It may seem odd that after the first two entries – which dove headlong into a complicated topic – that I have reached my 5th without really tackling another issue per se. While I am anxious to get started, I have been pondering which topic I should start with. Initially, I was considering going in the same chronological order that these topics arose in my mind since I established my agnosticism and approach to research. But then I rejected it because I realised that some of the topics I first tackled brought up other thorny areas that needed to be analysed before I could come to a conclusion on the first set. Also, I think that some explanation is due for why I seem to be focused on the Christian concept of God, while deftly ignoring the other religions that share the same basic deity (Islam and Judaism) as well as those that have a different deity or deities all together (Buddhism, Hinduism, etc).
So, here are the list of topics I believe I need to discuss – in no particular order. I will revisit this page every now and then to remind myself of which things need to be discussed and to determine which order I should discuss them:
- Coming to terms with my focus on the Christian religion and complete dismissiveness over all others.
- The bible – is it meant to be taken literally, metaphorically, or somewhere in between? If it is meant to be somewhere in between, how can you identify which portions are literal and which ones are metaphorical?
- The bible. How did it originate? Is it perfect? Can it be trusted at all? How do we know which version is the most representative of the "true faith"?
- The New Testament vs The Old Testament. How much do they differ/complement each other and how does that impact our understanding of both texts?
- Slavery in the bible. What variation of slavery does the bible allow? Why was it considered acceptable?
- Women's place according to biblical scripture and whether/how much it changed from the Old Testament to the New.
- Free will. How is it defined? How is it viewed by most people? Can it exist as defined? Can it exist at all?
- Cherry-picking the bible. Why people who consider themselves religious will blatantly ignore some tenets of the bible while championing others.
- The concept of God – omnipotence, omiscience and omnipresence, their logical plausibility, their impact on free will and their consistency with other alleged aspects of God.
- The concept of God – how his alleged perfection reconciles with his seeming tendency for anthropomorphism and anthropocentrism.
- The euthyphro dilemma – a description of the dilemma, the most sensible Christian response, and finally, mine.
- The concept of hell. What does the bible really say about it? Who will be going to it? What does the existence of hell say about the entity that created it?
- The Great Flood. What was the approximate date of its occurrence? Is there any evidence of it?
- Out-dated concepts mentioned in the bible.
- How our interpretation of the bible continuously evolves to match our cultural leanings and scientific discoveries.
- The power of the mind and "miracles".
- Why religion is not our primary source of morality.
- Pagan beliefs held within Christianity as it is currently practiced, our everyday lives, and the extent to which there may be pagan influences within the bible itself.
- God's violent side – the prevalence of God condoning/sanctioning/ordering violence/destruction/murder of persons or groups of people primarily in the old testament, and in a few cases, also in the new, and whether they are justifiable.
- The concept of emergence and how it relates to theories supported by non-theists (though not necessarily myself).
This is by no means an exhaustive list. Also, some of these topics may span several entries. And finally, I have not yet fully researched all of the topics above. Quite frankly, I'm a little excited and looking forward to my next post.
Update – 8-Nov-11
Further topics to consider:
- Homosexuality – its reception throughout history and in the current doctrine of the Christian faith
- The big bang theory and the concept of an impersonal god (Spinoza's God)
Update – 9-Nov-11
- The veil and other various forms of head covering in Islamic society and in both the Old and New Testament
- Dinosaurs in the bible
- Does God comply with the laws of physics?
- The concept of purgatory and its origins
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