a stunning fact
First of all, a belated happy birthday goes to akelavincent. I got it in beforehand elsewhere, but...well, there it is here.
Now, to the "fact" of which I spoke. I just finished reading a series of letters from a British clergyman to American deist Thomas Paine, in response to "The Age of Reason," vol. II. It's available to read for free on http://www.coffeehousetheology.com along with other interesting and useful things. (You'll have to understand some English archaisms and decipher a handful of misspellings, peculiar punctuation, and syntax errors, which are not insurmountable.)
This rebuttal is easily comparable to Lewis and, I daresay, of a similar spirit, being drawn from a similar knowledge of ancient writings and Anglican theology. The author is eloquent and reasonable in his apology, despite his incomplete knowledge in certain subjects--which he humbly admits. Some of his references to science are surprisingly accurate given the age of these documents.
Yet what I find most amazing about this is that I find most atheists and agnostics pitching some of the same objections to the Bible and Christianity today as are discussed here...almost 220 years ago! Has our learning stagnated and atrophied so badly? Surely it has, if we who believe Christianity to be true cannot answer them--notwithstanding our opponents' apparent ignorance that their arguments were refuted so long ago.
Now, to the "fact" of which I spoke. I just finished reading a series of letters from a British clergyman to American deist Thomas Paine, in response to "The Age of Reason," vol. II. It's available to read for free on http://www.coffeehousetheology.com along with other interesting and useful things. (You'll have to understand some English archaisms and decipher a handful of misspellings, peculiar punctuation, and syntax errors, which are not insurmountable.)
This rebuttal is easily comparable to Lewis and, I daresay, of a similar spirit, being drawn from a similar knowledge of ancient writings and Anglican theology. The author is eloquent and reasonable in his apology, despite his incomplete knowledge in certain subjects--which he humbly admits. Some of his references to science are surprisingly accurate given the age of these documents.
Yet what I find most amazing about this is that I find most atheists and agnostics pitching some of the same objections to the Bible and Christianity today as are discussed here...almost 220 years ago! Has our learning stagnated and atrophied so badly? Surely it has, if we who believe Christianity to be true cannot answer them--notwithstanding our opponents' apparent ignorance that their arguments were refuted so long ago.