John Wayne Loftus (born 1954) is an American

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

author. He has written five books, and edited seven others.

Early life and education

Loftus was born on September 18, 1954. He earned a bachelor's degree from Great Lakes Christian College in 1977,

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

and

Master of Divinity For graduate-level theological institutions, the Master of Divinity (MDiv, ''magister divinitatis'' in Latin) is the first professional degree of the pastoral profession in North America. It is the most common academic degree in seminaries and divi ...

degrees from Lincoln Christian Seminary in 1982, and a Master of Theology degree from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in 1985. He dropped out of a

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common Academic degree, degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields ...

program in theology and ethics at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Established by the Society of Jesus as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, it was founded by John Henni, John Martin ...

in 1987.

Career

Loftus was a minister and taught apologetics, philosophy, critical thinking, and ethics at several colleges, including The College of Lake County, Grayslake, IL, Lincoln Christian University, Lincoln, IL, Great Lakes Christian College, Lansing, MI, and Trine University, Angola, IN. In the mid 1990s, in light of an extramarital affair, Loftus had a crisis of faith and eventually rejected Christianity. As of November 2021, Loftus has authored and edited twelve books: ''The Christian Delusion'' (2010), ''The End of Christianity'' (2011), ''Why I Became an Atheist'' (2012), ''The Outsider Test of Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True'' (2013), ''God or Godless'' (2013, co-written with

Randal Rauser Randal D. Rauser is a Canadian Baptist theologian who serves as an associate professor of historical theology at Taylor Seminary. Work Rauser wrote a guide to '' The Shack'' in his companion volume ''Finding God in the Shack'' (Paternoster, 200 ...

), ''Christianity Is Not Great'' (2014), ''How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist'' (2015), ''Christianity in the Light of Science'' (2016), ''UnApologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End'' (2016), and ''The Case against Miracles'' (2019). He edited an anthology, ''God and Horrendous Suffering'' (2021). He co-edited, with Robert M. Price, an anthology by prominent contemporary English-speaking mythicists, ''Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist?'' (2021).

''The Outsider Test for Faith''

In his book ''The Outsider Test For Faith'', Loftus asks believers to test their religious faith as an outsider: "The best way to test one’s adopted religious faith is from the perspective of an outsider with no double standards, using the same level of skepticism one uses to evaluate other religious faiths." "It is no different than the prince in the Cinderella story who must question forty-five thousand people to see which girl lost the glass slipper at the ball the previous night. They all claim to have done so. Therefore, skepticism is definitely warranted when approaching any woman who claims to have the right foot fit." This test has been disputed by

Norman Geisler Norman Leo Geisler (July 21, 1932 – July 1, 2019) was an American Christian systematic theologian and philosopher. He was the co-founder of two non-denominational evangelical seminaries (Veritas International University and Southern Evange ...

in "From Apologist to Atheist: A Critical Review",

Thomas Talbott Thomas Talbott is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Willamette University, Salem, Oregon. He is best known for his advocacy of trinitarian universalism. Due to his book ''The Inescapable Love of God'' and other works he is one of the most promin ...

in "The Outsider Test for Faith: How Serious a Challenge Is It?", Mark Hanna, ''Biblical Christianity: Truth or Delusion?'' Matthew Flannagan, "A Review of the Christian Delusion", and David Marshall, ''How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside Story''.

Bibliography

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References

External links

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''Why I Became an Atheist''
at archive.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, John W. 1954 births Living people 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century atheists American atheist writers American atheists American former Christians American male bloggers American bloggers American religious writers Atheist philosophers Critics of Christianity Trine University people Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni Writers about religion and science