There’s a lot of scholarly work out there attempting to settle the question of whether or not the Jesus of the Christian Bible really existed. I’m not going to pretend to summarize or even really discuss that work here. I just want to highlight something I think is often missing from debates between Christians and [...]
All posts tagged beliefs
Did Jesus really exist?
Posted by NFQ on December 24, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/12/did-jesus-really-exist/
Know your Buddhist gods: Tara
Here’s the next installment in my “Know your Buddhist gods” series. The background: I’m tired of hearing crunchy hippy New Age types insist that Buddhism is just about “getting in touch with yourself” through meditation and doesn’t have any of those wacky supernatural beliefs like the “Western” religions do. It’s especially irritating when people insist [...]
Posted by NFQ on September 18, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/09/know-your-buddhist-gods-tara/
If God, then what?
I saw this review of an apologetics book that was published earlier this year, and while I’m totally unenthusiastic about the book itself, its title — also the title of this post — got me thinking about a question I often struggle to convey to theists. I don’t think this is a guaranteed “gotcha” type [...]
Posted by NFQ on September 17, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/09/if-god-then-what/
Review: Love Wins
I read Rob Bell’s Love Wins back in October, but I just uncovered my notes about it — so it’s time for a much-overdue book review! If you’re the sort of person who reads blogs about religion and atheism, you probably remember the controversy surrounding Bell’s book in March 2011. A quick refresher for those [...]
Posted by NFQ on May 24, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/05/review-love-wins/
Know your Buddhist gods: Guanyin
I’m getting tired of hearing crunchy hippy New Age types insist that Buddhism is just about “getting in touch with yourself” through meditation and doesn’t have any of those wacky supernatural beliefs like the “Western” religions do. It’s especially irritating when people insist that Buddhism is atheist. Several key sects of Buddhism recognize the existence [...]
Posted by NFQ on May 22, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/05/know-your-buddhist-gods-guanyin/
Is it a religion or a cult?
I’ve seen this image in a few places, and I found it so elegant I just had to post it here. I’m not sure it’s 100% true; certainly people can be honestly mistaken about what they might have witnessed, and can also get caught up in the excitement of a crowd. We see this in [...]
Posted by NFQ on May 16, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/05/is-it-a-religion-or-a-cult/
Mormons Made Simple
I don’t know how I found this video series — possibly it was through StumbleUpon. Anyway, I was intrigued by their offer of a “Facebook Missionary Challenge” so I signed up to see what Mormon Facebookers would be instructed to do. The basic idea is that you post the videos along with some cute little [...]
Posted by NFQ on April 19, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/04/mormons-made-simple/
On personal relationships
“I’m not religious; I have a personal relationship with Jesus.” Perhaps you’ve heard this line before. Perhaps you’ve delivered this line before. Setting aside for the time being the interesting phenomenon of religious people accepting the adjective “religious” as negative, I want to talk about what it might mean to have a personal relationship with [...]
Posted by NFQ on March 2, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/03/on-personal-relationships/
Legitimate supernatural claims
I’ve had a number of conversations with theists in which they tell me their beliefs are grounded in evidence, not blind faith. As a scientist, I’m surprised when they can’t offer a hypothetical scenario in which they would change their beliefs. Because that’s the thing about basing your belief on evidence, isn’t it? If you [...]
Posted by NFQ on March 1, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/03/legitimate-supernatural-claims/
Religion: the world’s biggest white lie?
I have very little doubt in the soundness of the logic underlying my decision not to believe in any religion. I have spent a lot of time reading and listening to a variety of people making arguments for belief, and also a variety of atheist arguments to the contrary. The atheist arguments aren’t perfect — [...]
Posted by NFQ on January 2, 2012
http://www.noforbiddenquestions.com/2012/01/religion-the-worlds-biggest-white-lie/
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