Cl is a Christian blogger who runs a blog called The Warfare is Mental. We’ve had a lot of back-and-forth throughout the site, most notably a debate over the problem of evil that fell flat.

However, we’ve been having a much larger debate all over our two sites, arguing for the classic theism vs. atheism, and occasionally on the merits of Christianity. While I don’t want to make responding to Cl the basis of my blogging (nor do I even want to make atheism the basis of my blogging), I do want to make sure I keep track of our discussions and keep track of what I still need to get back on. So I offer this essay as my assessment of where things stand and track our debate.

I leave this list to demonstrate that I have not assumed victory nor have I given up. I also keep it as a to-do list to get back to, and I invite Cl to chime in, add, clarify, or subtract. However, progress here will be slow and steady, because it’s not my only goal for blogging, and blogging is not the only thing I do.

Last Updated: October 3, 2012

Where I Need to Respond

• I wrote “The Contradictory Failure of Prayer”, explaining why I think prayer has failed and how this can be an argument against Christianity. Cl responded with “The Contradictory Failures of Peter Hurford”. I have not yet responded back.
• I wrote “The Biblical God is a Malevolent Bully”, pointing out more shocking passages in the Bible. Cl responded in the comments section asking me to more clearly define “malevolent bully”, which I did. Elsewhere, Cl has attacked the tone of the essay, to which I need to respond.
• I wrote “There Are No Religious Facts”. Cl chimed in, but didn’t offer any critique of the argument. Since then, he’s written “False Argument #35: Religious Disagreement”, to which I have not responded.
• I responded to Cl’s argument about God giving superior Biblical medical advice in “Cl, Bubonic Plagues, and Bibles, Part II”. Cl responded in “If Richard Dawkins Was a Historian”. I have not yet responded.
• I wrote “Does Christianity Contradict Evidence?”. Cl has more or less conceded the problem with Genesis order and then also responded in the comments section.
• In “TheraminTrees’s Atheism, 2: Omniscience”, I make an argument against omniscience. Cl has asked me to clarify.
• In TheraminTrees’s Atheism, 5: Imperfection”, I argue that the Christian God cannot be perfect. Cl has responded in the comments section. I have not yet responded back.

Where I’m Unsure

• As a result of Cl’s arguments, I have considerably revised my opinions on the Problem of Evil, eventually resulting in “TheraminTrees’s Atheism, 4: Skeptical Theism”. In the comments section of that essay and in the essay and comments section of “Why I Said Skeptical Theism is For the Birds”. I responded in “Heaven, Coddling Gods, and Other Theodicies”. I’m honestly unsure whether Cl has responded to this or where we stand with regard to this issue.

Where I Think The Ball’s In Cl’s Court

• In “TheraminTrees’s Atheism, Part 1: Incompatibility” and “TheraminTrees’s Atheism, 2: Omniscience”, I make an argument against omnipotence. To my knowledge, Cl has not responded.

The Positive Case for Theism / Christianity?

On Cl’s blog, he has also outlined some essays that attempt to establish a case not just for rejecting my atheist arguments, but rather for establishing arguments for theism and Christianity. I think these are important, because merely showing that no case against the existence of gods succeeds does not mean that the case for the existence of gods do succeed.

While I have gone through Cl’s archives, they are substantial. To this point and to make things easier for me, I invite Cl to link to some of his best positive arguments, so I can know what he thinks is strong and so I can review them and see what I think.