Why do you believe

what you believe?Or: How to defend your faith really, really badly and get

everyone totally confused

arguments and conclusionsflaws and assumptions

handling evidence

NOT specific answers to everythingNOT a way of avoiding hard work

NOT a complete course in thinking

The rapidly secularizing world:Shifting goalposts

Five arguments

Either the Bible is what it says it is - the inerrant, literal Word of God - or it's a sham, a hoax, and a waste of print and paper which should be burned as worse than useless.

Richard Dawkins, who does not believe in God, is now on his third marriage. This proves that without faith in God, true morality and constancy in relationships is impossible.

Over the last century belief in God has declined dramatically. In that time, we've seen the rise of violent crime, the break-up of millions of families, and the two greatest wars in

human history. Doesn't this prove that Christianity is vital to our well-being?

If we do not stand against the teaching of evolution, a whole generation of children will be brainwashed into believing that God is a fantasy, Scripture is a lie, and human life is to be

lived on the level of our animal nature. The standards of life in civilized society, based on a firm trust in God's unchanging word, will gradually slip and we will enter a nightmare age of

anarchy, sexual perversion and unchecked evil.

The Bible is the true, reliable word of God. We know this because it clearly says so!

Does it really matter?

12 "But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and

prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13 This will result in your being witnesses to them. 14 But make up

your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15 For I will give you words and wisdom that

none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 16 You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. 17 All men will hate you because of me. 18 But not a hair of your

head will perish. 19 By standing firm you will gain life.”

5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be

always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

9 [A leader] must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by

sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to

give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish

strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the

knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

[Paul] baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Christ.

As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the

Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.

Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

Meeting the arguments:What needs to be taught?

facts arguments

clear thinking

framework building

Christian answers

Christian integrity

Christian mind

Raisa is the only person with a key to the safe. The money went missing when she was in the building on her own. So the police are bound to treat her as a suspect.

The police are bound to treat her as a suspect

Raisa is the only person with a key to the safe.

The money went missing when she was in the building on her own.

Scottish people have a reputation for being mean. Lachlan comes from Inverness. Therefore he is unlikely to give a lot of money to charity.

Lachlan is unlikely to give a lot of money to charity.

Scottish people have a reputation for being mean.

Lachlan comes from Inverness.

conclusion

reason reason reason reason

The train leaves at 10:50. It takes twenty-five minutes to get to the station, and the traffic can be difficult at that time of day. We need to leave at 10:15 to be sure of catching the train.

We need to leave at 10:15 to be sure of catching the train

The train leaves at 10:50

It takes 25 minutes to get to the station

The traffic can be difficult at that time of day

Completed tax forms and payments must be received by 31st July. Late payment may result in a fine not exceeding 100 dollars. Your payment did not reach the tax office until 12th August.

You are in very deep doodoo!

Completed tax forms and payments must be received by 31st July.

Late payment may result in a fine not exeeding 100 dollars.

Your payment did not reach the tax office until 12th August.

What Jesus taught has been changing lives for centuries. People are still becoming Christians in large numbers today. Therefore it makes sense to listen to his words.

Therefore it makes sense to listen to his words.

What Jesus taught has been changing lives for centuries.

People are still becoming Christians in large numbers today.

Therefore it makes sense to listen to his words.

What Jesus taught has been changing lives for centuries.

People are still becoming Christians in large numbers today.

Therefore it makes sense to become a Christian.

It just shows how easily people can be fooled.

Three is an odd number. Only even numbers are divisible by two. Therefore three is not

divisible by two.

"Mark is late for work. Either his car has broken down, or he has overslept. We telephoned and learned he isn't at home, so his car must have

broken down."

John says that three is an odd number. John is a liar. Therefore three is not an odd number.

All human opinions are random by-products of the brain. You think you are choosing logically,

but what you believe is determined by your biology.

Archaeology demonstrates the Bible’s truth. But, of course, if ALL the archaeological

evidences disagreed with the Bible, we would still believe the Bible was true.

conclusion

reason reason reason reason

conclusion

reason

reason

There are two kinds of people in the world today: those who gladly accept the Christian gospel, and those who wilfully and selfishly

reject it.

There are two kinds of people in the world today: those who gladly accept the Christian gospel, and those who wilfully and selfishly

reject it.

excluded middle

ACCEPT REJECTACCEPT REJECT

You claim that this man is innocent, but you cannot be trusted since you are a criminal as well.

Christopher Hitchens argues fiercely against Christianity. So what? He is a drink-soaked

divorcee and friend of Holocaust deniers who has often been wrong before. He was a

Trotskyist who could only scrape together a third-class degree at Oxford. So we can safely

dismiss anything he has to say about God.

You believe Christians are changed people because you're an optimist, but if you were more cynical and

less nice to others, you'd see things differently.

Christopher Hitchens argues fiercely against Christianity. So what? He is a drink-soaked

divorcee and friend of Holocaust deniers who has often been wrong before. He was a

Trotskyist who could only scrape together a third-class degree at Oxford. So we can safely

dismiss anything he has to say about God.

ad hominem

More and more young people are attending high schools and colleges today than ever before. Yet there

is more juvenile delinquency and more alienation among the young. This makes it clear that these

young people are being corrupted by their education.

Ice cream sales correlate with the number of people who drown at sea.

Therefore, ice cream causes people to drown.

Ice cream sales correlate with the number of people who drown at sea.

Therefore, ice cream causes people to drown.

false connection

Global warming, earthquakes, hurricanes, and other natural disasters are a direct effect of the shrinking

numbers of pirates since the 1800s

Lisa: That's specious reasoning, Dad. Homer: [uncomprehendingly] Thanks, honey. Lisa: By your logic, I could claim that this rock

keeps tigers away. Homer: Hmm. How does it work?

Lisa: It doesn't work. (pause) It's just a stupid rock!

Homer: Uh-huh. Lisa: But I don't see any tigers around, do

you? Homer: (pause) Lisa, I want to buy your rock.

All human opinions are random by-products of the brain. You think you are choosing logically,

but what you believe is determined by your biology.

Archaeology demonstrates the Bible’s truth. But, of course, if ALL the archaeological

evidences disagreed with the Bible, we would still believe the Bible was true.

Archaeology demonstrates the Bible’s truth. But, of course, if ALL the archaeological

evidences disagreed with the Bible, we would still believe the Bible was true.

self-defeating argument

Archaeology is important and it supports the Bible

Archaeology is important because it supports

the Bible

Archaeology is unimportant

if it turns out not to support the Bible

We know that the Bible is the Word of God because it says so. And it must be telling the

truth, because it is the Word of God.

circular argument

The Bible is the Word of

God

It says soIt must be telling the

truth

We know that the Apocrypha shouldn't be accepted as part of the Bible, because some

apocryphal books promote unbiblical concepts, e.g., prayer for the dead (2 Macc. 12:45-46).

Last year the church in Senegal grew by 30%, while in America churchgoing declined by a million worshippers. This clearly shows that God has removed his blessing from the US

church and instead is moving in power in Africa and the Third World.

incomplete context

Senegal America

There are 200,000 places where the New Testament manuscripts differ from one another. So we

can’t possibly know what the real reading should be!

200,000 variant readingsBut

- most are differences of word order or spelling

- others are obviously wrong readings

- others can be cleared up by background knowledge

- the rest are absolutely trivial

`The variant readings about which any doubt remains among textual critics of the New Testament affect no material question of historic fact or of Christian faith and

practice.’

Caesar 9-10 900 yr

Tacitus 2 650 yr

Livy 20 350 yr

NT 6000 300 yr

Book Lines In doubt % corrupt

Iliad 15,600 764 5

Mahabharata250,000 26,000 10

New Testament

20,000 40 0.5

Jim will hate this book. For a start it’s a biography, not a novel. But worse still, it’s about mountain climbing.

Jim will hate this book.

It’s a biography, not a novel

It’s about mountain climbing

Jim hates biography

Jim hates books about

mountain climbing

The Bible claims that God chooses us, but also that we choose God. This makes no sense and shows

that Christianity is founded on illogical claims.

Christianity is founded on illogical claims.

The Bible claims two

contradictory things.

There is no way that this contradiction

can be harmonized.

Contradictions make no sense.

I have known many Christians who were hypocrites, thieves and liars. The conclusion is inescapable:

Christianity doesn't work.

Christianity doesn’t work.

I have known many

Christians who were hypocrites, thieves and

liars.

If Christianity worked,

people would not be

deceitful and wicked.

All Christians – or at least

most of them - are

probably hypocrites, thieves and

liars.

Answers to prayer could simply be coincidence. There is no human account of an answer to prayer

that can't be explained in some other fashion. Therefore prayer is useless; God simply doesn't

answer.

Prayer is useless because God doesn’t answer.

Answers to prayer could

be coincidence

All “answers to prayer”

can be explained as

something else

Any alternative explanation

must be better

All around the world today people are being healed from all kinds of terrible diseases, in ways that

completely baffle medical science. It proves that God is still a God of immense power and love.

God is still a God of immense power and love.

People are being healed from terrible

diseases

Medical science is baffled by why this is happening

The only possible

explanation is that God’s love and

power are doing it

Do miracles happen today? All of the amazing stories you hear seem to come from Indonesia or Central Africa, and other inaccessible places. It is therefore impossible to verify the true facts. We must therefore conclude that miracles simply do

not happen.

Miracles simply do not happen.

Miracle stories come

from inaccessible

places.

We can’t verify the

facts.

The people telling the

stories must be lying.

We have no eyewitness accounts of Jesus - only traditions which were written down much later, and

so were clearly exaggerated. Thus we have no grounds for knowing what he was like, and can

probably conclude that he never existed.

Jesus probably never existed.

We have no eyewitness accounts –

only traditions

written down later.

We have no grounds or

knowing what Jesus

was like.

If a story doesn’t come

from eyewitnesses

it must be exaggerated.

If we don’t know the details of

somebody’s life, that person is probably fictional.

Jesus performed miracles. He taught more profoundly than any other Jew for seven centuries. He was recognised by his disciples as being God's

Son. Therefore he was the Son of God.

Jesus was the Son of God.

Jesus performed

miracles

Jesus taught more

profoundly than any

other Jew for seven

centuries

Jesus was recognised by his disciples

as being God's Son

Taken together,

these things can lead to

only one conclusion

Weighing evidence

FORAGAINST

FOR FOR

Pepe

Pedro

Sancho

Carlos

The hat band puzzle

What kind of evidence?

meaningfulrelevant

representativereliable

meaningful

78% of British people no longer believe in God, according to a survey of opinion released this week.

How many people were surveyed?

How were they selected?

relevant

W F Albright, the famous archaeologist, declares that “no archaeological discovery has ever contradicted a historical claim in the Bible”.

What do other experts say?

When did he write?

Your house did not evolve without

intelligent influence. It didn’t happen

from apile of bricks getting

caught in a hurricane.

representative

In my church there are at least five people who have had demons cast out of them. So you can see, demonic possession is happening all the time really.

How many people are in your church?

Is this typical of other churches too?

reliableToday’s contraceptives make sex a safe, worry-free experience. It’s time to abandon old hang-ups and allow young people to experiment as much as they wish.

Might there be other reasons for restricting sexual activity?

Is pregnancy the only worry?

RAVENSR eputation

V ested interestE xpertiseN eutralityS ources

A bility to see

R eputationEvolution is ridiculous. Monkeys are alive today, why aren't they having human babies?

A bility to seeWhen the Old Testament condemns homosexuality, it’s really talking about pagan ritual worship. In those days there were male prostitutes who worked at the pagan shrines, and same-sex intercourse with them was a form of worship. Moses is warning against paganism, not gay sex.

It is clear that Joseph of Arimathea was a pious Jew who did not want bodies to be left on the cross over a religious festival weekend. What must have happened, therefore, is that he put Jesus and the other criminals in a temporary grave over the weekend, and then disposed of them. Probably he put them into a common, unmarked grave – the normal means of burial for criminals – and the Christians, who did not know this, simply assumed that the body had magically disappeared.

V ested interest"...it is...a fact of history that St. Paul and his successors added to,..., or imposed upon, or

substituted another doctrine for...the plain...teachings of Jesus..."

H.G. Wells (1866-1946)

Sexual orientation is innate and immutable. This is why programmes designed to "correct" it have such an abysmally low success record. The best "therapy" can hope to achieve is the temporary modification of behaviour tied to the promise of rewards or the threat of punishment.

E xpertise

"So Jesus had himself tortured and executed for a symbolic sin by a non-existent individual. Nobody not brought up in the faith could reach to any verdict other than barking mad.“ - Dawkins

N eutralityIt is quite obvious that where ever there are Christian-dominated societies, there is always a great deal of illegal sex, boyfriend-girlfriend sexual relationships, bikinis, mini-skirts and other sexually arousing clothes, lust, pornography (on the internet and on TV), homosexuality, sodomy, drugs, alcohol, bastard children (children born out of wedlock), and so on.

S ources

It’s well known that Jesus had an affair with Mary Magdalene. There are hints about it in the Gospel of Judas where it says that Jesus used to “kiss her on the lips”.