Can We Doubt Paul Existed?

Previously I summarized why I am not convinced by Nina Livesey’s thesis, in her new study The Letters of Paul, that all his letters were forged in the second century (Are Paul and His Letters a Second Century Fabrication?). There I mentioned I have never been...

My Monthly Recommendation: Understanding Physicalism as a Philosophy

To help make ends meet and help you become a better philosopher, and thus a better citizen and thinker, every season I’ll post three books from my long-standing recommendations list, and review and discuss their value. And here’s how you can help: I am an...

On the Strange Idea That Viruses Don’t Exist

It’s generally not worth the bother of engaging the anti-vaxx movement. In my personal experience, it is awash with lies, manipulative rhetoric, bad logic, and implausible conspiracy theories (which, as with all implausible conspiracy theories, tend to...

My Monthly Recommendation: Greek Science and The Forgotten Revolution

To help make my own ends meet and help you understand the ancient origins of modern science better than Christians would ever let you if they had their way, each season I shall post a selection of books from my long-standing recommendations list on ancient science,...

My Monthly Recommendation: Three Guides for Philosophers

Every month I will write about something I recommend buying and why. I am an Amazon Associate, so if you click through the sales link in any of these brief recommendation blogs (like today’s), I will get a commission on everything in your cart when you check out...

My Monthly Recommendation: Ancient Science Starter Kit

Every month I will write about something I recommend buying and why. I am an Amazon Associate, so if you click through the sales link in any of these recommendation blogs (like today’s), or indeed any article or page here at all, I will get a commission...

My Monthly Recommendation: Ayer and Polanyi

With the loss of a family member our income took a hit. My Patreon supporters ensure I will never employ paywalls or intrusive third party ads here, and I always benefit most from more Patreon patrons. And there are other ways to tip me or support my work (like buying...

Michael Alter’s Exemplary Review of Undesigned Coincidences

The Argument from Undesigned Coincidences is a naive Christian apologetic invented in the 19th century but revived recently by apologist Lydia McGrew, which ignores all historical knowledge of the redaction history of the Gospels to argue that, instead of the authors...

James Valliant’s Bogus Theory of a Roman Invention of Christianity

It took me a long time to suffer through Creating Christ: How Roman Emperors Invented Christianity by James Valliant and Warren Fahy. But my verdict is now in. Its thesis is bogus. Its method of argument is tediously amateurish. And its only significant evidence...

Debunking John Davidson’s “Pagan” America

Did you know we’re all pagans? That’s right. America is majority pagan. We worship Ishtar and the Onion God and have cool-ass pagan festivals featuring palm fronds and sacred orgies. Public feasts in every town distribute meat and mead, blessed by pagan...

Was the Entire New Testament Forged in the Second Century?

There have been two really weird and unexpected turns in mainstream peer-reviewed scholarship lately: multiple independent studies are redating the entire Bible—Old Testament and New—far later than consensus imagines. What’s Up with the Old...

Margaret Williams on Early Classical Authors on Jesus

Preparing my new volume on the historicity of Jesus for next year, I’ve found that one of the works published since my first volume that warrants attention in my new one is Early Classical Authors on Jesus (T&T Clark, 2022) by Margaret H. Williams (hereafter...