Recommendations From Opposite Sides of the Spectrum
I have been on three theological/philosophical reading quests in my life. The first one was when I decided to become a Christian apologist under Dr. James D. Strauss while in Seminary. That began in 1979 and lasted through my studies under Dr. William Lane Craig, at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, until I left Marquette University for the full time ministry at the end of 1988. I probably read nearly one book per week and many weeks I read up to three books, plus many journal articles. I was a bookworm.
The second quest for knowledge came around 1992 and probably lasted through 1997. It began as the result of a serious challenge to my faith starting with the quest to see if I could reconcile the creation accounts in Genesis with the findings of science as to the age of the universe, and what that entailed for the rest of what I believed about the Bible. This second quest was not as intense as the first one because I was no longer a student and had other things to do. During this quest I lost my Christian faith. At that point I didn't see anything that would change my mind, nor any reason to bother to read more on the topic. I would've described myself as a Deistic existentialist in my beliefs, and that was where I had ended my religious quest, or so I thought. Then I practically stopped this kind of reading when compared to the amount of reading I had done before. Sure, I read a book every two or three months, after that, but nothing by comparison to my previous years. This break from my theological and philosophical reading basically lasted until about 2003.
When Mel Gibson's movie “The Passion of the Christ" came out, I wrote a letter to the local newspaper asking some hard questions about why Jesus had to suffer and die, and that was what started me writing about what I believed. By that time my doubt had solidified to the point where I didn't think much about it, that is, until Gibson's movie shocked me out of complacency. It caused me to desire to explain to the local people where I lived why I no longer believed. After all, they knew me as a Senior Minister at one of the biggest churches in town, and I had served as the President of the Ministerial Association. I initially compiled several essays, some from class handouts, and put them in a spiral bound notebook to be sold at the local bookstore. When I couldn't keep up with the small demand for this, I self-published a book with these essays in it. At that point I was done with such things, or so I thought. That's as far as I thought ahead. "Place them in a book and get on with life," I thought to myself.
Then I started doing searches on the internet. I hadn't been on the web before, except for exchanging a few emails with people. I noticed Ed Babinski's website and we traded books. He encouraged me. He noticed something I had not bothered with before. He saw that my former professor was Dr. Craig, and made me believe that maybe I was special because of this [Actually it does not, and it should not matter to either side. My arguments either stand up to scrutiny or they don’t]. So I began arguing on the internet, and I began reading again, which is my third quest for theological/philosophical knowledge. I revised my book, re-named it, revised it again, and again. And with each time I revised it I included some stuff I had just learned from my reading. And during this process I became an atheist.
Ed also encouraged me to start a blog, so in January of 2006 I did, this one, and I've been arguing here since. But I never anticipated doing what I’m doing when I started out. As far as I was concerned my first edition of my self-published book was the final period in my religious quest. I was moving on. But here I am today, blogging. I guess I'm still doing so because I think what I'm doing is important, even though there are days when I no longer want to bother.
But then I get an email from Daniel C. Dennett today saying he's recommending my book to inquirers, and telling me it’s "good stuff." I had already heard from Norman Geisler, that he is recommending my book to his Seminary students. That's quite a range of people recommending my book--from opposite sides of the spectrum. How is that possible? This comes in an era when atheist books are selling well. Geisler thinks it will confirm his student’s faith. Dennett probably thinks otherwise. I never intended any of this. I was supposed to get on with my life, and I still want to. Really, I do. Why bother with the time I’m spending here? But here I am. What a roller coaster ride it is. Where will it end? Will it ever end? I don’t know. I just do what interests me, and this interests me to no end, especially when I get emails like the following one:
The second quest for knowledge came around 1992 and probably lasted through 1997. It began as the result of a serious challenge to my faith starting with the quest to see if I could reconcile the creation accounts in Genesis with the findings of science as to the age of the universe, and what that entailed for the rest of what I believed about the Bible. This second quest was not as intense as the first one because I was no longer a student and had other things to do. During this quest I lost my Christian faith. At that point I didn't see anything that would change my mind, nor any reason to bother to read more on the topic. I would've described myself as a Deistic existentialist in my beliefs, and that was where I had ended my religious quest, or so I thought. Then I practically stopped this kind of reading when compared to the amount of reading I had done before. Sure, I read a book every two or three months, after that, but nothing by comparison to my previous years. This break from my theological and philosophical reading basically lasted until about 2003.
When Mel Gibson's movie “The Passion of the Christ" came out, I wrote a letter to the local newspaper asking some hard questions about why Jesus had to suffer and die, and that was what started me writing about what I believed. By that time my doubt had solidified to the point where I didn't think much about it, that is, until Gibson's movie shocked me out of complacency. It caused me to desire to explain to the local people where I lived why I no longer believed. After all, they knew me as a Senior Minister at one of the biggest churches in town, and I had served as the President of the Ministerial Association. I initially compiled several essays, some from class handouts, and put them in a spiral bound notebook to be sold at the local bookstore. When I couldn't keep up with the small demand for this, I self-published a book with these essays in it. At that point I was done with such things, or so I thought. That's as far as I thought ahead. "Place them in a book and get on with life," I thought to myself.
Then I started doing searches on the internet. I hadn't been on the web before, except for exchanging a few emails with people. I noticed Ed Babinski's website and we traded books. He encouraged me. He noticed something I had not bothered with before. He saw that my former professor was Dr. Craig, and made me believe that maybe I was special because of this [Actually it does not, and it should not matter to either side. My arguments either stand up to scrutiny or they don’t]. So I began arguing on the internet, and I began reading again, which is my third quest for theological/philosophical knowledge. I revised my book, re-named it, revised it again, and again. And with each time I revised it I included some stuff I had just learned from my reading. And during this process I became an atheist.
Ed also encouraged me to start a blog, so in January of 2006 I did, this one, and I've been arguing here since. But I never anticipated doing what I’m doing when I started out. As far as I was concerned my first edition of my self-published book was the final period in my religious quest. I was moving on. But here I am today, blogging. I guess I'm still doing so because I think what I'm doing is important, even though there are days when I no longer want to bother.
But then I get an email from Daniel C. Dennett today saying he's recommending my book to inquirers, and telling me it’s "good stuff." I had already heard from Norman Geisler, that he is recommending my book to his Seminary students. That's quite a range of people recommending my book--from opposite sides of the spectrum. How is that possible? This comes in an era when atheist books are selling well. Geisler thinks it will confirm his student’s faith. Dennett probably thinks otherwise. I never intended any of this. I was supposed to get on with my life, and I still want to. Really, I do. Why bother with the time I’m spending here? But here I am. What a roller coaster ride it is. Where will it end? Will it ever end? I don’t know. I just do what interests me, and this interests me to no end, especially when I get emails like the following one:
Dear Mr. Loftus,
My name is Greg and I just purchased and read (and re-read) your book, Why I Rejected Christianity. Thanks for the great book! I have read numerous publications on this topic, but I don't believe I've ever seen as many great reasons to reject religion in one place. The chapter on unanswered prayer had me nearly cheering in my chair. Brilliant stuff!
Your arguments are numerous and rock-solid. Thank you again, Sir, for the wonderful reading. I would be honored to meet you some day. Please continue your great writing and thank you for your willingness to think logically in a superstitious world.
Respectfully,
Greg