I haven’t researched that myself but some historians say it was the rise in belief in the physical resurrection, which is partly true, but other historians note the trend already started among pagans and moved from poverty on up, suggesting the reason was that cremation was too expensive to sustain through the third century crisis.

I do use the same debunking on Hitler and Holocaust studies. Indeed, I’m published in that field and have inspired entire followup academic studies. The results are the same: see Hitler’s Table Talk: The Definitive Account for the results and breadcrumb.

If, rather, you are a conspiracy theorist denying the Holocaust, you are the one who is gullible and not performing well as a critical thinker. For how to do that correctly, see my Primer and Truth, for starters. Then test the data (list, list, list, list).

Now if only you could use that big brain logic regarding the nature of propaganda in your Hitler and Holocaust studies. Oh well! We all have blindspots! Willful, it would seem like.

Foxe’s Book of Martyrs pales in comparison to the hagiographies of the Eastern Orthodox Church! Woo boy! They go over the top with the gore porn and utterly ridiculous stories. It’s like Stephen King meets J.K. Rowling. And being Eastern Orthodox, they have feast days based on these accounts.

Some certainly. I don’t know if all (I haven’t checked the history of every one). But these are not incompatible observations. The cheapest real estate to expand down into is always going to be an abandoned mine. Much of the excavation is already completed for you.

Altars were more likely made to resemble sarcophagi to carry the connotation of the body and tomb of Christ. And even later, to actually contain relics of the dead above ground. Not because altar ceremonies ever happened underground.

But that tradition is quite late (likely medieval). Paintings in the catacombs depicting Christian altars show simple wooden tables, not anything tomb-resembling or of stone. Stone altars appear in the fourth century at the earliest.

That isn’t my medium. But thank you.

I only do guest spots on other channels. So you can ask other channels to have me on to talk about any of the many subjects I’m now expert in. Just be aware my rate is now usually $150/hour, which is proratable but with a minimum of $100 (which is actually quite affordable compared to some other folks). So I am not likely to appear on channels that expect guests for free.

At the bottom of my Booking page is a list of topics I am good at for that.