Evangelist John Piper’s Son is an Atheist and is Trash Talking Christianity

Another child of a major evangelical Christian pastor/evangelist has become an atheist, and this one (Abraham Piper) is talking trash about Christianity on Tik Tok. Christian apologists are not happy. These self-appointed guardians of eternal truth are making the usual statements about those of us who were once evangelical and are now atheists (exvangelicals): “You were never a true believer!” “If you had understood the true teachings of true Christianity, you would never have left!

(Translation: No real evangelical Christian EVER leaves the faith because that would mean that our doctrine of eternal security is a false teaching! It CANNOT happen!) “

They are so ignorant and full of themselves (brain-washed, superstitious fools). It’s really pitiful to watch them. Check out this evangelical apologist’s take on John Piper’s prodigal son:

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Why Does Heaven Have Gates?

The city [New Jerusalem] lies foursquare, its length the same as its width; and he [an angel] measured the city with his rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. ¹⁷ He also measured its wall, one hundred forty-four cubits^[i] by human measurement, which the angel was using. ¹⁸ The wall is built of jasper, while the city is pure gold, clear as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the wall of the city are adorned with every jewel; the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. ²¹ And the twelve gates are twelve pearls, each of the gates is a single pearl, and the street of the city is pure gold, transparent as glass. —The Book of Revelation, chapter 21

I wish I could say that the title of this post originated with me, but no, it did not. I stole it from comedian Jim Gaffigan. I just finished watching Gaffigan do a comic routine on being Catholic. He said something funny about the “pearly gates” and then said with an inquisitive, somber look: “Why does heaven have gates? Is it in a rough neighborhood?”

Hilarious!

Why would an all-powerful, all-knowing creator god need gates (and walls)? What the hell is the Big Guy afraid of??

This story about heaven, the Creator God’s alleged home, found in the last book of the Christian Bible, is very revealing. Obviously, the author concocting/telling this story could not conceive of a city without gates and walls. In his day, all cities of any significance had gates and walls. This story is more evidence that the stories in the Bible come not from an all-knowing god, but from the irrational minds of superstitious human beings.

It is all a tall tale!

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Was Jesus the First Man-God to Ascend into the Clouds and Make Post-Mortem Appearances? No. Not According to the Romans.

Such were the principal achievements of the reign of Romulus, at home and in the field, nor is any of them incompatible with the belief in his divine origin and the divinity which was ascribed to the king after his death, whether one considers his spirit in recovering the kingdom of his ancestors, or his wisdom in founding the City and in strengthening it by warlike and peaceful measures. For it was to him, assuredly, that Rome owed the vigor which enabled her to enjoy an untroubled peace for the next forty years. Nevertheless, he was more liked by the commons than by the senate, and was preeminently dear to the hearts of his soldiers. Of these he had three hundred for a bodyguard, to whom he gave the name of Celeres, and kept them by him, not only in war, but also in time of peace

When these immortal deeds had been done, as the king was holding a muster in the Campus Martius, near the swamp of Capra, for the purpose of reviewing the army, suddenly a storm came up, with loud claps of thunder, and enveloped him in a cloud so thick as to hide him from the sight of the assembly; and from that moment Romulus was no more on earth. The Roman soldiers at length recovered from their panic, when this hour of wild confusion had been succeeded by a sunny calm; but when they saw that the royal seat was empty, although they readily believed the assertion of the senators, who had been standing next to Romulus, that he had been caught up on high in the blast, they nevertheless remained for some time sorrowful and silent, as if filled with the fear of orphanhood.

Then, when a few men had taken the initiative, they all with one accord hailed Romulus as a god and a god’s son, the King and Father of the Roman City, and with prayers besought his favor that he would graciously be pleased forever to protect his children. There were some, I believe, even then who secretly asserted that the king had been rent in pieces by the hands of the senators, for this rumor, too, got abroad, but in very obscure terms; the other version obtained currency, owing to men’s admiration for the hero and the intensity of their panic. And the shrewd device of one man is also said to have gained new credit for the story.

This was Proculus Julius, who, when the people were distracted with the loss of their king and in no friendly mood towards the senate, being, as tradition tells, weighty in council, were the matter never so important, addressed the assembly as follows: “Quirites, the Father of this City, Romulus, descended suddenly from the sky at dawn this morning and appeared to me. Covered with confusion, I stood reverently before him, praying that it might be vouchsafed me to look upon his face without sin. ‘Go,’ said he, ‘and declare to the Romans the will of Heaven that my Rome shall be the capital of the world; so let them cherish the art of war, and let them know and teach their children that no human strength can resist Roman arms.’ So saying,” he concluded, “Romulus departed on high.” It is wonderful what credence the people placed in that man’s tale, and how the grief for the loss of Romulus, which the plebeians and the army felt, was quieted by the assurance of his immortality.

–the Roman historian, Livy, Book 1, 15-16

Gary: What a sham! I had never read this account before.

If Christian Bible scholars know of this ancient Roman story and still believe in the historicity of the very similar ascension and post-mortem appearance stories told of Jesus of Nazareth, a man who lived seven centuries after Romulus, they should be ashamed of their gullibility, or, they should be ashamed of their lack of integrity for not telling Christians in the pews that the Jesus Story is a blatant plagiarism!

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500 Eyewitnesses See a Dead Man with an Elephant’s Head. Do You Believe Them?

There are reports from a small village in the subcontinent of south Asia that 500 people, at one time and place, claim to have seen a dead man rise out of his grave, his head replaced with that of an elephant. They all claim that they watched as the “elephant man” snacked on bamboo before flying off into the clouds flapping his large elephant ears.

Should we believe this story just because 500 eyewitnesses say it happened?

I will bet you will say, no. Why? Because it is a silly, preposterous story. It is much more likely that 500 people are mistaken or lying than that this event really occurred.

Ditto for claims of resurrected corpses in first century Palestine.

Don’t be gullible, my friends. Supernatural claims are fantasy, not reality.

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This is the 3,000 post on this blog.

What is the Best Response to Preachers of Doom?

It is impossible to reason with believers of the supernatural, as reason does not reign supreme in their worldview. Faith, otherwise known as wishful thinking, is lord and master of this worldview. In the world of the supernatural (theism), reason is often despised. Martin Luther once said, “Reason is the Devil’s whore.”

Ridicule is often the only antidote for pious preachers of irrational superstitious nonsense.

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Catholic Apologist (who believes in virgin births) Mocks Mormons for Their “Really Weird” Beliefs

The Catholic apologist in the video below discusses 10 Mormon teachings which he describes…with a smile…as “really out there”. But guess what Catholics, Protestants think some of your beliefs are really out there (that Mary, a mortal who lived and died 2,000 years ago, is still listening attentively to the daily prayers of millions of Catholics all over the world; that her body was beamed into outer space upon her death; that when you take Communion on Sundays you are eating literal human flesh and drinking literal human blood which possesses magical powers to forgive your “sins” and give you eternal life! That is weird! Nothing Mormons believe tops that.)

But don’t get too full of yourselves, Protestants. Jews believe that your beliefs are pretty wacky too (that a first century Jewish peasant is the creator of the universe, who at this very moment sits on a golden throne at the edge of outer space where he rules as King of the Cosmos! Are you nuts??)

Do you see a pattern? Everyone else’s superstitions are whacky…but not mine!

Get a clue, folks!

Dear theists of the world: Trust science, reason, and rational thinking. Abandon your silly superstitions! Do it for the sake of the human race. Enough of the craziness!

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Like Many Ancient Texts, the Bible is Neither 100% Historical Nor 100% Fiction

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Is Belief in Jesus Christ as Irrational as Belief in Santa Claus?

Christian: You are not going to convince Christians of the falsity of their beliefs by ridiculing them. You need to change their minds with evidence.

Gary: I have a question: What caused you to stop believing in Santa Claus when you were a child? I seriously doubt you were dissuaded from believing in Santa Claus by evidence. You were dissuaded from believing in Santa Claus either because your parents told you he wasn’t real or because your friends and classmates laughed at you when you said you believed in him. But imagine if your parents had continued to tell you that Santa Claus is real. In that case, which would have dissuaded you more strongly: Evidence or ridicule from your peers?

I will bet that ridicule from your social peers would have been a stronger impetus for you to abandon your superstition, a superstition that your parents continued to believe.

I have come to the conclusion that the best antidote for Christian superstitions is to strip them of their social respectability. If belief in the existence and magical powers of a reanimated first century corpse named Jesus were viewed with the same incredulity, scorn, and ridicule as most modern adults would view another grown adult’s belief in a literal Santa Claus, Christianity would shrivel and die in a very short period of time.

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A lot of Very Intelligent People Believe in the Resurrection of Jesus

Most educated people on the planet today will agree that superstitions are silly and irrational…except when it comes to their particular culture’s religious superstitions.

For instance, I believe that the Christian belief that the dead body of a first century peasant was reanimated by the magical powers of a genocidal bronze age deity, who bestowed on this back-from-the-dead peasant supernatural powers, enabling it to walk through locked doors, teleport between cities, and eventually levitate into the clouds—is about as silly and irrational as they come. Yet many highly educated, very intelligent people believe this tale is true.

But does the fact that a lot of very intelligent, educated people believe a particular supernatural tale make it more probably true?

Before you answer that question, dear Christian, ask yourself this question: Does the fact that tens of thousands of highly educated, very intelligent Muslim lawyers, doctors, and engineers believe that a seventh century prophet flew on a winged horse to heaven make that story more probably true?

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Did Joseph Smith Receive the Golden Plates from a White Salamander?

The Mormon Church teaches that in 1823 an angel named Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith in upstate New York, handing over to him a box containing golden plates, God’s newest revelation to humankind—The Book of Mormon.

Fast forward to 1984. A document surfaces, a document allegedly found at the bottom of the box given to Joseph Smith. This document contains a bombshell statement: Instead of an angel giving the Book of Mormon to Joseph Smith, it was…a white salamander!

The Mormon Church is shaken to the core.

What?? Was the Mormon faith based on a revelation from an angel as the Church had always taught, or was it based on magical animal folklore from rural upstate New York?

The leaders of the Mormon Church (who the Church asserts are “prophets”) arrange for the “Salamander Letter” to be purchased and placed into the archives of the LDS in Salt Lake. The Church refuses to allow outside experts to examine the authenticity of the document.

This story makes every atheist salivate. The Mormon Church has been exposed as the fraud it is! A white salamander! How hilarious.

But, not so quick. The story eventually takes a very, very bizarre twist…involving pipe bombs, murder, and police interrogations of the president of the Mormon Church. It is a doozy of a story! Spoiler alert: The document was a fraud. But the question remains: How were God’s prophets fooled so badly that they paid good money to buy and bury a forgery of God’s “holy, inspired words”??

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