God remains just in spite of not punishing us because that punishment which we deserved fell upon Jesus.

Hebrews 2:9 supports this, “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angles, now crowned iwth glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.”

With justice meted out on Jesus, reconciliation could now be meted out to those who follow Jesus. The Father, being just, couldn’t just brush sin under the rug. It had to be dealth with. But to do so would require the death of all mankind (for all have sinned – Romans 3:23). However, verse 24-26 continues, “and [all] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Him as a sacrifice of atonment, through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”

“But that’s not fair,” we might say. And I’d agree; it wouldn’t be fair — if Jesus didn’t rise from the dead. But, because He was resurrected, justice and grace are both accomplished. As He Himself said, “It is finished.”

Will he also be inspired to quit halfway through his term? Because, you know, not quitting would be the quitters way out…

All I got out of his book was a few decent quotes—it is unfathomable to me why so many people think he’s a great writer.

Brian, I like their books and I am torn about the aggressive part. It’s something I have been arguing back and forth with my friends for a while. Traditional atheists have looked at religion condescendingly and dismissively, but the new aggressive atheist movement is openly hostile. I think it has a lot to do with reaction against the Bush administration and the religious right, and that’s understandable.

The interesting debate isn’t really about whether the specific claims of any particular religion are accurate. The much more interesting question is whether, on balance, people believing in religion (regardless of its truthiness) is a positive or negative thing. The historical and current negative effects are too easy to spot: wars, discrimination, intolerance, violence, anti-intellectualism. But sometimes the aggressive atheists are too quick to dismiss any value that religion has. That’s why I appreciated The Evolution of God – the author doesn’t subscribe to any of the religions he describes, but he shows how religious institutions help socialize people and give them a framework for thinking about morality. And he shows how they continue to get better. As I said, I’m torn, but it’s an interesting debate (unlike the evangelical vs. atheist debate, which is quite dull).

There is another interesting phenomenon at work. Atheists disparagingly call it the “Christian Persecution Complex,” but whatever it is, the effect is that Christians find the mere existence of atheists to be hostile to their beliefs. They react very strongly against any public display of atheism or demand for equal treatment under the law for atheists. There are some reasons for their paranoia. For one thing, the term is an anti-term. That is why most atheists prefer to describe themselves as humanists or secular humanists. For another, there are plenty of hostile atheists and they have become the public representatives of the unbelieving crowd.

Harris is probably my least favorite writer and Dawkins my favorite. I like how Harris writes, but he doesn’t have the substance that Dawkins (a biologist) has. None of them are writing to persuade a devout Christian audience, though. So if that’s where you are coming from, then it’s understandable that you didn’t appreciate them.

I would recommend Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. Its a great piece of historical fiction centered around Thomas Cromwell at the court of Henry VIII. Probably the best political novel I’ve read. Clever, insightful, and hilarious. I’m also currently obsessed with Henning Mankell’s Swedish crime novels.