Two Newer Books on the Bible You Should Get by Steve Wells

Steve Wells has put out two books that look very good:



He probably doesn't know Hebrew and Greek. It would have been very helpful if he did. People may forget, or not know, that before The Skeptic's Annotated Bible there was Isaac Asimov's massive work, Asimov's Guide to the Bible: Two Volumes in One, the Old and New Testaments.Asimov was not a biblical scholar who knew Hebrew or Greek either. Nonetheless, these books are very helpful in highlighting why we are non-believers, atheists. Check them out.

My Review of "God and Evil: The Case for God in a World Filled with Pain" edited by Chad Meister and James K. Dew

The title of my review on Amazon is, An Interesting and Informative Book, But an Epic Fail. If you think it's a helpful review then upvotes would be appreciated. To see other chapters reviewed in reverse chronological order click here.

A Note on the Passing of Old Testament Scholar John H. Hayes

John H. Hayes

As a graduate student at Columbia Theological Seminary in the mid 1970’s, I had the honor of being involved with two seminaries that shared faculties on a regular basis.  The other school was Candler School of Theology at Emory University and this is where I first got to know John Hayes.   

Thus, when John Hayes and Maxwell Miller came out with a new  history of ancient Israel and Judah , I bought a copy and made sure I was there when they introduced it at the 1986 SBL meeting in Atlanta, Ga.

(While both Hayes and  Miller answered questions on their new book, I noticed there was a professor from the University of Sheffield challenging them on their information; Philip R. Davies.  I remember Hayes was trying to answer one of Davies criticisms of their book with “Well, maybe it happen like this . . . “, to which Davies quipped, “Well, maybe it didn't.  So what have you really said?  Nothing!”  That really made an impression on me.)

Why Do Christians Speak for God?

The god of the Bible sure has a lot of self-appointed press agents.

In the Old Testament, Moses and the prophets spent a lot of time talking about what their god hated and loved. They detailed what behavior he expected, the loyalty and sacrifices that he demanded, and the ways he would retaliate if not obeyed. They revealed who god wanted killed, and under what circumstances. Whenever God was upset, feeling betrayed, or benevolent, his spokesmen let be known, as if they were divine mood rings.

Quote of the Day, by Cipher

That's the thing about fundamentalists; they are the least introspective people on the planet. Try to explain that their version of God is a projection of their own fractured psyches, and they'll either look at you like a deer caught in the headlights or launch into a tirade about carnal mind, inherent depravity and not wanting to be held "accountable".

As I keep saying, arguing with these people is a complete waste of time. Manage them, marginalize them, vote them into irrelevance - but don't try to change their minds. The ones who want out of that world will come to you with questions. The ones who only know how to repeat what their pastors tell them are a lost cause.

This is a pretty bleak assessment isn't it? But even if Cipher is partially correct, and he is, this is the power of a delusion on an indoctrinated mind, a brainwashed mind. Just yesterday I offered a copy of my book God or Godless?to a good friend. He said he was not interested, even though I told him that his side was represented in the book by Dr. Randal Rauser, an evangelical Christian apologist. His mind is closed.

Dustin Lawson's Review of the Book "God or Godless"

Dustin as you already know, is a friend of mine who is Josh McDowell's Infidel Disciple. Via email he said this:

I finished God or Godless?I have a hard time believing that I used to be like this Randal guy, so often avoiding answering his critics tough questions even though he thinks he is answering them. It was like he was in the ring getting beaten up but he didn't realize it. It is hard to believe I used to be like him, but I know I was.

A Few of My Favorite Cartoons

Here are a few of my favorite cartoons...

Two Conversations With Christians on Facebook

Joshua: Can you prove that there's not a god, cheers

John W. Loftus: Why should you require this in the first place? Such a demand is utterly unreasonable and should be the first sign you are blinded by faith. Can you prove Tom is your father? Can you prove anything? I can show your faith in the God of the Bible has an extremely low probability to it. So here's a challenge. If you are really interested in reading why I think your particular faith is probably false then read my book, God or Godless?If you are unwilling to do that then you are not really interested in my answer. The unwillingness to read that book should also be a sign you are not open-minded and thus blinded by faith.

God as an Abstraction, Squeezed out from our World and Universe

I thought I would repost this since it centres around John's excellent book.

Whilst on holiday I finished reading John Loftus’ The Outsider Test for Faith which I greatly enjoyed and will be reviewing in a short while. There is much to talk about within the pages, not least some of the excellent quotes he has gathered from other writers which he uses to defend his own positions on various topics.

Quote of the Day, by EvolutionKills

We cannot allow the divine or the supernatural because it is not observable, measurable, quantifiable, repeatable, or objectively verifiable. We can't test it, study it, or falsify it. It is for all intents and purposes MAGIC, which is precisely NOT SCIENCE.

But let's say we ignore all of that and allow 'magic'. Why should we allow the 'magic' of Yahweh or trust in the 'magic' of the story of Genesis, over the creation myths of any other god in human history? How can you tell which 'magic' explanation is more accurate, if you can never measure, observe, or verify magic ever? Because then we're back at square one, in an unending game of he-said-she-said, and with no way to determine who is right. It's all a push.

Or, we can accept that science has a proven history of working and figuring shit out, unlike magical explanations. Science, it works bitches. LINK.

The Problem with Religious Faith: "It's Indistinguishable From a Con."

A comment here from Stephen argues that "At the beginning of every mythology, every cult, every religion in history, is a con-artist who figured out how to sell a racket so that he could get rich while doing "god's work.'" [Full Text below] I think this can be shown with regard to L. Ron Hubbard and the rise of Scientology, as well with Joseph Smith and the rise of Mormonism. In my book WIBA, I argued that the empty tomb story probably started with the Gospel of Mark, who was a liar for Jesus. Don't think so? Think again. In fact, liars for Jesus abound.

Do Christians Really Believe in an Afterlife?

This YouTube clip is at the end of one in which Lawrence Krauss exposes William Lane Craig for misrepresenting him at best. Look at the clip (from 7:50 to 8:23) and comment on whether Christian believers really think they will see their dead loved ones again. Link.

My Response to Ken Ham About My Creation Museum Visit

The number one post of mine in over seven years, with over 14 thousand hits to date, is "An Atheist Visits the Creation Museum in Kentucky And Tells All." The hits came from (in descending order) The Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, Reddit/atheism, and Dr. James McGrath's blog post Cowboys and Dragons. McGrath, an Associate Professor of Religion at Butler University, Indianapolis, wrote this:

Answers in Genesis is not defending the Christian faith, it is turning it into something that can be easily ridiculed and dismissed. The real enemies of the Christian faith in our time are not atheists who respond by offering such well-deserved ridicule, but those who distort Christianity into belief in dragons, substituting that in the place of self-sacrificial love, humility, and service to others.

McGrath also posted what he calls the cutest response to creationism.

Now Ken Ham has responded in a post of his own (which I'll link to at the end, unlike him). He claims I was unethical and visited under false pretenses, saying:

What is Inherent to Christianity That Isn't to Atheism? Hypocrisy

When I was a student at Bob Jones University in 1971, I took the American Red Cross’ Senior Lifesaving course.  One major factor that we were immediately made aware of that could cost a Life Guard his or her life was that a panicked drowning person would grab hold of anything on the surface to save their own life, even if it meant forcing under and drowning an untrained rescuer as the victim attempted to safe their own life.

Richard Carrier Reviews "The End of Christianity"

This is an older post I'm updating [from 7/31/11]. I was made to realize I haven't said much about this important book when on Facebook Luiz Claudio Weiss recently wrote: "John Loftus's chapter called 'Christianity is Wildly Improbable' in The End of Christianityis a classic in my opinion." That's pretty cool. There are several chapters in it that alone are worth the price of the book. Richard Carrier wrote:

"The Christian Delusion was an awesome book. The End of Christianityis even better. Indeed, I think the two volumes together amount to a decisive refutation of Christianity. A bona fide litmus test. No rational person can read both volumes and not walk away a skeptic." Link

According to Restaurant Workers, After Church Christians are the Worst to Serve

I often eat at our local restaurants in the Greenville areas such as Cracker Barrel, Applebee’s, Ruby Tuesday, K&W Cafeteria and others several times a week where, as time permits, I usually have a book on Biblical textual criticism, ancient Near Eastern studies or, when I get tired that genre of study, I’m reading electronics. 

An Atheist Visits the Creation Museum in Kentucky And Tells All

Yesterday I walked through Ken Ham's Creation Museum in Kentucky. Without a doubt he is fitting the data into the grid of the Bible. I saw a 5 minute video where he takes the literal view that the earth existed before the stars. That is an extreme case of what I see other Christian apologists doing. It's the same thing though. They say whatever it takes to maintain their faith. Just like Ham fits the data into the grid of Genesis so do they with regard to the Bible as a whole. Ham would at least be honest about what he's doing. Others don't, or more likely, they are too blinded by faith to know they're doing the same thing. All it takes to believe is to ignore the objective facts, the facts of science. The power of the delusion is that strong. It requires Christians to deny science in favor of what some pre-scientific people wrote in an ancient set of canonized books, even though they accept the results of science in every other area except when it conflicts with their pre-scientific book!

Atheism Sighting in Mainstream Entertainment: Orange is the New Black

Orange is the New Black is an original comedy/drama series produced by Netflix, and based on the real-life experiences of Piper Kerman. Kerman spent 13 months in a women’s prison because of her involvement, years earlier, with a heroin dealer.

What is of special interest to readers of the DC blog, is this gem of a scene in which the lead character declares her atheism:

Two Places Where St. Paul’s Theology Totally Contradicts The Gospel of Matthew’s Credibility

Christians who accept the Bible (especially the New Testament) as an inspired text will have to deal with the fact that there are some major problems between St. Paul’s view of history and the Gospel of Matthew’s view of historical events.   Ironically, the dogmatic historical certainly of Paul and that of the First Gospel puts yet another nail into the coffin of Christian absolute truth and its holy theology.

Some Humiliating Reviews of the Book "God or Godless"

The book "God or Godless" isn't doing too well right now, even after the free promotion on July 1st and subsequent reduction of price through the month of July. The paperback on Amazon is ranked almost 600,00th, whereas the Kindle version is ranked 150,000th. In Canada it's doing better but not that well. I think it's because of the reviews. For the life of me I cannot understand why potential buyers place more weight on reviews by no-names over the blurbs written by credentialed scholars, but they do. Here are two humiliating reviews of the book on Amazon:

On Debating Christian Theism

A new book is available where atheists are given a voice against Christian apologists. Debating Christian Theism looks very good.It's edited by J. P. Moreland, Khaldoun A. Sweis, and Chad V. Meister. Check it out for yourselves. I've added it to my Amazon wish list.

[Edit: This debate book gives me the idea for a similar one on the historical evidence for Christianity. I'm going to think seriously about it. I need a Christian scholar to co-edit it with me. What topics would you like to see debated? Who would you recommend to write chapters for it on both sides?]

Tonight I'll Be in the Cincinnati, OH, Area

Come see me if you can. LINK.

Asherah, the Israelite Goddess

This is a follow-up post to the BBC Documentary When God Was A Girl, which showed many ancient cultures believed in goddesses and thought of the divine as female. It was no different with the Israelite religion.

When God Was a Girl: A BBC Documentary

Historian Bettany Hughes visits a world where goddesses ruled the heavens and earth, and reveals why our ancestors thought of the divine as female. Traveling across the Mediterranean and the Near East, Bettany goes to remote places, where she encounters fearsome goddesses who controlled life and death. And she ends up in modern-day India, where the goddess is still a powerful force for thousands of Hindus. Immersing herself in the excitement of the Durga Puja festival, Bettany experiences goddess worship first-hand, and finds out what the goddess means to her devotees.

See below:

A Rare Interview With Atheist George H. Smith

George H. Smith is the author of the popular and influential book, Atheism - The Case Against God.



Go to YouTube and click on "Show more" to watch the other three parts.