You do not have permission to edit this page, for the following reasons:

This IP address has been blocked from editing Wikipedia.
This does not affect your ability to read Wikipedia pages.
Most people who see this message have done nothing wrong. Some kinds of blocks restrict editing from specific service providers or telecom companies in response to recent abuse or vandalism, and can sometimes affect other users who are unrelated to that abuse. Review the information below for assistance if you do not believe that you have done anything wrong.

The IP address or range 44.201.0.0/16 has been blocked (disabled) by ‪ST47‬ for the following reason(s):

The IP address that you are currently using has been blocked because it is believed to be a web host provider. To prevent abuse, web hosts may be blocked from editing Wikipedia.
You will not be able to edit Wikipedia using a web host provider because it hides your IP address, much like a proxy or VPN.
We recommend that you attempt to use another connection to edit. For example, if you use a proxy or VPN to connect to the internet, turn it off when editing Wikipedia. If you edit using a mobile connection, try using a Wi-Fi connection, and vice versa. If you are using a corporate internet connection, switch to a different Wi-Fi network. If you have a Wikipedia account, please log in.
If you do not have any other way to edit Wikipedia, you will need to request an IP block exemption.

How to appeal if you are confident that your connection does not use a web host's IP address:
If you are confident that you are not using a web host, you may appeal this block by adding the following text on your talk page: ((unblock|reason=Caught by a web host block but this host or IP is not a web host. My IP address is _______. Place any further information here. ~~~~)). You must fill in the blank with your IP address for this block to be investigated. Your IP address can be determined here. Alternatively, if you wish to keep your IP address private you can use the unblock ticket request system. There are several reasons you might be editing using the IP address of a web host (such as if you are using VPN software or a business network); please use this method of appeal only if you think your IP address is in fact not a web host.

Administrators: The IP block exemption user right should only be applied to allow users to edit using web host in exceptional circumstances, and they should usually be directed to the functionaries team via email. If you intend to give the IPBE user right, a CheckUser needs to take a look at the account. This can be requested most easily at SPI Quick Checkuser Requests. Unblocking an IP or IP range with this template is highly discouraged without at least contacting the blocking administrator.

This block will expire on 23:54, 31 July 2024.

Even when blocked, you will usually still be able to edit your user talk page, as well as email administrators and other editors.

For information on how to proceed, please read the FAQ for blocked users and the guideline on block appeals. The guide to appealing blocks may also be helpful.

Other useful links: Blocking policy · Help:I have been blocked
Your IP address is in a range that has been blocked on all Wikimedia Foundation wikis. The block was made by ‪AntiCompositeNumber‬. The reason given is Open proxy/Webhost: Visit the FAQ if you are affected .
- Start of block: 13:55, 18 August 2022
- Expiry of block: 13:55, 18 April 2025
Your current IP address is 44.201.104.180. The blocked range is 44.201.0.0/16. Please include all above details in any queries you make. If you believe you were blocked by mistake, you can find additional information and instructions in the No open proxies global policy. Otherwise, to discuss the block please post a request for review on Meta-Wiki. You could also send an email to the stewards VRT queue at stewards@wikimedia.org including all above details.

You can view and copy the source of this page:

((short description|American atheist author))
((Other people|John Loftus|John Loftus (disambiguation)((!))John Loftus))
((Use mdy dates|date=June 2014))
((Infobox writer <!-- For more information see [[:Template:Infobox Writer/doc]]. --> 
| name          = John Wayne Loftus
| image         =File:John Loftus at SASHAcon.jpg
| alt           = 
| caption       = John Loftus at SASHAcon 2016 at the University of Missouri
| pseudonym     = 
| birth_name    = 
| birth_date    = ((birth date and age|1954|09|18))
| birth_place   = 
| death_date    = <!-- ((Death date and age|YYYY|MM|DD|YYYY|MM|DD)) -->
| death_place   = 
| resting_place = 
| occupation    = Author
| language      = 
| nationality   = American
| alma_mater    = ((unbulleted list | [[Great Lakes Christian College]] | [[Lincoln Christian University]] | [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]]))
| period        = 
| subject       = [[Atheism]]
| movement      = 
| notableworks  = 
| spouse        = 
| awards        = 
| signature     = 
| signature_alt = 
| years_active  =  
| website       = ((official URL))
))
'''John Wayne Loftus''' (born September 18, 1954) is an American [[atheist]] author. He has written five books, and edited seven others.

==Early life and education==
Loftus was born on September 18, 1954.<ref>((cite web | title=Loftus, John W. - Library of Congress | website=LC Linked Data Service: Authorities and Vocabularies | date=1999-02-22 | url=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n2007089730.html | access-date=2021-12-17))</ref> He earned a bachelor's degree from [[Great Lakes Christian College]] in 1977, [[Master of Arts]] and [[Master of Divinity]] degrees from [[Lincoln Christian Seminary]] in 1982, and a [[Master of Theology]] degree from [[Trinity Evangelical Divinity School]] in 1985.<ref name="infidels">((cite web|title=John Loftus|url=http://infidels.org/library/modern/john_loftus/bio.html|website=Secular Web|publisher=Internet Infidels Inc.|access-date=June 10, 2014))</ref> He dropped out of a [[Doctor of Philosophy]] program in theology and ethics at [[Marquette University]] in 1987.<ref name="infidels"/>

==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.<ref name="McKnightOndrey2008">((cite book|author1=Scot McKnight|author2=Hauna Ondrey|title=Finding faith, losing faith: stories of conversion and apostasy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WlAqAQAAMAAJ|date=July 14, 2008|publisher=Baylor University Press|isbn=978-1-60258-162-3|pages=13–14))</ref>

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]]), ''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).<ref name="Penguin Canada">((cite web|title=John W. Loftus|url=http://penguinrandomhouse.ca/search?search=John+Loftus|website=Penguin Random House Canada|access-date=Feb 8, 2017))</ref> He edited an anthology, ''God and Horrendous Suffering'' (2021). He co-edited, with [[Robert M. Price]], an anthology by prominent contemporary English-speaking [[Christ myth theory|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."<ref>''The Christian Delusion''</ref>

This test has been disputed by [[Norman Geisler]] in "From Apologist to Atheist: A Critical Review",<ref>((cite journal |last1=Geiser |first1=Norman L. |title=Apologist to Atheist: A Critical Review |journal=Christian Apologetics Journal |date=Spring 2007 |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=93–110 |url=https://www.galaxie.com/article/caj06-1-05))</ref> [[Thomas Talbott]] in "The Outsider Test for Faith: How Serious a Challenge Is It?",<ref>((cite journal |last1=Talbott |first1=Thomas |title=The Outsider Test for Faith: How Serious a Challenge Is It? |date=2018 |s2cid=12419016 |url=https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2018/0a3436d0a5a337e77215fafda8ceb4010c3b.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181027185730/https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/2018/0a3436d0a5a337e77215fafda8ceb4010c3b.pdf |archive-date=27 October 2018 |url-status=dead))</ref>
Mark Hanna, ''Biblical Christianity: Truth or Delusion?''<ref>((cite book |last1=Hanna |first1=Mark M. |title=Biblical Christianity: Truth or Delusion? |date=2011 |publisher=Xulon Press |isbn=9781613798492 |pages=558))</ref>
Matthew Flannagan, "A Review of the Christian Delusion",<ref>((cite journal |last1=Flannagan |first1=Matthew |title=A Review of The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails |journal=Philosophia Christi |date=2011 |volume=13 |issue=1 |pages=231–235 |doi=10.5840/pc201113122 |url=http://www.mandm.org.nz/2011/06/the-christian-delusion-why-faith-fails-a-philosophia-christi-review-of-john-loftus-book.html))</ref> and David Marshall, ''How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside Story''.<ref>((cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=David |title=How Jesus Passes the Outsider Test: The Inside Story |date=2015 |publisher=Kuai Mu Press |isbn=978-0578155210 |pages=210))</ref>

==Bibliography==
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |title=The Christian Delusion |date=2010 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY|isbn=9781616141684)) 
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |title=The End of Christianity |date=2011 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY|isbn=9781616144142))
* ((cite book |last1=Loftus |first1=John W. |title=Why I Became an Atheist |date=2012 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY |isbn=9781616145781 |edition=2012 rev.))
* ((cite book |last1=Loftus |first1=John W. |title=The Outsider Test for Faith: How to Know Which Religion Is True |date=2013 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY |isbn=9781616147389))
* ((cite book |last1=Loftus |first1=John W. |last2=Rauser |first2=Randal |title=God or Godless?: One Atheist. One Christian. Twenty Controversial Questions. |date=2013 |publisher=Baker Books |location=Grand Rapids, MI |isbn=978-0801015281))
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |title=Christianity Is Not Great: How Faith Fails |date=2014 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY |edition=2nd))
* ((cite book |last1=Loftus |first1=John W. |title=How to Defend the Christian Faith: Advice from an Atheist |date=2015 |publisher=Pitchstone Publishing |location=Durham, NC ))
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |title=Christianity in the Light of Science: Critically Examining the World's Largest Religion |date=2016 |publisher=Prometheus Books |location=Amherst, NY |isbn=9781633881730))
* ((cite book |last1=Loftus |first1=John W. |title=UnApologetic: Why Philosophy of Religion Must End |date=2016 |publisher=Pitchstone Publishing |location=Durham, NC |isbn= 9781634310987))
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |title=The Case against Miracles |date=2019 |publisher=Hypatia Press |isbn=9781839190087))  
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |title=God and Horrendous Suffering |date=2021 |publisher=GCRR Press |location=Denver, CO |isbn=97817378469-1-8))
* ((cite book |editor-last1=Loftus |editor-first1=John W. |editor-last2=Price |editor-first2=Robert M. |title=Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist? |date=2021 |publisher=Hypatia Press |isbn=978-1839191589))

==References==
((reflist))

==External links==
* ((Official website))
* [https://archive.org/details/whyibecameatheis00loft ''Why I Became an Atheist''] at archive.org

((Portal bar|Religion|Biography))
((Authority control))

((DEFAULTSORT:Loftus, John W.))
[[Category:1954 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:21st-century American male writers]]
[[Category:21st-century American non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:21st-century atheists]]
[[Category:American atheist writers]]
[[Category:American atheists]]
[[Category:American former Christians]]
[[Category:American male bloggers]]
[[Category:American bloggers]]
[[Category:American religious writers]]
[[Category:Atheist philosophers]]
[[Category:American critics of Christianity]]
[[Category:Trine University people]]
[[Category:Trinity Evangelical Divinity School alumni]]
[[Category:Writers about religion and science]]

Pages transcluded onto the current version of this page (help):

John W. Loftus (edit)
Template:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Birth date and age (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Br separated entries (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Cite book (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite journal (view source) (protected)
Template:Cite web (view source) (protected)
Template:DMCA (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Dated maintenance category (articles) (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:EditAtWikidata (view source) (protected)
Template:FULLROOTPAGENAME (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Hlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:If empty (view source) (protected)
Template:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Infobox writer (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Main other (view source) (protected)
Template:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Template:Official URL (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Official website (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Other people (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Template:Plainlist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:Pluralize from text (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Portal bar (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Reflist (view source) (protected)
Template:Reflist/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Template:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description (view source) (protected)
Template:Short description/lowercasecheck (view source) (protected)
Template:Str left (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Template other (view source) (protected)
Template:URL (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Unbulleted list (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Use mdy dates (view source) (template editor protected)
Template:Wikidata (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Age (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Arguments (view source) (protected)
Module:Authority control (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/auxiliary (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Authority control/config (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Check for unknown parameters (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1 (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/COinS (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Date validation (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Identifiers (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Utilities (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/Whitelist (view source) (protected)
Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css (view source) (protected)
Module:Date (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Detect singular (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Disambiguation/templates (view source) (protected)
Module:EditAtWikidata (view source) (protected)
Module:Format link (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Hatnote list (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:If empty (view source) (protected)
Module:Infobox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Infobox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:InfoboxImage (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:List (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbar/configuration (view source) (protected)
Module:Navbox (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/configuration (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Navbox/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Ns has subpages (view source) (protected)
Module:Official website (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Other people (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Other uses (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Pagetype (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/config (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/disambiguation (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/setindex (view source) (protected)
Module:Pagetype/softredirect (view source) (protected)
Module:Portal (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/b (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal/images/r (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal bar (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Portal bar/styles.css (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:SDcat (view source) (protected)
Module:Separated entries (view source) (protected)
Module:String (view source) (protected)
Module:TableTools (view source) (protected)
Module:Text (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:URL (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Unsubst (view source) (protected)
Module:Wd (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wd/i18n (view source) (template editor protected)
Module:Wikitext Parsing (view source) (protected)
Module:Yesno (view source) (protected)

Return to John W. Loftus.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Loftus"