His Existence and Expectations 241
A Apologetic Responses: Free Wilt 244
B Apologetic Responses: The Stubbornness of Nonbelievers 251
C Apologetic Responses: God's Evidence Is Only Available to Those with the Right Frame of Mind 255
D God Is Limited 257
The Futility of Prayer 258
Evil and Suffering 262
A Apologetic Responses: Suffering Is Necessary for the Greater Good 265
B Apologetic Responses: Suffering Is Necessary So Man Can Exercise Free Will 270
C Apologetic Responses: Suffering Represents the Necessary Casualties of a Cosmic War 273
D Apologetic Responses: Suffering Is Temporary and Justified by the Afterlife 274
E Apologetic Responses: Suffering Is Justified by the Fall of Man 275
F Apologetic Responses: Suffering Should Be Expected Because God Doesn't Owe Us Anything 276
G The Bible Addresses Suffering: The Book of Job 277
H Suffering Cannot Be Coherently Harmonized with Christianity 279
I Fairness and Justice 280
Christianity Doesn't Make Sense 280
A The Nature of God 281
1 Omnipotence 285
2 Omniscience 287
3 Omnibenevolence 289
a The Old Testament God Is Anything but Good 290
b The New Testament God Is Even Worse: The Problem of Hell 294
c The Problem of Evil and Suffering 298
d An Omnibenevolent God Is an Amoral God 299
4 Perfection 300
B The Bible Is a Hodgepodge of Inconsistent Ideas 301
C Doctrinal Inconsistencies 306
1 The Trinity 307
2 Sin and Salvation 309
3 What Do Philosophers Think? 315
Historically the Bible Gets More Wrong than Right 316
A The Old Testament 317
1 A Timeline of Important Old Testament Events 319
2 The Creation 321
3 Noah and the Flood; the Tower of Babel 322
4 The Exodus 324
5 The Conquest of Canaan 326
6 The Judges 327
7 The Empires of David and Solomon 329
8 The Fall of the Judaic Empire 331
9 What Really Happened? 332
10 The History of God through the Old Testament 343
11 Thoughts on the Old Testament 346
B The New Testament 347
1 The Historical Jesus: What Is the Evidence? 348
2 Canon by Committee 351
3 The Non-Gospel Books of the New Testament 356
4 The Four Gospels 357
a Mark 362
b Matthew 366
c Luke 370
d John 374
e Conclusions 376
5 Jesus's Miracles and Proof of the Resurrection 379
a The Tradition of the Empty Tomb 384
b Possibilities Other than Fabrication 386
6 The "Cumulative Approach" Argument 390
7 Jesus Was Wrong 391
8 What Really Happened? 395
6 What Is the Harm of Christianity? 403
The Subversive Effects of Dogma 405
Christianity Supports Tribalism and Justifies Bigotry and Prejudice 407
Race 411
Religious Intolerance 418
The Jews 426
Nationalism 434
Sexism and the Subjugation of Women 435
LGBTQ Issues 441
Health and Safety 445
Christianity and Children 447
Undermining Science and Reason 451
Attacks on Constitutional Protections 458
Human Guilt, Emotional Suffering, and Mental Health 467
Animal Rights 469
The Apologetic Response 471
A The Racists and Homophobes Do Not Represent "True" Christians; They Have Interpreted the Bible Incorrectly 471
B Christianity Has Been Responsible for Much Good in the World, Outweighing Any Bad 473
C Conclusion 476
7 What about Liberal Christianity? 479
Useful Definitions 480
A Brief History 481
Ad Hoc Theology 483
Undefined Standards 487
Poor Exegesis and Fallacious Arguments 490
Indoctrination of Children 493
Unjustified Focus on Jesus and the Bible 494
Unwarranted Privileging of the Bible and Religion in General 495
Advocating Faith as a Virtue and Legitimate Source of Knowledge 497
Contribution to More Extreme Forms of Christianity 498
Other Problems 500
Conclusion 503
Appendix: Logical Fallacies Common to Christian Apologetics 507
1 Special Pleading 507
2 No True Scotsman 509
3 Equivocation 510
4 Argument of the Beard 512
5 Begging the Question 514
6 Argument from Authority 516
7 Argument from Popularity 520
8 Poisoning the Well 520
9 Applying Inconsistent Standards of Proof 521
10 Cherry-Picking and Straw-Man Arguments 522
11 Appeal to Intuition (Common Sense) 525
12 Appeal to Emotion 528
13 Appeal to Narrative and Anecdotes 530
14 Appeal to Personal Incredulity 531
15 Appeal to Martyrdom 532
16 Argument from the Desirable or from Final Consequences 533
17 Argument from Utility 534
18 False Equivalence 535
19 False Dichotomy/Dilemma 537
20 Argument to Moderation 540
21 Appeal to Relativism 541
22 Texas Sharpshooter 542
23 Composition/Division 543
24 Stolen Concept 543
25 Use of Tautologies 544
26 Categorical Dismissal of the Argument from Silence 545
27 Establishing Necessary but Not Sufficient Conditions 546
28 Understated Evidence 547
29 The Fallacy Fallacy 548
Notes 549
Index 597
