Adventures at the Society of Biblical Literature Conference, Part 1: The Westar Encounter
I attended the SBL conference in Denver this month and spent several days engrossed in observing panel presentations and voting on new motions for the Westar Institute. I’m a member of the SBL and a Westar fellow. But I’ve rarely been able to afford to...The Carrier-McDurmon Debate: Which Worldview Produces the Better World?
Joel McDurmon is an odd fellow. Founder of American Vision, he is simultaneously an old school arch-conservative who thinks all taxation is theft and public schools must be abolished, and a passionate, well-reasoned advocate for liberal talking points like that the...Catholic Apologist Eats Own Foot: Film at Eleven
One of the most insurmountable errors in the Bible, being both a historical inaccuracy and a contradiction, is the conflicting dates given to the birth of Jesus in Matthew and Luke. This goof is so terrifying to Christians they have destroyed hundreds of trees and...Ancient Industrial Machinery & Modern Christian Mythology
Christians like to deny the Dark Ages existed, and instead reimagine them as a glorious age of knowledge and progress. That’s just not true. I document the material and textual evidence against that in my chapter on the subject in Christianity Is Not Great, for anyone...A Baptist Goofs His Reading of Tacitus and Suetonius
Reformed Baptist Josh Sommer has attempted to rebut my peer reviewed paper on the Testimonium Taciteum in Suetonius and Tacitus: Christians or Chrestians? The paper he is talking about is “The Prospect of a Christian Interpolation in Tacitus, Annals...Debate in Houston This November!
I’ll be debating Which Worldview Produces the Best World? in Houston, Texas, on 10 November 2018. The theme: Does atheistic Naturalism or biblical Christianity offer true help for the world? I’ll be defending naturalism; Dr. Joel McDurmon will be defending...How the Jehovah’s Witnesses Website Manipulates Readers on the Historicity of Jesus
I’ve been asked about it a lot. So here’s a handy guide to all the tricks pulled by the Jehovah’s Witnesses on their website (JW.org) aimed at fooling people into being sure some Jesus behind the Gospels really existed. I didn’t dive into the...Why Christians Are Terrified of Probability Theory
A few years ago Strange Notions published a strange editorial by statistics professor William Briggs, called Bayes Theorem Proves Jesus Existed (And That He Didn’t). I say strange, because it’s weirdly dishonest, incompetent, and irrational coming from someone...Five Bogus Reasons to Trust the Bible
Sean McDowell (yes, son of the Josh McDowell of Evidence That Demands a Verdict fame, now in a co-written new edition) has been Tweeting some eye-rolling propaganda to miseducate the public and keep conning Christians to stay in the fold. Just like all other fake...Exposing the Jesus Myth in Spanish!
Chilean scholar David Cáceres González is slowly translating select blogs of mine into Spanish. It’s pretty cool and well worth letting any Spanish speaking folks know about who might be interested. Spread the word! The site is Mitos o Historia. The translator...See Me Speak in Irvine Next Month!
In Irvine, California, on Wednesday August 8, I’ll be speaking on “How Christianity Began without a Real Jesus.” I’ll also be discussing what it was Christians in the beginning were actually dying for (when they even were; hint: it wasn’t...Then He Appeared to Over Five Hundred Brethren at Once!
Christian apologists will often throw a tantrum and kick up hay over the notion of “mass hallucination.” That’s impossible! Never documented! Absurd on its face! And they’ll especially bring up “the more than five hundred brethren”...Bullshit from Day One: The First Century Gospel Is a Third Century Gospel
It’s officially the mythical mummy Gospel. The “first century” manuscript of Mark Christian apologists have been gloating about and beating everyone over the head with for years…is not a first century manuscript of Mark. It also didn’t...Debating Historicity with Dennis MacDonald Today (Live Online)
Wednesday (23 May 2018) at 2:30pm Pacific, I’ll be having a cordial online debate on the historicity of Jesus with eminent scholar Dennis MacDonald on Pinecreek Doug’s YouTube Channel (where around that time the feed should appear, so save that link)....Dying-and-Rising Gods: It’s Pagan, Guys. Get Over It.
Easter this year lands most fittingly on April Fool’s Day. Because indeed, the resurrection of Jesus is akin to the greatest prank in history. Not because anyone actually faked it (though the evidence we have left, remains fully consistent with their having done...Get Dr. Carrier’s Latest!
About the Author
Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to Poland. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism and humanism, and the origins of Christianity and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, with particular expertise in ancient philosophy, science and technology. He is also a noted defender of scientific and moral realism, Bayesian reasoning, and historical methods.
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