You can see the entire interaction between Laurence Tisdall and Jason Wiles on the Michael Coren show here.
Weekly apologetics cartoons for the faithful, the faithless, and the full-of-its.
Archives for the month of: January, 2011
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Mormonism, as it is called, must stand or fall on the story of Joseph Smith. He was either a prophet of God, divinely called, properly appointed and commissioned, or he was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen. There is no middle ground. If Joseph Smith was a deceiver, who wilfully attempted to mislead the people, then he should be exposed; his claims should be refuted, and his doctrines shown to be false…
- Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, pp.188,189 (1959)
The NoApologiesAllowed fictional response (were I around in 1959):
Dear 10th President of Mormonism:
Thank you for the open invitation to expose Joseph Smith. I accept.
Enclosed with this brief letter is my second attempt to show that he, indeed, “was one of the biggest frauds this world has ever seen” — and arrogant, too. (Of course, it’s much easier to be arrogant when you’ve got nearly 3,000 equally foolish people acting as your own personal militia, as he did. [reference: Nauvoo Legion])
Do expect more in the future.
Sincerely,
NoApologiesAllowed
PS – By the way, you said that there is “…no salvation without accepting Joseph Smith. If Joseph Smith was verily a prophet, and if he told the truth…. No man can reject that testimony without incurring the most dreadful consequences, for he cannot enter the kingdom of God” (Doctrines of Salvation, Vol.1, pp.189,190). Calling such a statement “ridiculous” would raise it to a level of dignity that it doesn’t deserve. Your obvious lack of careful reading of the truly inspired Scriptures (the Old and New Testaments) forces me to doubt your claims. That salvation depends on anything other than the work of God through the risen Lord Jesus Christ is one of the many deceptive things that your organization believes, teaches, and promotes.
I’ll do what I can to help you and all those like you to see that.
Enc.
NOTE: This piece, both its audio and video, are courtesy of a Youtube user and some radio program called “Wretched Radio”. Clever and well written!
Scientific Mythologies
by James A. Herrick
Length: 288 pages
Publisher: IVP Academic (June 2, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0830825886
Noticed how science fact is looking and sounding more like science “fiction”? Why? Could it be part conditioning through movies, comics, TV shows, and novels? Is it part necessity as the data outstrips our abilities to explain and handle it?
As a science fiction fan and a Christian, I found the book extremely interesting. The author, James Herrick, delves into an obsessive amount of detail and shows that there’s a lot of science fiction that involves religious concepts, most notable is “The Force” from the Star Wars series. The author then displays how that these ideas make it easier for people to accept alternative “spiritualities”. And a noteworthy feature is that from what I’ve read, the author doesn’t take a negative view of science fiction; he only discusses its influence on people in the “spiritual” baseball field.
Anyway, don’t listen to me. If you like science fiction (Who doesn’t these days?) and you enjoy the field of apologetics, get this book.
NOTE: The book has one drawback: It’s printed in a small font.
Here’s a description of this fascinating book from the publisher’s Web site itself:
“What does science have to do with science fiction? What does science fiction have to do with scientists? What does religion have to do with science and science fiction?
In the spiritual vacuum of our post-Christian West, new mythologies continually arise. The sources of much religious speculation, however, may be surprising. Author James Herrick directs our attention to a wide range of scientists, filmmakers, science fiction writers and religious philosophers and discovers there the role that science and science fiction have played in such mythmaking.
From scientists such as Francis Bacon, Francis Crick, Carl Sagan and Freeman Dyson, to filmmakers such as George Lucas and Steven Spielberg, to science fiction writers such as Olaf Stapledon, Sir Arthur C. Clarke, Robert Heinlein and Isaac Asimov, Herrick finds a curious collusion of science with science fiction for promoting and justifying alternative spiritualities. The rise of these new mythologies, he argues, is no longer a curiosity at the edge of Western culture. This alchemy is catalyzing a religious vision of new gods, a new humanity, and alien races with superior intelligence and secret knowledge. This new mythology overshadows the realms of politics, science and religion.
Should we follow such visions? Does science endorse these mythologies? Are we being offered a spirituality superior to the Judeo-Christian tradition? This book will help you decide.”
Get it here: Scientific Mythologies
Or here: Scientific Mythologies
Peter Atkins is still recovering.
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Heard of “The Dao” or “The Tao”? What is it?
Apparently, whatever philosophical concept you’d like it to be:
Dao De Jing – 23 Different Translations Side-by-Side
So, is the “Dao” [g]od? Reason? Infinity? Principle? Existence? Life? Even once we settle on a word to translate 「道」dao4, how can anyone be sure that theirs is the correct one? If we maintain that “Dao” is that thing which cannot be clearly fined, the very definition is a self-contradiction.
What in the world is the Dao? Who knows? Who, indeed, can know?
If you’re a Daoist, I welcome your comments.
NOTE: I do like to read the works of Zhuangzi, by the way.
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Gary Habermas vs. Tim Callahan – “Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?” (part 1)
Gary Habermas vs. Tim Callahan – “Did Jesus Rise From the Dead?” (part 2)
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Excerpt from the “No Apologies Allowed” Dictionary:
hyper-skeptic (noun) – a type of skeptic who is skeptical of anything and everything, except their own skepticism
