31 October 2019
The claim comes up a lot that Polycarp met John—the original Apostle, Disciple of Jesus, Brother to James, the “Pillar” of Galatians 2, He of The Twelve. Enough to warrant a response you can bookmark. The short answer to the question, “Did...
31 October 2019
An interesting video discussion of On the Historicity of Jesus took place earlier this year, in which “Kamil Gregor and Joel Pearson discuss the Historicity of Jesus.” It’s well worth a reply. Because Gregor understands the math. So what he gets...
27 October 2019
Hone your philosophy skills, master how best to debate the moral argument, learn how to improve your own philosophy of life and moral reasoning skills. Take my online course on The Science & Philosophy of Morality this November! This is a good part of becoming a...
25 October 2019
Many studies have argued the Gospel that came to be labeled “according to Mark” based some of its content on the Epistles of Paul. Here I’ll discuss this scholarship and its evidence. “Mark” is of course the earliest Gospel we have any...
12 October 2019
Cristian Tolsa, an Osnabrück postdoc fellow, wrote a brief review of my book The Scientist in the Early Roman Empire that inspires me to clarify some things that I wonder at their getting wrong, getting wrong what’s actually in the book and what it actually...
30 September 2019
I debated the historicity of Jesus with the renowned Christian scholar Craig Evans back in 2016, and later analyzed that debate. But I didn’t notice Evans’ own post-debate analysis in the Christian Research Journal, nor its republication online years later...
30 September 2019
I erroneously advertised next month (October) as my course on Philosophy. So sorry! That’s actually coming this December (so stay tuned if that interests you). This coming month’s course is actually on New Testament Studies. Here’s the real...
29 September 2019
Last Friday the 13th I discussed the future of morality with Canadian philosopher Christopher DiCarlo. We advertised the subject with a double question: “Is Society Making Moral Progress and Can We Predict Where It’s Going?” The description was apt:...
28 September 2019
There is a trend to try and deny the Dark Ages ever existed; even to portray them as really lovely, light and wonderful ages of goodness and achievement. I’m exaggerating. But only a little. I’ve debunked this a lot. I have a whole category assigned to the...
3 September 2019
In researching another article I came across an old piece by Mark McIntyre. On his blog Attempts at Honesty, back in 2011, he wrote a brief piece dismissing New Atheism with the argument that “their unbelief is not due to the lack of evidence but the suppression...
30 August 2019
In aid and honor of my one-month online Critical Thinking Course that starts this weekend (Register Now!), I want to introduce you to a rhetorical (or indeed psychological) tactic that is found everywhere but you probably didn’t know someone had a name for it. I...
28 August 2019
Philosopher Christopher DiCarlo and I will be discussing “Is Society Making Moral Progress and Can We Predict Where It’s Going?” on Friday, September 13th, at the Toronto Public Library from 7-9pm. That’s, of course, Toronto, Canada....
27 August 2019
Philosopher James Sterba just came out with a book of that title, arguing for the conclusion that a good God is logically impossible, given present observations. At the same time, Michael Shermer and Brian Huffling published in Skeptic Magazine a closing exchange in...
23 August 2019
I’ll be teaching critical thinking next month (September). Learn some easy tools of Bayesian reasoning, how to spot and correct for cognitive biases, how to reason more logically and evade fallacies, and how to better question your decisions and beliefs...
18 August 2019
Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now closing up Dr....
18 August 2019
Christian historian Dr. Wallace Marshall and I are debating whether or not enough evidence points to the existence of a god. For background and format, and Dr. Wallace’s opening statement, see entry one. For subsequent entries, see index. We’re now closing up Dr....