Marshall Brain's Website - Needs To Be Seriously Looked Into

[Believer]

This thread is somewhat related to this thread, kind of a continuation.

From - "Why Does God Hate Amputees?"

...Interesting, however the guy is clearly an atheist. I think the more knowledgable of the Christians here should seriously look into the chapters below though, and/or look at it all. The prayer chapters should really be especially looked into, because I too ask myself why are my prayers going unanswered, or why do people who pray for me not work (Marshall claims it is by coincidence our prayers are answered when we pray for ourselves and/or for others that aren't aware they are being prayed for). I seriously would like the more knowledgeable of the Christians here to look into the website. Other claims are; that because the Bible is perfected by God through men, it has problems; why isn't something divinely being done about certain parts of the world where innocent people die because there isn't enough rain or food; that God is just imaginary like leprechauns; that scientists don't know where we came from yet, but will know in the future and it will show nature did it all; that Christianity will become extinct eventually; plus much more. Some chapters, such as the prayer chapters are extensive. All chapters should be looked over.

Marshall Brain is best known as the founder of HowStuffWorks.com. With degrees in electrical engineering and computer science, as well as years spent researching how things work, he has deep technical background in a wide variety of topics. He is the author of a dozen books and the recipient of numerous awards.

Marshall Brain has appeared in hundreds of radio, TV and print interviews with media outlets such as CNN, the New York Times and the LA Times.

SOURCE: CLICK HERE

Table of Contents

Introduction

Chapter 0 - The question
Chapter 1 - The line is drawn
Chapter 2 - The paradox of God
Chapter 3 - The Standard Model of God
Chapter 4 - Facing the paradox

Section 1 - Prayer

Chapter 5 - Why Does God Hate Amputees?
Chapter 6 - Why do you need health insurance?
Chapter 7 - Why can't you move mountains?
Chapter 8 - Why do bad things happen to good people?
Chapter 9 - Who gets to go to the prom?
Chapter 10 - Why do battlefield prayers sound so convincing?
Chapter 11 - Reviewing the evidence about prayer

Section 2 - The Bible

Chapter 12 - Who wrote the Bible?
Chapter 13 - Why does God love slavery?
Chapter 14 - Why does God love animal sacrifice?
Chapter 15 - Why does God hate women?
Chapter 16 - Why does God massacre millions of children?
Chapter 17 - Reviewing the evidence about the Bible

Section 3 - Jesus

Chapter 18 - Was Jesus the son of God?
Chapter 19 - Why didn't Jesus move a mountain?
Chapter 20 - Why doesn't Jesus appear to each of us?
Chapter 21 - Why do we eat Jesus?
Chapter 22 - Why do so many children live in poverty?
Chapter 23 - Was Jesus' coming prophesized?
Chapter 24 - Why does Jesus need your money?
Chapter 25 - Reviewing the evidence about Jesus

Putting it all together

Chapter 26 - Why did I write this book?
Chapter 27 - When we die, we die
Chapter 28 -Goodness, Morality and the Ten Commandments
Chapter 29 -In God We Trust
Chapter 30 -Love your neighbor as yourself
Chapter 31 -The Meaning of Life
Chapter 32 -The future of the human race

Highlights

Understanding Your Delusion
Understanding God's Plan
Understanding Intelligent Design
There Are No "Atheists"
Why Do People Invent Religion?
A Time for Change

Appendicies

Appendix A - Understanding Intelligent Design
Appendix B - The Emperor's New Clothes


Then he has a "challenge" (looks like quote mining) and his FAQ.

[August]

Why should we take seriously a website that's committing a logical fallacy with its title already? Begging the question starting with the title, and it's all downhill from there.

I did have a look, one giant strawman, extremely poor understanding of theology, logical fallacies all over the place.

If he wants anyone to take him seriously, he should start by explaining if there is no God, on what moral basis does he propose to judge God's supposed hatred?

[Zamis1]

If he wants anyone to take him seriously, he should start by explaining if there is no God, on what moral basis does he propose to judge God's supposed hatred?

In Chapter 28 he discusses where morality, ethics, etc. come from. It is an interesting chapter actually. The title is "Goodness, Morality and the Ten Commandments". See:

http://www.whydoesgodhateamputees.com/god28.htm

[August]

If he wants anyone to take him seriously, he should start by explaining if there is no God, on what moral basis does he propose to judge God's supposed hatred?

In Chapter 28 he discusses where morality, ethics, etc. come from. It is an interesting chapter actually. The title is "Goodness, Morality and the Ten Commandments". See:

http://www.whydoesgodhateamputees.com/god28.htm

From that chapter.....
"Many religious people who read this book will try to use the following logic:

God must exist. A man cannot decide without God what is good and what is evil.

They believe that, without God, there can be no Ten Commandments. They would state that, without God, there can be no good or evil, and that any behavior is just as "good" as any other. That logic, of course, is silly. God quite clearly does not exist, yet people have been deciding what is good and what is evil for thousands of years.

....We should not abdicate something as important as the foundation of our legal system to a 2,000 year-old book written by a bunch of primitive goat herders......"

Ad hominems, begging the question etc, so having asserted that God does not exist, he tries in a very simplistic way to account for some sort of moral basis.

He appeals to common sense and man's inherent goodness, which is obviously false, since, to use his murder example, millions get murdered every day, and many of those are justified in the eyes of the murderer. How does that translate into an absolute moral basis, that "everyone" on earth supposedly has, by which he can make an absolute judgement of God's supposed hatred?

[Zamis1]

It is interesting. Here is what the author has to say about God's "hatred" of amputees in http://whydoesgodhateamputees.com/god5.htm

According to many Christian believers, God is interacting with our world and answering millions of prayers. In addition, the entire industry of Christian inspirational literature is built around God's ability and willingness to have a personal relationship with us and answer our prayers. Any Sunday morning we can find thousands of ministers and priests preaching about God's grace, God's love, God's blessings and God's desire to hear and answer our prayers.

Nonetheless, the amputated legs of our devout and deserving Christian are not going to regenerate.

What are we seeing here? Simply stop for a moment and let the peculiarity of this situation sink in. It certainly is perplexing. It is not that God sometimes answers the prayers of amputees, and sometimes does not. Instead, in this situation there is a very clear line. God never answers the prayers of amputees. It would appear, to an unbiased observer, that God hates amputees.

If it is not hatred, then what is it? How can it be that God is spreading his love and blessings by answering the prayers of millions of Christians every day, while at the same time he is cursing amputees by completely ignoring their prayers? It does appear that God is trying to send some sort of a message to amputees through his actions here on earth. Either God is sending a message, or there is some other explanation for this very odd situation.

[/url]

[August]

Until the author accounts for how he can have an objective and absolute basis for knowing what hatred is, and assigning such hatred to others and God, his argument remains one from incredulity, personal bias etc.

How does he know God hates amputees? He is evaluating God's fairness against what he wants it to be.

[Zamis1]

How does he know God hates amputees?

He is using the example of amputees as a way of asking an important question about prayer. We know that, no matter how much people pray, God does not regenerate amputated limbs. Many, many Christians believe that God is performing other medical miracles, so it is odd that God would ignore the prayers of amputees to restore limbs.

Then the author asks, "Why do you need health insurance?" The Bible says (James 5:15) that a "prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well". We can see that James 5:15-16 is untrue in the case of amputees (if you are willing to accept that an amputation is a sickness). The author makes the point in chapter 6 that, in fact, prayer does not work for any medical condition. We can do statistical studies and we find that James 5:15-16 is incorrect.

Then the author poists out that if you pray for anything that is impossible (moving a mountain, restoring a lost limb, etc.), your prayer will not be answered. Jesus says that you should be able to move a mountain with prayer, but no one has ever done it.

The author builds the argument step by step, starting with amputees, that God does not answer any prayers.

The question would be, is he right? Does God answer prayers, or is prayer an illusion? When some Christians claim medical miracles in response to prayer (esp. in books and magazine articles), it that actually the work of God or a coincidence?

[August]

I know what he is arguing. I read most of the stuff. You keep shifting the argument, first it was where morality and ethics come from, which neither the author nor you answered except to say it just exists, then it was God's supposed hatred of amputees, which went unanswered, now it's the power of prayer argument.

All of what you quoted does not tell me how he knows God hates amputees, only that he thinks God does, and that God is wrong for doing it, without establishing a basis for how he can know it.

Until he does not account for how he can account for an absolute and objective basis for judging God, and the logic that he uses, all of what he says are arguments from outrage, ignorance, incredulity and personal bias, and as such has no more value than anyone elses biased opinions.

[Zamis1]

All of what you quoted does not tell me how he knows God hates amputees, only that he thinks God does, and that God is wrong for doing it, without establishing a basis for how he can know it.

It is interesting to think about it this way. We know that many, many Christians believe that God is answering their prayers. There are thousands of stories written about medical miracles performed by God in response to prayer (the author gives several examples in chapter 5). Yet God never answers the prayers of any amputee to restore a lost limb.

The dictionary defines hate as (http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=hate):

"To feel hostility or animosity toward"

It would seem that, if God is blessing millions of other Christians by answering their prayers, that God is showing animosity or hostility toward amputees by completely ignoring their prayers. Either God hates amputees, or there is some other explanation for the fact that God ignores the prayers of amputees completely.

I can't speak for the author, but I would be interested in hearing other explanations besides hatred. Why would God ignore all the prayers of amputees to restore their lost limbs?

[SUGAAAAA]

hehe... A Christian friend of mine has actually told me stories of miracle healings, including the growth of lost limbs, he's actually witnessed it...


Im not sure if it was through prayer though.

[Believer]

Marshall Brain is only, like his website name says, focusing on amputees from what I have read so far. He might be an amputee who never got his prayer answered, so he went bitter and made the website trying to logically explain away God and everything associated with Him? Who knows except him. But considering his logic, we should be reading those chapters on prayer like anything else on the website. Preferably, those who have a strong Christian faith should do this, as the Christians who are new or not so heavy in the line of being a Christian yet shouldn't go there as it would shake their faith immensely.

[Believer]

hehe... A Christian friend of mine has actually told me stories of miracle healings, including the growth of lost limbs, he's actually witnessed it...


Im not sure if it was through prayer though.

I heard a story about a guy in a different country that was at a mass Christian worship place, and the lower part of the leg at the kneecap was witnessed and reported to have been regenerated right there. I have no link, just heard it from Pat Robertson off of a cassette tape I received from the 700 Club that he heard it from someone else, so I have no clue of its authenticity.

The case point is, how does a person regrow an part of their body without divine intervention? They can't. Divine intervention must take place for this to occur. However, I would only say it would be done to make a POINT, not all who pray will get it.

[SUGAAAAA]

Thank God I didnt read anything on there, then.

^ that was in response to your first post.


I agree that something like that must have occured with the help a supernatural force (God's spirit, in this case), alot of people try to connect "miracle healings" to placebo effects, but placebo's cant explain certain things, like the stuff listed on this website (which I found somewhere else on this forum):

http://69.6.236.221/lindex.html

[mick]

I heard a story about a guy in a different country that was at a mass Christian worship place, and the lower part of the leg at the kneecap was witnessed and reported to have been regenerated right there. I have no link, just heard it from Pat Robertson off of a cassette tape I received from the 700 Club that he heard it from someone else, so I have no clue of its authenticity.

Puh-lease. . .

[Believer]

I heard a story about a guy in a different country that was at a mass Christian worship place, and the lower part of the leg at the kneecap was witnessed and reported to have been regenerated right there. I have no link, just heard it from Pat Robertson off of a cassette tape I received from the 700 Club that he heard it from someone else, so I have no clue of its authenticity.

Puh-lease. . .

...so I have no clue of its authenticity.

I don't know if it was real or not, I wasn't there, neither were you, but it shouldn't be AUTOMATIC grounds for dismissal unless you or I were there. That's why as my quote above says I have no clue of its authenticity.