2011-12-24

Illusionist discusses psychic powers – and his link between Christianity and scepticism

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

by Neil Godfrey

Tim Minchin’s hymn to Jesus included a line about Derren Brown, and being from the other end of the world I had to Google to see who he was. This led me to an interesting series of interview of his with Richard Dawkins.

2. Do psychics really believe?

3. Some tricks

4. How to grow the industry

5. Banal communication with aliens and the dead

6. And finally, “Where does your scepticism come from?”

Bio
Latest Posts

Neil Godfrey

Neil is the author of this post. To read more about Neil, see our About page.

Latest posts by Neil Godfrey (see all)

The Throne of Satan in Revelation - 2022-05-24 07:32:49 GMT+0000
The Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans - 2022-05-23 03:20:21 GMT+0000
Miscellany - 2022-05-18 06:03:53 GMT+0000

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

"For an excellent example of generally high-quality scholarship by someone who isn’t a biblical studies professor, see Neil Godfrey’s work posted on the website vridar.org."

— Tom Dykstra, – JOCABS 2015
"Thanks for this detailed interaction! I’ll try to offer something more substantial than 'Thank you' in response at some point, but I didn’t want to wait . . . to express appreciation for your detailed interaction with what I’ve written!"

— James McGrath, – June 2009
"I’d like to thank you for this very nice representation of what I was trying to show in the book. It’s always gratifying when a reader zeroes in on exactly those aspects I thought were most interesting and most central to my argument. Thank you for this careful and engaged reading of my work – much appreciated!"

— Eva Mroczek, – June 2017
"Note that I do not use the term ‘amateur’ pejoratively. . . . In fact, Godfrey is extremely well read and his librarian skills have brought many important academic works to my attention."

Raphael Lataster - August 2019
"I still wonder at all the material you turn out for Vridar. The more I read your stuff (and I still do, of course), the more I realize how much we all owe you. Your voice is unique."

— Earl Doherty, November 2013 (personal email)
"I find your blog most interesting and appreciate your ongoing effort to keep to the evidence for the issues discussed!"

-- Thomas L. Thompson, - April 2020
"I think you have a high quality blog that provides a positive public service by discussing academic topics within a wider audience."

— Russell Gmirkin, – October 2016
"I want to say here that this site is so resourceful and highly on top of the most modern scholarship in the areas discussed here. . . I know of no other site which offers a wide range of topics related to careful critical analysis of historically and scripturally related issues."

-- Martin Lewadny, - March 2009
"I always enjoy reading Neil’s blog because I think that he is careful, thorough, intellectually fair, and honest."

— April DeConick, – November 2007
"I have found your website really valuable as an interpretive filter for Biblical scholarship, especially the origins of Christianity and historicity of Jesus issue. Your clarity of expression, fair comments and personal insights are much valued. I refer to your site frequently as yet more names and publications pop up requiring an academic critique and helpful recommendations for book purchases. So, please continue to delve deeply and share this intellectual sustenance with your grateful readers."

— Mary Booker, – February 2020 (personal email)
"I’ve even been cited by atheists with approval (which I really don’t know how to take, so thanks, I think, but I’m not sure, Vrider (even though I feel like I need to take a shower now))."

-- Jim West, – September 2010
"Vridar is consistently thought-provoking, well-informed, and asking the right questions. There are intelligent, thoughtful comments and commenters regularly offering productive discussion. Books and publications are covered with a range of perspectives with attempts at fair and accurate representation of others’ arguments and content (where there are occasional and inevitable missteps on that I notice Neil making corrections and apologies where warranted, which wins points with me). Please carry on."

— Gregory Doudna, – January 2019
"Here I give an admittedly subjective short list, in random order, of useful, high level and regularly updated weblogs on the study of the Old Testament . . . ‘Vridar: Musings on biblical studies, politics, religion, ethics, human nature, tidbits from science’ (http://vridar.org/) by Neil Godfrey"

-- Klaas Spronk, - Bibliotheca Orientalis LXXI, 3/4 (2014)
"Neil Godfrey and Tim Widowfield, who both write at Vridar . . . happen to be some of the most astute and well-read amateurs you can read on the internet on the subject of biblical historicity. I call them amateurs only for the reason that they don’t have, so far as I know, advanced degrees in the subject. But I have often been impressed with their grasp of logic and analysis of scholarship. I don’t always agree with them, but I respect their work."

— Richard Carrier, – March 2014
"Neil, this is actually rather useful. Good job."

— R. Joseph Hoffmann, – June 2014
"By the way, my thanks to Neil for an ongoing superb job of exposing Jim’s review for what it is: a farcical and none too effective exercise in mythicism assassination, nothing to do with rational, let alone unbiased, scholarship. I’m also happy to see even Jim giving Neil credit where credit is due."

— Earl Doherty, June 2011
"Thanks for your very elaborate review! I realized that I hadn’t added your blog to our blogroll. This oversight has been corrected. Looking forward to more segments."

— Anthony Le Donne, – September 2009
"Fantastic. I’m so glad you’re helping to spread these ideas!"

Nancy Fraser - June 2019 (personal email)
"Neil, for what it is worth it is obvious to me that if you had earlier in life tracked into a graduate program at one of the world’s leading research universities you would be one of the world’s formidable ones. You are doing essentially the same quality now (apart from the philology and languages) except mostly sticking to commenting on others’ work as informed comment/discussion."

— Gregory Doudna, – January 2019
"Very good. This post is going straight to the March 2016 Biblical Studies Carnival."

—N.T. Wrong, – March 2016
"These reviews of yours are so bloody weird!"

— James Crossley, – April 2010
"Neil, You’ve done a clean job in your posting on ‘Jesus the Healer’. It reflects well on you. Best, John"

— John Moles, September 2011 (personal email)
"Many thanks for this post, and for the quality of your blog."

— Philippe Wajdenbaum, – November 2018
"Thanks much for this book review. I think it expands, and contributes to, the effort in honouring Thomas that we with Lukasz originally had in mind with this volume. Best, Emanuel"

-- Emanuel Pfoh - August 2020

Mike on Logic and the Date of the Gospel of Mark: “<it’s at least possible Josephus could have finally have become aware of it (Christianity) sometime between publication of Antiquities in…” May 24, 20:22
Mike on Logic and the Date of the Gospel of Mark: “I was really being facetious however if the question is did Jesus exist or not Josephus is our best evidence…” May 24, 18:43
db on Logic and the Date of the Gospel of Mark: “Arguably people with an unbiased interest in the origin of the worship of second-god (i.e. Christianity) hold that it is…” May 24, 17:35
Mike on Logic and the Date of the Gospel of Mark: “Why even talk about anything other than Josephus. Josephus alone proves Jesus never existed, or at least that Jesus never…” May 24, 07:19
Russell Gmirkin on The Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans: “Fascinating posting. I hadn’t clearly seen how fornication was a biblical (OT/NT) metaphor for idolatry, but you bring that out…” May 24, 02:14
Don Stephens on The Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans: “In 1 Cor 8:10 NRSV we read, “For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of…” May 23, 14:26
Mark on 666 : Hadrian as Nero Redivivus: “Classic CLT: “If asked for just “one proof” that the Sad-dhar-ma-pun-da-rî-ka-sû-tram was known to the authors of the New Testament,…” May 22, 21:44
Mark on 666 : Hadrian as Nero Redivivus: “What might the parallelomaniac Lindtner say about this here if he hadn’t checked out for good in 2020? https://www.academia.edu/66022856/Dr_Christian_Lindtner_and_Gematria_Isopsephy http://jesusisbuddha.com/CLT.html…” May 22, 21:12
david fenton on Did Roman Emperors Vespasian and Titus Create Christianity to Fool the Judeans?: “Hi Jo I appreciate your research and bringing out various typological links between Josephus and the Gospels. I also appreciate…” May 22, 09:05

Recent Posts

The Throne of Satan in Revelation 2022-05-24 07:32:49 GMT+0000

The Doctrine of Balaam and the Nicolaitans 2022-05-23 03:20:21 GMT+0000

Miscellany 2022-05-18 06:03:53 GMT+0000

The 7 Kings of Revelation 17 — part 4 2022-05-17 23:55:23 GMT+0000

The 7 Kings of Revelation 17 — part 3 2022-05-16 08:44:57 GMT+0000

The 7 Kings of Revelation 17 — part 2 2022-05-12 23:40:41 GMT+0000

K. L. Schmidt’s The Framework of the Story of Jesus: Now in English! 2022-05-10 23:57:37 GMT+0000

The 7 Kings of Revelation 17 — part 1 2022-05-10 03:42:51 GMT+0000

666 : Hadrian as Nero Redivivus 2022-05-08 10:52:38 GMT+0000

Revelation’s Second Beast, the False Prophet 2022-05-08 05:23:36 GMT+0000

Emperor Hadrian as Revelation’s Beast from the Sea 2022-05-07 09:04:51 GMT+0000

The Two Beasts of Revelation 13; and the Image, Mark and Number of the First Beast 2022-05-06 14:05:23 GMT+0000

Logic and the Date of the Gospel of Mark 2022-05-05 11:54:06 GMT+0000

If you run out of time or can’t find the time or need more time … stop worrying: 2022-04-19 11:27:44 GMT+0000

Emperor Worship and the Book of Revelation 2022-04-18 01:58:57 GMT+0000

The Deer in Acts of the Apostles and the Aeneid 2022-04-17 02:38:31 GMT+0000

Why was the Book of Revelation Written? 2022-04-15 23:57:44 GMT+0000

The Necessity of Scepticism Contra Cynicism 2022-04-14 00:22:56 GMT+0000

Christ Before Christianity, 3: Revealer of Wisdom 2022-04-12 05:19:17 GMT+0000

The Crucifixion of Jesus as Implicit History of the Jewish War 2022-04-10 07:44:25 GMT+0000

Most-Used Tags

Acts of the Apostles

Australia

Bart Ehrman

Bauckham: Jesus and the Eyewitnesses

Biblical Scholarship

Charbonnel: Jesus Christ sublime figure de papier

Christianity

Christian Origins

Christ Myth Debate

Christ Myth Debate: Doherty

Criteria of Authenticity

Doherty: Jesus Neither God Nor Man

Earl Doherty

Epistles

Exchanges with McGrath

Fundamentalism

God and Other Deities

Gospel of John

Gospel of Luke

Gospel of Mark

Gospel of Matthew

Gospels

Gospels and Acts (Canonical)

Historical Jesus

Historical Method

Intertextuality

Islam

Israel-Palestine

James McGrath

John the Baptist

Josephus

Marcion

Maurice Casey

Midrash

Paul

Paul and his letters

Richard Bauckham

Richard Carrier

Robert M. Price

Roger Parvus

Terrorism

Thomas Brodie

Trump

USA

Vridar blog

Archives
Archives
Calendar
December 2011

S M T W T F S

1 2 3

4 5 6 7 8 9 10

11 12 13 14 15 16 17

18 19 20 21 22 23 24

25 26 27 28 29 30 31

« Nov Jan »
Meta

Log in

Entries feed

Comments feed

WordPress.org

2011-12-24