Richard Carrier Blogs

The Weird Israel Only of Jason DeCosta

Richard Carrier — Tue, 27 Oct 2026 18:59:24 +0000

So I debated Jason DeCosta on his version of the Israel Only theory, which purports to “fix” all the problems I found in The Incompetent Crankery of the Israel Only Movement before (all discussed on MythVision years ago). You can watch the whole insane thing if you want to (the description there also lists his […]

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Debating Israel Only with Jason DeCosta

Richard Carrier — Sat, 10 Oct 2026 15:01:44 +0000

Next Sunday (October 18th) I’ll be debating Jason DeCosta on his version of the Israel Only theory, which purports to “fix” all the problems I found before in The Incompetent Crankery of the Israel Only Movement (discussed on MythVision years ago). DeCosta’s allowing that some Christians may have been converted Gentiles and not all “lost […]

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Three Books You Might Have to Read to Be a Real Philosopher

Richard Carrier — Wed, 07 Oct 2026 21:16:24 +0000

Amazon Prime Day deals end tonight. These aren’t in that deal. And you need to already be (or become) a Prime subscriber to get the deals there are today. But as always, I get a commission on anything you buy on Amazon after clicking any link anywhere on my website. And that means everything in […]

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How Bad Methodology Led to Some Bad Ideas from R.G. Price and David Oliver Smith: Part 2 (Smith)

Richard Carrier — Fri, 02 Oct 2026 20:19:03 +0000

Yesterday I started this two part series explaining what I am doing and why (so please catch up there), and went through an extended example from R.G. Price. Today I will finish with the second example, now from David Oliver Smith (channeling Robert Eisenman). And I then wrap the series below with a conclusion explaining […]

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How Bad Methodology Led to Some Bad Ideas from R.G. Price and David Oliver Smith: Part 1 (Price)

Richard Carrier — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 22:25:27 +0000

I have often noted or even used good ideas from amateur scholars like David Oliver Smith and R.G. Price (not to be confused with Robert M. Price). I even named Price in my original study of the historicity of Jesus as among the few amateurs doing work worthy of attention, even if it didn’t always […]

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Why Is a Historical Jesus an Obsolete Paradigm?

Richard Carrier — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:39:23 +0000

So James McGrath is a liar for Jesus, defending Christian dogma with slander and lies about me and my work, desperately, childishly, trying to get people to not read it lest they discover his lies and uncover the truth. He is clearly so terrified of this that he is willing to abandon his morality and […]

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James McGrath Has Now Defamed Me and Lied about My Work in a Professional Journal. Will the Field Do Anything About It?

Richard Carrier — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 20:22:33 +0000

Christian apologist James McGrath published a brief review of The Obsolete Paradigm of a Historical Jesus in the latest Booklist Issue of the Journal for the Study of the New Testament. We know from precedent that McGrath is not a reliable operator. See my entry for McGrath in my ongoing List of Responses to Defenders […]

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Speaking in Atlanta This Sunday … and Tabling in Huntsville This October

Richard Carrier — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 14:29:43 +0000

Atlanta might be my only public talk this year (IRL). But I will also be attending and tabling (not presenting) at the Rocket City Reason Con this October in Huntsville, Alabama (so if you want to meet there and get a book signed, check that out; it’s going to a groovy conference, with great presenters […]

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The Mystery of the Seven Loaves as Mythographic Composition in Mark

Richard Carrier — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 22:03:02 +0000

What’s up with the numbers across Mark’s two feeding narratives? Weird numbers of loaves and fishes and baskets don’t make sense as history. No one would preserve incidental details like that, much less even have counted in the first place; nor could what is described ever have happened anyway. There is therefore some reason Mark […]

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Three Genuinely Good Lay Treatments of Bible History

Richard Carrier — Wed, 26 Aug 2026 19:48:42 +0000

Today I want to introduce you to three books about the Bible not written by PhDs yet are outstanding enough to be well worth reading. As always, I get a commission on anything you buy on Amazon after clicking any link on my website—in fact, on everything in your cart when you check out within […]

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