Search Results for: history for atheists

Bible Scholars’ Inability to Handle Mythicism: No Meek Messiah by Michael Paulkovich

Recently we have seen on the web more instances of otherwise reputable New Testament scholars demonstrating their apparent inability to actually read with any serious attempt at comprehension or publicly discuss radical views that originate from unwashed outsiders.  (The second case I will discuss here involves a quite unexpected and unexplained banning of comments from me … Continue reading “Bible Scholars’ Inability to Handle Mythicism: No Meek Messiah by Michael Paulkovich”

The Politics of the Muslim Controversy

Salman Rushdie condemns ‘hate-filled rhetoric’ of Islamic fanaticism, The Telegraph: It’s hard not to conclude that this hate-filled religious rhetoric, pouring from the mouths of ruthless fanatics into the ears of angry young men, has become the most dangerous new weapon in the world today. If the rhetoric is the weapon then let’s find out why … Continue reading “The Politics of the Muslim Controversy”

Under the Grip of Christianity: New Testament Scholars and the Myth of Transparent Fiction

Under the Grip I just noticed over on the Cakemix that Dr. McGrath is once again comparing Jesus mythicism to creationism. He writes: Mythicism says: universities are so much under the grip of Christianity that mythicism cannot get a fair hearing. As you know, the good doctor finds this idea laughable. Implicit in his short … Continue reading “Under the Grip of Christianity: New Testament Scholars and the Myth of Transparent Fiction”

Fighting Words: How Religion Causes Violence

I have just completed reading Fighting Words: The Origins of Religious Violence by Hector Avalos. The argument is not quite what I expected but it was certainly clear and logical and has given me a new perspective on the way religion and religious conflicts function in our communities and the world at large. Now I … Continue reading “Fighting Words: How Religion Causes Violence”

Maurice Casey’s Mythicist Myth Busted

If Maurice Casey’s book Jesus: Evidence and Argument Or Mythicist Myths? were about Jews or Gays or Blacks or the Disabled he and his publisher may well be charged with inciting hatred against “the other”. Mythicists are portrayed as all alike, they are all psychologically twisted and motivated by evil intent, their faults are never … Continue reading “Maurice Casey’s Mythicist Myth Busted”

The O’Neill–Fitzgerald Debate over the Christ Myth: Round 1, the Agenda

–o0o– All posts in this series are archived in the O’Neill-Fitzgerald Debate. –o0o– I don’t imagine very many people interested in the debate over the historical existence of Jesus would have the time to read Tim O’Neill’s 12,000+ word response David Fitzgerald’s response (10,000 words) to Tim O’Neill’s review (7,500 words) of David Fitzgerald’s Nailed: … Continue reading “The O’Neill–Fitzgerald Debate over the Christ Myth: Round 1, the Agenda”

The Historical Jesus Quest Is Theology in Disguise

Updated 8:30 am UTC As a follow up to my last post I am sharing here another valuable snippet I read in Clarke Owens’ Son of Yahweh: The Gospels as Novels. Owens’ first chapter, “Literary Criticism and the Historical Jesus”, is brilliant and deserves to be read and addressed by everyone who has an interest … Continue reading “The Historical Jesus Quest Is Theology in Disguise”

Comedian Tim Minchin Explains McGrath’s Problem with Mythicism

The honorable associate professor of Butler has once again posted mischievous assertions that I wrote things I did not at all write in my recent post, When “Trusting the Expert Consensus” is Wrong. It makes perfect sense that James McGrath would want to misrepresent this post of mine since in it I explain why the … Continue reading “Comedian Tim Minchin Explains McGrath’s Problem with Mythicism”

When “Trusting the Expert Consensus” is Wrong

I am quite happy to defer to “the expert consensus” when that consensus of experts is grounded upon advanced mathematics, quantum physics or anything medical. There is a blog out there with a curious byline: A community blog devoted to refining the art of human rationality. The first post on this blog that I read, … Continue reading “When “Trusting the Expert Consensus” is Wrong”

Mythicism and Arguments from Authority

History is not rocket science. It is easy to explain to the general audience the evidence for the existence and career-outline and various assessments of the significance of Julius Caesar. Historical argument is as “easy” as presenting the “historical events/hypothesis” the sources upon which the above scenario is based the evidence for our understanding of … Continue reading “Mythicism and Arguments from Authority”

Ten Reasons To Lose Your Religion

A minister once told me he wished he knew who or what burned me so badly I left Christianity. I didn’t answer. I wasn’t burned. I evolved. — John Marleine Winell in Leaving the Fold (See earlier Journey Free post) outlines several reasons leave fundamentalist religious systems in particular, but I think some of the … Continue reading “Ten Reasons To Lose Your Religion”

Dawkins’s Delusion: The Slavish Mind

Well I really blew it in the eyes of some readers when I posted on Scott Atran’s response to Sam Harris’s public statements about Islam and its relationship to terrorism. Let’s see if I can learn anything and do better with my presentation of Atran’s response to similar claims by Richard Dawkins. Maybe if I … Continue reading “Dawkins’s Delusion: The Slavish Mind”

End of Faith and Other Pulp Fiction

Sam Harris in The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation has written a lot of uninformed nonsense about religion in general and Islam in particular. Don’t misunderstand. His logical arguments against religious belief systems are entirely valid. For a time when I was in the process of recovering from my own religious … Continue reading “End of Faith and Other Pulp Fiction”

Islamophobia, the word’s origin and meaning

I’m no longer desirous of defending myself, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, or other public atheists against the charge of “Islamophobia.” It’s been widespread on the Internet these past two weeks, but I’ve ignored it. In the end, I’ve concluded that those charges come from borderline racists themselves: people who think that bad ideas, threats of … Continue reading “Islamophobia, the word’s origin and meaning”