There’s a new kind of atheism these days, the proponents of which stand in adamant opposition to religion. Dr. Douglas Groothuis gives us a rundown of this “new atheism,” and shows us two key errors these new atheists make. A New Breed of Atheism “There is no God, and I hate him!” This seems to be the subtext for much of the “new atheism” propounded in books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens and others. What distinguishes this new breed of unbelief is, in part, its vehemence and vitriol. The gloves are off. Religion — all religion ...

I’ve been asked quite a lot about and ponder a bit about what are the essentials and non-essentials of Christianity. I’m often reminded of the Latin phrase in necessariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas. Translated into English, this means, “In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.” This phrase (often wrongly attributed to Augustine) comes from an otherwise obscure German Lutheran theologian of the early seventeenth century named Rupertus Meldenius. It has served as a place holder for a sort of Evangelical Credo (statement of f...

Evangelicals have traditionally believed that there are certain doctrines that form the core of the Christian faith. They are called “cardinal doctrines.” They are what we might call the sine qua non—the “without which, not”—of the Christian faith. In other words, there are certain doctrines that when denied, by definition, evidence a person does not have the basic core beliefs that must be present to some degree in the truly regenerate. Included in this credo is the belief that there are certain doctrines that are “non-essential” or ”non-cardinal.” These are those th...

One can scarcely imagine a figure with a greater reputation for disapproval of philosophy than John Calvin. The French expatriate penned some of the most vitriolic diatribes against philosophy and its role in scholastic theology ever written. Thus, in one way, this reputation is rather well-earned, and an article upon Calvin in an encyclopedia of philosophy can be rather brief. However, in another way, Calvin’s consideration, knowledge, and use of philosophy in his own work refutes the obscurantist representation left by a surface-level reading. A closer reading of Calvin’s great work, the...

Seeing as though I have almost completed my review of the New Atheism, aptly titled A Review of the New Atheism and coming in at almost 40 pages(!), I thought that pointing you to a new book would be appropriate: R.R. Reno has a post about David Hart’s new book, Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies. A couple of quotes from Hart’s book: “By comparison to these men [Hume, Gibbon, Neitzsche] today’s gadflies seem far lazier, less insightful, less subtle, less refined, more emotional, more ethically complacent, and far more interested in facile s...