All I can say about the 1970s AD is that I was young enough to not be responsible for what I was wearing.

It was in 1978 AD when R.C. Sproul first published If There's A God, Why Are There Atheists?

Apologetic 315 has just posted a review.

To all,—and in the original Greek all means all; sorry, a little apologetics humor—very little :o)

A gentlemen who runs an atheist org has challenged me to debate.
Thus far, I know it will be in Canada, after February and on morals.

Please 1) pray for finances with which to travel (I support my wife and 4 kids on 1 income) and 2) pray for wisdom as I ain’t got too much of the smarts.

Thank you and aDios,
Mariano

The Bible Among the Myths is a book by John N. Oswalt.
Referencing this book provides an opportunity to link to various posts about comparisons between Jesus and various characters:

Jesus & Muhammad

Jesus & Buddha (this was a corroboration piece posted on AiD)

The following are provided by Marcus of the very informative blog What Had Happen′ Was…:
Jesus & Attis

Jesus & Muhammad

Jesus & Dionysus

Jesus & Krishna

Jesus & Quetzalcoatl

Jesus & Xolotl

Jesus & Apollonius of Tyana

Jesus & Scipio Africanus

Jesus & Pythia-the Oracle at Delphi

Jesus & Titus Vespatian

Iliad & Bible



C.S. Lewis wrote:

A man who has spent his youth and manhood in the minute study of New Testament texts and of other people's studies of them, whose literary experience of those texts lacks any standard of comparison such as can only grow from a wide and deep and genial experience of literature in general, is, I should think, very likely to miss the obvious thing about them.
If he tells me that something in a Gospel is legend or romance, I want to know how many legends and romances he has read, how well his palate is trained in detecting them by the flavour; not how many years he has spend on that Gospel…I have been reading poems, romances, vision-literature, legends, myths all my life. I know what they are like. I know that not one of them is like this…[1]

Product Description
The Bible Among the Myths is a sometimes controversial, always engaging corrective to a growing rejection in Western society of the revelation found within the Old Testament regarding a transcendent God who breaks into time and space and reveals himself in and through human activity.

From the Back Cover
Sixty years ago, most biblical scholars maintained that Israel’s religion was unique—that it stood in marked contrast to the faiths of its ancient Near Eastern neighbors. Nowadays, it is widely argued that Israel’s religion mirrors that of other West Semitic societies. What accounts for this radical change, and what are its implications for our understanding of the Old Testament?
Dr. John N. Oswalt says the root of this new attitude lies in Western society’s hostility to the idea of revelation, which presupposes a reality that transcends the world of the senses, asserting the existence of a realm humans cannot control. While not advocating a “the Bible says it, and I believe it, and that settles it” point of view, Oswalt asserts convincingly that while other ancient literatures all see reality in essentially the same terms, the Bible differs radically on all the main points.
The Bible Among the Myths supplies a necessary corrective to those who reject the Old Testament’s testimony about a transcendent God who breaks into time and space and reveals himself in and through human activity.

About the Author
Dr. John N. Oswalt (PhD, Brandeis University) is Visiting Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Kentucky. He is the author of numerous articles and several books, including the two-volume commentary on Isaiah in the New International Commentary on the Old Testament series and Called to be Holy: A Biblical Perspective.

The God I Don’t Understand: Reflection on Tough Questions of Faith is the title of a book by Christopher J. H. Wright.


The following is from Amazon.com

Product Description
If we are honest, we have to admit that there are many things we don’t understand about God, especially in the face of terrible suffering and evil. Chris Wright offers reflections and encouragement from the Scriptures, so that those who are troubled by these tough questions can still sustain their faith.

From the Back Cover
If we are honest, we have to admit that there are many things we don’t understand about God. We do not have final answers to the deep problems of life, and those who say they do are probably living in some degree of delusion. There are areas of mystery in our Christian faith that lie beyond the keenest scholarship or even the most profound spiritual exercises.
For many people, these problems raise so many questions and uncertainties that faith itself becomes a struggle, and the very person and character of God are called into question. Chris Wright encourages us to face up to the limitations of our understanding and to acknowledge the pain and grief they can often cause.
But at the same time, he wants us to be able to say, like the psalmist in Psalm 73:

But that’s all right. God is ultimately in charge and I can trust him to put things right. Meanwhile, I will stay near to my God, make him my refuge, and go on telling of his deeds.

About the Author
Dr. Chris Wright is International Director of the Langham Partnership International. He also serves as chair of the Lausanne Committee’s Theology Working Group and chair of the Theological Resource Panel of TEAR Fund, a leading Christian relief and development charity. He has written several books, including Living as the People of God (An Eye for an Eye in the US), God’s People in God’s Land, Knowing Jesus through the Old Testament, Walking in the Ways of the Lord, Deuteronomy in the New International Biblical Commentary, The Message of Ezekiel in the Bible Speaks Today series, Old Testament Ethics for the People of God, and The Mission of God. Chris and his wife, Liz, have four adult children and six grandchildren.

FYI for all interested in writing: I have discovered that Examiner.com is a great place to publish articles and they are currently recruiting writers.

Think of it as a blog, except that the articles are to be structured more akin to a newspaper.
They pay their writers based on amount of traffic, # of subscriptions (basically, people signing in for email alerts), etc.
To get a taste; here is my site: http://www.examiner.com/x-34463-Albuquerque-Christian-Apologetics-Examiner
You can register with them here: http://www.examiner.com/Become_an_Examiner.html
As you register, you will see a section that asks if an Examiner referred you and that is where you can help a brother out and type in or select “Mariano Grinbank.”

You could be the examiner for your city on virtually any topic you choose. You could be the “Church Examiner,” “Religion Examiner,” “Home School Examiner,” “Parenting Examiner,” “Chinchilla Examiner,” “Taco Examiner,” or what have you.

Check out Examiner, see what they have to offer you and see what you have to offer them.

“GOD IS DEAD” and I Don’t Feel So Good Myself Theological Engagements with the New Atheism is the title of a book edited by Andrew David, Christopher, J. Keller and Jon Stanley


Book description and endorsements; from Wipf and Stock:

In this pertinent and engaging volume leading Christian philosophers, theologians, and writers from all over the denominational map explode the black-and-white binaries that characterize both sides of the New Atheism debate.
They transcend the self-assured shouting matches of this latest expression of the culture wars by engaging in rigorous, polychromatic Christian reflection that considers the extent to which the atheistic critique-both new and old-might help the church move toward a more mature faith, authentic spirituality, charitable witness, and peaceable practice.
With generous openness and ferocious wit, this collection of essays, interviews, memoir, poetry, and visual art-including contributions from leading intellectuals, activists, and artists such as Stanley Hauerwas, Charles Taylor, John Milbank, Stanley Fish, Luci Shaw, Paul Roorda, Merold Westphal, and D. Stephen Long-provides substantive analysis, incisive critique, and a hopeful way forward for Christian dialog with atheist voices.

I was watching a TV documentary the other night that featured several highly religious parents dealing with their highly addictive adult children's drug and sexuality issues.
'Their faith seems to make them worse parents and worse people,' I said to my wife after the last commercial. I feel the same way when political leaders bring in religion to justify the unjustifiable, as they too often do. That's why I am so grateful for this brilliant book: atheism isn't just something to oppose or refute—it also can be a mirror, with much to teach us believers about ourselves and our distorted and unworthy ideas about God and religion. The atheist too is our neighbor, and God may want to speak to us all through the incisive insight of an honest atheist. Highly, highly recommended.

The very shape of this book is a response to the New Atheism precisely because it refuses their narrow imagination and rationalist fundamentalism. Instead of playing by their rules, this book imagines faith otherwise in a stunning collection of poetry, prose, interviews, and images. It is an intellectual feast which seats us at the table with some of the most significant voices of our day.

In this exceptionally readable and engaging volume of essays—ranging from the accessibly academic to the largely belletristic—the diverse authors, along with their editors, pose one of the most effective answers to the so-called 'new atheists' that has come down the pike in recent years. Avoiding both the baroque scholasticism of so much contemporary postmodernist philosophy and the kitschy special-pleading of many popular theologians, God is Dead and I Don't Feel So Good Myself is special soul food for today's thinking Christian. . . . The book is a must read for all those frustrated onlookers who feel the new atheists have received far more attention than they deserve.

A rich, diverse nuanced collection of essays, interviews, musings, poetry, and art that together add up to a generous, engaging response to the New Atheism. Readers will either be shocked or unsurprised to learn that the 'god' declared dead by the New Atheists turns out not to be the God of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob that Christians affirm. God is not an explanation. This volume makes a strong case that the appropriate response to the resurgent atheism is not better arguments, but patient humility, and the practice of gratitude with the fruit of wonder, and the honey of love.

Through insightful essays, penetrating conversations, and beautiful poetry, 'God is Dead' and I Don't Feel So Good Myself brings thoughtful theologians, philosophers, and poets together to engage, learn from, and critique the cultural expression known as the New Atheism. I highly recommend this text as a conversational form of cultural engagement marked by a careful and generous listening punctuated by conviction and humility, curiosity and critical thinking.

Next month Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini will published an interesting sounding book, What Darwin Got Wrong



The following is from Amazon.com

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Praise for What Darwin Got Wrong
“A challenging, intriguing argument that poses important scientific and philosophical questions about evolution . . . Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini take a brave stance that will likely draw reaction . . . from across the scientific and theological spectrum. A dense, scholarly, engaging testament to modern scientific thinking and its ability to adapt and evolve.” —Kirkus Reviews

“From the shocking title onward, Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini have set the cat among Darwin’s pigeons. In arguing why the operation of natural selection says nothing about the causal mechanisms underlying the evolution of coextensive traits in an organism, they take us to the conceptual fault line at the heart of Darwin’s theory. My prediction is that Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini’s book will raise hackles galore wherever the theory of natural selection is all too glibly misused, not only in studies of the ontogeny and phylogeny of biology, but also in those great overlapping disciplines of philosophy, psychology, linguistics, and behavior—in short, human nature. This book will set the agenda for years to come. It cannot be ignored if the study of evolution is to be honest with itself.” —Gabriel Dover, Professor of Evolutionary Genetics, Universities of Leicester and Cambridge, and author of Dear Mr. Darwin: Letters on the Evolution of Life and Human Nature

“Evolution needs a persuasive theory if the struggle for public acceptance is to be won. Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini’s bold treatise, What Darwin Got Wrong, convincingly shows that natural selection is not that theory. Drawing on scientific literature spanning the molecular, behavioral, and cognitive scales, with sophisticated excursions into evolutionary-developmental biology and the physics of complex systems, the authors perform a philosophical dismantling of the standard model of evolutionary change that is likely irreversible. Their unambiguous grounding in the factuality of evolution renders this work a service to science and a setback for its opponents.” —Stuart Newman, Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy, New York Medical College

“In this provocative, enlightening, and very entertaining book, Fodor and Piattelli-Palmarini argue that natural selection (NS) cannot explain how evolution occurs. The argument is largely conceptual and proceeds in two steps: (1) that theories of NS are conceptually parallel to Skinnerian theories of learning and so share most of the same debilitating problems, and (2) that NS is actually in worse conceptual shape when its central explanatory notion, ‘selecting for,’ is properly unpacked. This argument will annoy a lot of important people, both for its conclusion and for the evident delight the authors display in getting to it. The ensuing fireworks should be delightful, and (possibly) enlightening.” —Norbert Hornstein, Professor of Linguistics, University of Maryland“This highly informative and carefully argued study develops two central theses. First, there are alternatives to classical neo-Darwinian adaptationist theories that are plausible, and very possibly capture principles that are the rule rather than the exception even if the basic adaptationist account is accepted. Second, that account cannot be accepted. The two theses are sufficiently independent so that they can be evaluated separately. Whatever the outcome of intellectual engagement with this stimulating work, it is sure to be a most rewarding experience.” —Noam Chomsky

Product Description
This is not a book about God, or about intelligent design. Rather, here is a remarkable book, one that dares to challenge natural selection—not in the name of religion but in the name of good science. Most scientists are so terrified of religious attacks on the theory of evolution that it is never examined critically.

But there are major scientific and philosophical problems with the theory of natural selection. Darwin claimed the factors that determine the course of evolution are very largely environmental. This is a thesis that empirical results in biology are increasingly calling into question. The authors show that Darwinism is committed to inferring, from the premise that a kind of creature with a certain trait was selected, the conclusion that that kind of creature was selected for having that trait. Though such inferences are fallacious, they are nevertheless unavoidable within the Darwinist framework. Ultimately, Jerry Fodor and Massimo Piattelli-Palmarini level a devastating critique against Darwinist orthodoxy and suggest new ways of thinking about evolution.

Fodor first presented his critique in the London Review of Books, in an article that generated heated discussion on both sides of the Atlantic. What Darwin Got Wrong is certain to be as controversial as it is precisely argued.