1. Why does the universe exist?

July 31st, 2019

When thinking about possible evidence for the existence of God, it seems logical to start with the big picture, and work our way down to the more personal. So we start by considering the universe and the explanation of its existence. What is the universe? This may sound like the dumbest of questions, for we […]

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12 reasons to believe in God

July 25th, 2019

It’s an age-old question. Is there really a God? What can we reasonably believe? But it’s also a modern question. Most cultures have evolved with a religion. For those living in that culture, believing in that religion was part of life. Not really to be questioned all that much. But in modern western cultures at […]

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What would it take to convince you that a healing miracle had occurred?

July 6th, 2019

It’s not uncommon to come across stories of people being miraculously healed. They are some of the most popular pages on this site, and there’s no shortage of them on the internet. I’m not sure why, but I’m guessing that some people want to feel re-assured God is really there, and some are perhaps looking […]

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Ache, angst and aspiration

June 18th, 2019

Do you ever find yourself waking up at night for no reason, and taking some time to finally fall asleep again? And if you do, what do you think about? Do you focus on emptying your mind so you can fall asleep again? Or maybe you go through your plans for the coming day? Or […]

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Finding an explanation that works

June 5th, 2019

Human beings are curious creatures, and most of us think about ‘big’ questions, such as “What is life all about?”, or “How did everything get here?” or “Could there be a God?”. How can a human being possibly answer these questions with any assurance? But how can we ignore these questions either? So what is […]

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Free will and determinism: are they compatible?

May 19th, 2019

This page in brief …. Neuroscientists tend to conclude that the processes in our brains follow known physical laws, and so our thinking is determined by physics – meaning we don’t have genuine free choice. But our experience is that we do indeed make choices and they seem to be free most of the time, […]

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Can you tell me why you believe?

May 8th, 2019

I sometimes get asked for the reasons why I believe. Sometimes it is curiosity, sometimes people are desperate to know why they should believe. Occasionally people ask what sort of reasons are good, with the implication that some reasons are somehow inappropriate. So here’s the results of many years of thought and reading …..

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Susan Blackmore: there’s no ‘me’!

April 29th, 2019

Have you ever wondered: if the cells in our bodies change every 10 years or so, am I still the same person I was 40 years ago?

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Can we be human without free will?

April 2nd, 2019

Do human beings have free will? Can we choose among different possible actions and beliefs? Or are we controlled by our genetics, or by blind physical processes in our brains? And if we couldn’t make genuine choices, would that diminish us? Would we be any different from animals, except a little smarter … perhaps? And […]

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Is science the best way to know everything?

March 22nd, 2019

I’ve often heard it said, especially by non-believers in discussion with believers. Science is the best, perhaps the only reliable way to know things. Everything else is subjective. Is this true? The question raises some interesting issues. These musings are a response to a post, A big weekend in Boston by Connor Wood, and a […]

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A list of all blog posts, in reverse chronological order, is on the Blog archive page.