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Often, when discussing atheism, and a declaration is made that the individual simply does not hold the belief that God exists, they are immediately accused of being a Lacktheist, weak, and dodging the question. Some then go on to say, in error, that if you don’t hold the belief that God exists then you must think he does not exist, thus you are a strong atheist, and you should defend your position. See the blog post on atheism and agnosticism here for details of terminology a

Many view guilt and forgiveness as intertwined: guilt often emerges as the shadow side of unforgiven wrongs, whether toward others or ourselves (as explored in my previous post on forgiveness – See here). Guilt can be profoundly debilitating when chronic, some carry its weight for years or decades. Yet, escaping it is vital for a life of peace and flourishing. The challenge lies in distinguishing when guilt serves us (as a call to repair) from when it traps us in unnecessary

Theologically speaking, it is said that even the most devout Christians will not get into heaven if they have not fully forgiven all those who have wronged them at some time in their lives, and fully emptied themselves of hate and resentment. It is not for me to comment on the correctness or otherwise, of Christian theology however, even apart from the religious, most people will usually agree that forgiveness represents unfinished business, and to forgive others of what they

One of the most import questions in religious debates and discussions, is whether morality exists. Indeed, the Moral Argument for God depends upon it as one of its premises. The problem is, there Is lots of confusion around what the various terms mean, can morality be subjective, what’s included in morality and what isn’t. Are imperatives built in i.e. is it normative and most importantly perhaps, what does it mean for morality to even exist?

I have noticed that very few Christians understand the historical-critical method, the approach scholars use to determine what most likely happened in the past. History, along with archaeology, has been a long-standing interest of mine. In recent years, religious history has also come into focus. I make no claim to expertise in this field beyond many years of reading, visits to ancient Greek and Roman sites, and, more recently, listening to podcasts, debates, and discussions

Is it always wrong to do harm? Is the definition of harm subjective? Causing harm is, in one sense, factual: you either diminish someone's well-being or you don’t. But context matters enormously, and so does intention. A surgeon or a dentist may cause temporary suffering while working on you, yet their usual purpose is to improve your bodily state or at least maintain it. By contrast, when an action or behaviour leaves someone in a state worse than before, diminishing their w

One of the questions that pops up regularly in religious debates, is whether atheism is the default position or not. Obviously Christians think that theism is the default but often, that is based on a lack of understanding about what the default position actually means together with their desire for Theism to be primary, in this case. So in order to make the case rationally here, it would be useful to examine what default means and to confirm why atheism is the default positi

Many atheists support some form of moral realism. This view is often grounded in evolution and the cooperative strategies that emerged in many species, particularly among higher mammals, as they competed for scarce resources. This article shows how a common misunderstanding of key terms in moral discussions leads to the unnecessary assumption that moral realism must be true.

Over the past few years, debates about the definitions of "atheism" and "agnosticism" have resurfaced with surprising frequency—far more often than their semantic importance seems to warrant. These discussions are most commonly initiated by Christians, though some philosophers and atheists join in as well. In philosophical circles, "atheism" is often defined as the positive belief that God does not exist, while "agnosticism" is treated as a middle position: neither believing

This is a short response to something Matt mentioned when responding to David Fitzgerald in the video they made together on the subject of Mythicism and the evidence for Jesus. Just as background, these are two atheists who are both pretty much ambivalent whether Jesus existed or not since it is his so called 'miracles' including his resurrection, that is key for Christians and therefore atheists, when in discussion with them.

Hi Alex, hope you are well. You asked for comments on your latest video and the easiest approach was to put them up here on my blog for you to peruse and hopefully respond to. Would love to hear your thoughts on this if only to acknowledge that you have seen it. Just put a comment in the box below. This blog entry addresses about 5 minutes of the video from 3:30 to 8:30.

You'll often see atheists who describe their position as simply "lacking belief in God" accused of dodging, avoiding, or even being dishonest about the burden of proof. When it's pointed out that most of these atheists genuinely don't claim "God definitely does not exist," the response is usually something like: "Well, maybe not you, but plenty of others do”—just look at how many likes those posts get. There's clearly strong feeling on this topic, not just from theists but fr

This is a response to a few points raised by Stephen Woodford in his recent video discussing the term atheism and how it should be used. I have used timestamps to highlight the sections being covered.

Christian apologists acknowledge that individual hallucinations can occur and might explain some disciples' beliefs in Jesus' resurrection. However, they argue that this cannot account for the group sightings described in the New Testament, most notably, Paul's claim that over 500 people saw the risen Jesus at once. From a strictly historical perspective, how do scholars assess this specific event?

Religious apologists often maintain that miracles not only occurred in the past but that historical methods can support this claim. This article argues that they cannot.

Design—who or what is behind it—has become a hot topic lately, especially in religious discussions where God is often seen as the ultimate designer. The trouble is, many people aren't fully aware of how the "design inference" actually works: how we decide something might have been designed, and how that conclusion can shift with new evidence. The key takeaway? There's no foolproof formula that always gives the "right" answer. We can—and sometimes do—get it wrong when more inf