Bill Pratt | January 13, 2010
Post Author: Bill Pratt So we’ve seen that the Bible does teach that some sins are more serious than others and that some virtues are greater than others. There is a moral law hierarchy. But what does this practically mean? First, let’s look at debates over public policy. When determining where to focus your efforts [...]
Bill Pratt | January 11, 2010
Post Author: Bill Pratt In a sense, yes, but in another sense, no. Evangelicals often point out that all sins will send you to hell, that God demands moral perfection, so whether you steal a stick of chewing gum or murder your spouse, both sins will equally damn you. This is really just a way [...]
Bill Pratt | December 26, 2009
Post Author: Bill Pratt Social Darwinism is the theory that persons, societies of people, and races develop and evolve in much the same way that biological organisms evolve due to natural selection. It is frequently described by the phrase, “survival of the fittest,” which was coined by British philosopher Herbert Spencer just a few years [...]
Bill Pratt | December 3, 2009
Post Author: Bill Pratt Many skeptics of Christianity claim that the existence of evil in the world proves that a good God cannot exist. I believe this viewpoint is exactly backwards. If you truly believe that there is evil in the world, then you must believe that there is good in the world as well. [...]
Bill Pratt | June 29, 2009
Post Author: Bill Pratt Incredibly, this was the sage advice of a writer who showered us with his wisdom in the letters to the editor section in our local newspaper. I rarely read the letters to the editor, because they almost never say anything of substance, but in a moment of weakness, I read them [...]
Bill Pratt | May 20, 2009
We have discussed, on this blog, the idea that a person’s religious beliefs and worldview have a direct effect on their moral behavior. Worldviews not only affect people, but entire nations. In the March 2009 publication of First Things, Jean Bethke Elshtain wrote a brilliant article which examines the decline of European morality. Here is [...]
Bill Pratt | May 2, 2009
Recently, in the news, there has been much discussion of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding. This technique simulates drowning and some have called it torture. But most of the discussions I’ve seen on this topic do not debate whether waterboarding is torture or not, but instead debate whether waterboarding of certain terrorists was successful [...]
Bill Pratt | March 23, 2009
All one needs to do is study Peter Singer, the eminent ethics professor at Princeton University. He is one of the few who have actually taken atheism to some of its uncomfortable conclusions (I think Nietzsche also did this in the 19th century). Check out this post over at GeoChristian to find out what Singer believes. [...]
Bill Pratt | February 17, 2009
In the previous post, we found significant problems with survival ethics, the ethical theory which claims that “morality is easily explained by evolution and the tendency for biological life to survive and reproduce.” But there are more problems. Survival ethics are merely descriptive, not prescriptive. They describe the behaviors of the past that led to [...]
Bill Pratt | February 16, 2009
Have you ever heard someone say the following? ”Morality is easily explained by evolution and the tendency for biological life to survive and reproduce.” If so, read on because this post will evaluate this position to see whether it can really explain morality. If you would like to understand a little more about the theory before reading [...]
