The Christian Atheist

Building on the picture of human rationality we presented in episode 18, we focus our attention on human rationality and Value, which is central to ethics. We argue that value is the very substance (not matter) of our experience of the world, that even perception is inextricably bound to value. As a consequence, we find that value exists in the same sort of paradoxical reality as the Incarnation i...

We begin a series of episodes on ethics to discover what it might teach us about human beings, God, and our possible relationship. We begin by looking at human rationality, which separates us from the animal kingdom. What does it mean to be rational? If you'd like to support us, donate through Paypal at Romanschapter5@comcast.net If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal to romans...

Are there errors in the history of the OT account? We examine how to address the critic on these issues in this second edition of "answering the critic." If you'd like to support us, donate through Paypal at Romanschapter5@comcast.net If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal to romanschapter5@comcast.net   https://www.youtube.com/c/TheChristianAtheist/featured https://www.faceboo...

Responding intelligently to the critic means paying attention to real problems, not sweeping them under the rug. In this edition, the first of two, we examine the critical comments of Max Doubt concerning the superstition that he claims infests the whole Bible. If you'd like to support us, donate through Paypal at Romanschapter5@comcast.net If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPa...

The Old Testament is a complex narrative, to be treated carefully, but it is rich beyond our imaginations in insight, wisdom and information. It is also full of potential "stumbling blocks" to faith, especially for the modern seeker. In this edition of the Christian Atheist we explore what is, for me at least, one of the most troublesome aspect of Western theism, the Hebrew sacrificial system. Can...

Uriah, Job ... and Frodo. Part of being human is passing moral judgments. There are proper and improper ways of doing this. We look at the story of David and Uriah, and of Job. These stories tempt us to judge God, which requires us to take HIS position, His moral authority, His righteousness. We do this same thing in judgment of our fellow human beings. In doing so, we set ourselves up in our arro...

This episode represents my first attempt on YouTube to express my joy in returning to the Savior while doing justice to my journey, God's story in my life. It was from this seed that The Christian Atheist was born. I hope it retains some value. If you find value in our message and material, consider supporting us via Paypal at Romanschapter5@comcast.net If you enjoy our content, consider donating...

June 6th, 1944. The allied Invasion of Normandy in WWII is a major watershed in history. We commemorate that day with a reading of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's D-Day prayer for the troops and the nation. If you'd like to support us, donate through Paypal at Romanschapter5@comcast.net If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal to romanschapter5@comcast.net   https://www.you...

There is a long history of arguments for God's existence offered by the faithful - the cosmological, the teleological, the ontological. As means to the conversion of atheists I find these arguments nearly useless, because I knew them quite well as an atheist without ever being compelled to reverse my atheism. This episode is a clarion call to Christians, as Paul put it, "to stand," having faith in...

Rationality is a more expansive notion than mere intellect. I make the case that faith in God and Christ is a rational response in our world today, and that value (which is also part of human rationality) is a good basis on which to choose theism over atheism. If you'd like to support us, donate through Paypal at Romanschapter5@comcast.net If you enjoy our content, consider donating through PayPal...

As my life unraveled, the intellectual noose tightened. Eventually, as C. S. Lewis said about his own conversion, I had to acknowledge that "God is God." My wife Jenny became the REAL incarnate ideal that reflected my own intellectual dishonesty as well as the larger reality of the Incarnation of God in Christ. Reason is not opposed to faith, but finds its foundation therein. Jesus Christ is the f...

My wife, Jenny, became my portal back to Christ, an incarnation of the reality of God in human form. One of the constant refrains of my renewed Christian faith is the mirror of the large structures of creation in the smaller. The Incarnation of God in man as the Redeemer is seen at smaller scale in God's image in man, in the relationship of Church to Christ, of man to woman, of man to creation, et...

The Canadian psychologist, Jordan Peterson, came onto the scene at precisely the right moment in my odyssey from atheism to Christ. He reminded me of the profundity of the Biblical narrative, taking seriously from a psychological and academic perspective a text I had dismissed from my consideration years ago. It was his practical insights and his uncompromising stand for TRUTH above all, however,...

Atheistic existentialist Jean-Paul Sartre seems an unlikely character to play a prominent role in my turn from atheism to Christ, but his influence on my thinking is profound. In many ways Sartre reflects Kant's conclusions that faith is a basic component of human experience, and that reason builds upon faith as foundation. It was Sartre who convinced me that my atheism was as much a faith-positio...

Immanuel Kant, in the face of the overwhelming forces of science and philosophy in his day, undertook the monumental task of limiting the claims of knowledge to transcendent insight, in order to allow for the possibility of morality, of human freedom. That is, Kant made it clear that while we can think of human beings as determined by natural and social forces, we can also think of them as free, a...

The odyssey of my return through the Looking-glass, to a recognition that faith in Christ is a fully rational response , if not the only one, to the evidence given us, was not simple, quick, or short. In this episode, I trace out the long-curve of a growing understanding, based on teaching Plato and Socrates in the university classroom over many years, that human reason must face its fundamental l...

My conversion from Christianity to Atheism started with commitment to a fundamental principle, Truth above all, and at all costs. It will be seen that this SAME principle led me back to Christ, the Way to, and source of, all Truth. The Machinery of the Looking Glass tells the story of how God used my intellectual odyssey through philosophy as both student and teacher to ground a renewed faith in C...

Who is the Christian Atheist? John Wise is a philosophy professor who spent the bulk of his academic career as an atheist. In 2019 he underwent a dramatic (re)conversion to faith in Christ, and now, seeing the world through the dual lenses of Christianity and atheism, he seeks to understand how a 21st century worldview, a respect for science and a commitment to truth are reconciled in the Incarnat...