The Talent of Bible Authors for Making Things Up

Theology was more important than history

It is commonly considered an act of piety to read the Bible cover-to-cover. But once undertaken, this effort sometimes undermines piety—as it did for Mark Twain: “It is not the things which I do not understand in the Bible which trouble me, but the things which I do understand.” Not that I would discourage anyone from reading the Bible, in fact quite the opposite, as I argued in an article here a few weeks ago. Just don’t read it, however. Look at every chapter as an occasion to sharpen critical thinking skills; ask the right questions, e.g., where did this text come from, what was the motivation of the author, does it embody good or bad theology? —but especially, does it really pass muster as “word of a god”? Every Bible chapter should be scrutinized.

What's Wrong with Bayes' Theorem?

I posted an important essay on "The Secular Web" which was approved by their board of directors. It will challenge both Christian apologists and philosophical atheists. It takes issue with belief induced justifications by apologists, and dismissive attitudes by elitist atheist philosophers and their advocates, represented by this popular atheist meme above. It covers a lot of ground. The main issue is Bayes' Theorem and its proper use, as opposed to "Pop Atheist" Hitchens' Razor. It's a feast for thought. Enjoy and please, please share. LINK!

Christian “Truth” in Shreds: Epic Takedown 6

Are you satisfied with an image of Jesus on a potato chip?

For a very long time, Christianity has depended on amateur and professional excuse-makers to keep it going. It makes claims about reality—that there is a good, all-powerful god keeping watch over everything—but even the most devout Christians don’t have to look far to see so much that disconfirms this belief. Hence excuses are needed to keep the faith, to protect Christianity from buckling and crumbling. Believers are desperate for excuses because there is so much emotional investment in believing.

 

The amateurs come up with excuses based on naïve concepts learned in Sunday school, e.g., a mother of two young children died suddenly because “god needed her in heaven”—or simply because god works in mysterious ways; the conclusion that god is absent cannot be seriously entertained. Of course, there are those who abandon the faith because they are appalled by such excuses.

The 2022 Debunking Christianity Challenge

In 2010 I started something I called The Debunking Christianity Challenge. I challenged believers to read one recommended book a month. At that time I only had two published books. You can see the other books I recommended that year HERE. 

The last year I offered this challenge was in 2017. Now that I have 12 published books my challenge is to read them one at a time, beginning this month through to December. Pick one a month. Think through these 12 books one at a time for 12 months! Read. Reflect. Think. Discuss.

Christianity: Three Strikes and You’re OUT

There is no recovery from FATAL Strike Three

The church has done such a good job idealizing and promoting Jesus that its rank and file members aren’t even aware of strikes one and two. They don’t study and probe. They rarely ask: where did our beliefs come from? 

 

Strike One: 

 

In the context of first-century religious beliefs, the genesis of Christianity is hardly a surprise. It was a breakaway Jewish sect that adopted belief in a dying-and-rising savior god. There were several such cults, whose strong appeal was the promise of eternal life through a god who had the power to overcome death; devotees of the cults could share in this benefit. For more on this ancient superstition see Derreck Bennett’s essay “Dying and Rising Gods” in the anthology edited by John Loftus and Robert Price, Varieties of Jesus Mythicism: Did He Even Exist? and Richard Carrier’s essay “Dying-and-Rising Gods: It’s Pagan, Guys. Get Over It.”  The folks in the pews haven’t caught on. When I once asked a devout woman where her beliefs came from, she responded proudly, “From my grandmother!” There was no curiosity at all about first-century Christian origins.

Jesus of Nazareth Missing in Action

Different views of Jesus in the New Testament 

Where did the gospels come from? Since these documents overflow with details about Jesus—his coming and goings, sayings, impressive miracles—it has been commonly assumed by the laity that they were written by people who knew Jesus. It has been easier to think this because they are “according to” Matthew, Mark, Luke and John: these names add a personal touch. But when historians—including pious believers—began applying to the gospels the same standards they apply to other documents from the ancient world, the common assumptions about gospel origins didn’t hold up. In fact, it has been a struggle—and oh how Christian scholars have tried—to find a way to demonstrate that the gospels qualify as history. 

 

In the documents themselves no authors claim credit, e.g., “written by Mark,” nor are any of them signed and dated. We don’t have any idea either where they were written, that is, where the authors lived. There has been an awful lot of guesswork and speculation, but it remains just that.

My Interview with Freedom From Religion Foundation

Dan Barker and Annie Laurie Gaylor, Co-Presidents of the Freedom of Religion Foundation, interview me about my anthology God and Horrendous Suffering. Plus there's more to hear!

We mark the anniversary of the January 6 insurrection by hearing FFRF attorney Andrew Seidel describe the Christian Nationalism of the rioters. Representative Don Beyer (VA) explains why he is a member of the Congressional Freethought Caucus and we hear Representative Jamie Raskin (MD) stressing the need to talk about fascism. Then we talk with former evangelical minister and Christian apologist, John W. Loftus, about his new anthology God and Horrendous Suffering. LINK.

It's a good one!

Interviews By Edouard Tahmizian and Other News.

Edouard Tahmizian is an Internet Infidel Board Member and he's in the process of interviewing lots of key players in our debates, including Keith Augustine, David Madison, David Fitzgerald, Michael J. Alter, Richard Carrier, Aron Ra, Dan Barker, Bob Seidensticker, and me too! On January 8th he'll be interviewing Eddie Tabash, who chairs the Board of Directors for the Center for Inquiry, and Darren Slade, CEO and founding President of the Global Center for Religious Research (GCRR). Dr. Slade has just announced GCRR will begin offering certification courses to anyone who has an interest in learning from top international scholars! Tahmizian also wrote an interesting essay titled God is Either the Efficient or Final Cause of Evil. Have a happy new year, Ya'll!