I think you're mostly on track with the above. However, the text of the New Testament already hinted at a trinity of persons in a godhood. Also, being of a very philosophical bent, I think the article is disingenuous in that it bluntly pronounces that Jesus having two natures, or the Trinity, are \&...

I wouldn't say anything as determinate as that. Yes, I think Judaic theology is derivative in some cases. Such as the case of the lack of a doctrine of an afterlife up until the Maccabean conflicts. Whether or not Jesus' theology is derivative depends, firstly, on whether or not one believes Him to ...

Well, sir. What I mean is that thinking of P wills A for R being self-explanatory is implied in normal intuitive conversation. It would only occur to certain rather philosophical personalities(hey, that's us!) to ask for a more thorough narrative. That's not a bad thing, but assuming no other narrat...

I should add that moral rules are more common and universal than logical imperatives, across the world. It's not surprising that Buddha says something very much like Jesus, and that others predating Jesus said things very like or exactly like the golden rule. Nor is it all that surprising to see tha...

The reason that the evidence is not good enough for theists is that these people who claim these parallels are now on the fringes of scholarship. Akin to the flat earth society. I'm not saying that all scholars think the Bible is all, or even mostly true, or in some cases true at all. But most certa...

I don't really need to add anything to what Lothar has said. The point is that parallels are quite a lot more rare than you say they are. And most of the examples are spurious. But as soon as that comes up it's no longer historical inquiry but \"investigation into mythology.\" The problem ...

Sorry I didn't respond more quickly. We had a full day of heavy snowfall here yesterday and it took the power out and everything. Which is actually quite nice sometimes, don't you think? It's amazing how much NOISE the seemingly passive electronics around a house make. We can betray the common sense...

Disgustingly insoluble moral questions are lurking in the woods. Release the tigers.

Before I continue with my current line of thought, I want to first take issue with your assumption that \"there must be an explanation.\" Isn't this \"assuming determinism\"? I don't know of anyone making this objection. But I am a firm advocate of the principle of sufficient re...

I used to go to the Phoenix zoo a lot when I lived there. Prescott now. You still there?

Unfortunately not. I don't live in Phoenix. I was on vacation a couple months back and went there. Not quite the San Diego zoo, but a wonderful zoo none the less.

I love tigers. Such impressive animals. My favorite exhibits at the Phoenix Zoo were the tigers. One of the species was severely endangered. No surprise that it was the most impressive of the exhibits which was endangered.

The point is that you are treating the computer as if it had a will. That is anthropomorphizing the computer. That anthropomorphizing something can go beyond surface words is admitted. \"What caused you to voluntarily move your arm?\" Again, such a question assumes determinism to have any ...

Hello, Jeff. In answer to several lines of thought. Firstly, I agree that the ambiguous use of pronouns can be extended to impersonal objects, such as the computer. But isn't this just the more obvious abuse of anthropomorphizing impersonal objects? Secondly, I admit that removing the pronouns steer...

If you think that I treated language \"staticly\" and if you think that treating language as \"dynamic\" as opposed to \"static\" somehow changes my argument, then you should demonstrate how this affects my argument. This consideration matters because in order to cast ...

A: \"Why do we have eyes?\" B: \"So that we can see.\" Seems perfectly fine to me. Of course, on a certain, very implausible theory(ontological naturalism) such an explanation couldn't possibly be true. However, I've spent quite some time on arguments for ontological naturalism,...

Interesting response. At no point did I see a reason to believe the language was intentionally misleading. Indeed, the argument cast doubt on your own use of language in responding to it. A general consideration that language might be misleading is hardly enough of a reason to think that it actually...

I believe that the language is intentionally misleading in this case. Just because language has evolved to talk about will in a certain way doesn't mean that will is like that in truth. It's word play, in other words. I see no reason to believe that. What are your reasons for believing that? I appr...

That sounds like a problem of language. It's a literary device. Think Plato's dialectic. How funny, I'm of the opposite inclination. You do have to admit: the number of seemingly deterministic phenomena do have us outnumbered fairly well. I wish you well on the short road to complete skepticism ;) ...

Your responses are snappy and interesting. Just the way I like 'em. What? No, I'm pretty sure that something is still left to be explained: how this all happens under the hood. Not-determism isn't a model for free will. We know it's not determined. We know it's not random. So what is it? I disagree....

Saying that it is to hold a \"certain attitude\" doesn't really help answer my question. E.g., in the past, I have called tsunamis evil. The Christians I was talking with at the time seemed to dismiss this as being an inappropriate application of an ethical term. But I would assert that i...

The history of philosophy is that \"more thought\" so don't suppose we will settle anything here. The objections take the form of reductios. Since we certainly cannot hold avalanches morally responsible for anything, if determinism holds, we certainly cannot hold persons morally responsibl...

In order for the basic historical borrowing claims of the zeitgeist movie, and the completely outdated scholarship upon which it is based, to be seriously considered true, a far more detailed account of how the borrowing occurred has to be created. Stories about how it could have happened simply do ...

The underlying content of the movie won't be helpful in promoting atheism. An ability to conceive of other possible worlds is not generally conducive to the promoting of an atheistic worldview in children, unless they were already leaning towards it in the first place. A more successful promotion of...

On the topic of free will and determinism. The fact of the matter is that most of us tend to think we have some sort of free will. Two objections to determinism are sufficient to discredit it in my mind. Firstly, the concept of rational argument requires some sort of freedom of assent or freedom of ...

The soul is the essence of a person. The essence of a person is every property that person could not fail to have. Necessary properties. In philosophical jargon your essence is the collection of properties which you possess in every possible world in which you exist. Thus obvious properties like bei...

The argument goes both ways. :p

NUH UH.

Seriously though, it does.

Shut your face holes. I am preparing to speak. You all have to be huge geeks for hanging around on the same bulletin board for an absurd amount of time. As we all know, being a geek is a good thing. You might want to quibble over whether you're actually a geek or a nerd. But don't be a l4m3r, n00b. ...

If you haven't at some point cultivated a good deal of hatred for all of the human race, you are not in a position to be compassionate or tolerant towards them. Compassion and tolerance are active. If everyone were deserving of compassion and tolerance, then compassion and tolerance would not be pra...

I got sucked into the ever-growing hell of World of Warcraft and lost touch with reality and all that is worth pursuing in life.

Hello Sirs and Sir-ettes. The \"yes\" option was there for noobs with no imagination or passion! I am glad nobody chose that totally mediocre option! Ad Sirius. For sure, I used to be deep into jazz. I love jazz to this day. These days I temper it with a great deal of heavy metal. I don't ...

At least to say hello to all of the old school mofos here.

HELLO!

(the artist formerly known as SoulVoid)