Eric Metaxas's Blog, page 3

Atheism Unhinged, a chapter from “Is Atheism Dead?”

This is Chapter 28, “Atheism Unhinged” from my book IS ATHEISM DEAD?

There are those who take on the moniker “atheist,” but wear it lightly, principally because they are unaware of the absurdity such a philosophy expresses, or because they don’t have the courage to say otherwise and gingerly accept the label. Such souls are usually more accurately described as agnostics but are often afraid that calling themselves agnostics might show too much sympathy for those they think of as religious fanati...

The Brain Is Not a Mind; the Mind Is Not a Brain, an excerpt from IS ATHEISM DEAD?

This excerpt is from Chapter 27, “The Brain Is Not a Mind; the Mind Is Not a Brain” from my book IS ATHEISM DEAD?

We said that atheist materialists assert—with no evidence—that matter is all there is. Since this is not true or certainly cannot be proven to be true, it would lead like all other semi-demi-hemi-truths to cul-de-sacs and trouble. For example, if matter is all that exists anywhere, then although human beings have brains, they do not have minds. This is a crucial distinction. Material...

Misunderstandings about Faith and Science, an excerpt from IS ATHEISM DEAD?

This excerpt is from Chapter 22, “Problems with Atheism: Faith and Science Are BFFs” from my book IS ATHEISM DEAD?

To understand why faith and science are not at all incompatible, we must clarify what faith is and what science is. For example, many people mistakenly believe that “faith” means believing in things that are not actually true. They seem to think that faith exists on another plane from all else, and that we can believe things “by faith” that are not rational. This is completely false...

Misunderstandings about Faith and Science, an excerpt from “Is Atheism Dead?”

This excerpt is from Chapter 22, “Problems with Atheism: Faith and Science Are BFFs” from my book IS ATHEISM DEAD?

To understand why faith and science are not at all incompatible, we must clarify what faith is and what science is. For example, many people mistakenly believe that “faith” means believing in things that are not actually true. They seem to think that faith exists on another plane from all else, and that we can believe things “by faith” that are not rational. This is completely false...

Remembrance and Ritual on Flag Day

Below is an excerpt from my book IF YOU CAN KEEP IT: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.

Remembrance and Ritual

Another way we can love America is through remembrance and ritual. In fact, rituals often exist specifically to help us remember. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly instructs the Israelites to do things on certain dates and to create monuments, precisely so that they will never forget what they have experienced. He knows that if they remember these things it will be that much ...

Remembrance and Ritual on Flag Day

Below is an excerpt from my book IF YOU CAN KEEP IT: The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty.

Remembrance and Ritual

Another way we can love America is through remembrance and ritual. In fact, rituals often exist specifically to help us remember. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly instructs the Israelites to do things on certain dates and to create monuments, precisely so that they will never forget what they have experienced. He knows that if they remember these things it will be that mu...

A Republic, If We Can Keep It

In the summer of 1787, Benjamin Franklin was leaving the Constitutional Convention when a Philadelphia matron named Mrs. Powell asked him a question. “What have you given us, Dr. Franklin,” she asked. “A monarchy or a republic?”

Did she really think a monarchy was still possible?

From where we sit today, it’s easy to dismiss the question as silly. After all, who can imagine a monarchy in America? But we have to remember that in 1787 no nation had ever managed — or dared — to attempt genuine self...

Falling in Space, an excerpt from my new book FISH OUT OF WATER

This excerpt from my new book FISH OUT OF WATER: A Search for the Meaning of Life is from the chapter “Onion Skin and Nothingness.” Here is an image so you too can see where it happened!

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Falling in Space

One weekend John Tomanio—still at Wesleyan, having taken a year off—told me that Annie Dillard had read my “Impala George” story and loved it. I didn’t know who she was but soon gathered she was a famous writer, and that I should be very flattered. I eventually even got to speak with her on...

On this day in 1945 Dietrich Bonhoeffer went to glory.

Dear Friends — on this day in 1945 at dawn Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed at Flossenburg concentration camp in the woods of Bavaria.

In 2008 I had the honor of visiting the spot where this great hero stepped into glory. Here is a photo I took of the hallowed spot.

Many people reading my Bonhoeffer biography are seeing parallels today with what happened in Germany in the early Thirties, and I am very sorry to agree with this reading. We must be vigilant in standing up for freedom. Knowing how f...

200th anniversary of Greek Independence Day!

 

At the Acropolis in January 1973

 

March 25, 2021 is the 200th anniversary of Greek Independence Day! Below are two excerpts from my new book FISH OUT OF WATER: A Search for the Meaning of Life that touch on the subject. The first is from the chapter titled Transfiguration, about the Greek Orthodox Parochial school I attended through fourth grade. The second is from the chapter in 1976, titled The Bicentennial.

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From “Transfiguration” in FISH OUT OF WATER.

Each year around March 25—which i...