I have posted before on Keith Augustine and the soul survival debate with his book “The Myth Of An Afterlife,” and subsequent journal debates. In his time, William James was immersed in the various ways consciousness was dependent on the brain: eg, you destroy one part of the brain and it will annihilate feature ‘x’ … William James And The Afterlife/Survival Debate

This interesting essay on the Gospel of Philip was published yesterday which has the novel thesis of how Christianity developed out of Chrestianity! From Chrestian to Christian: Philip Beyond The Grave by Martijn Linssen. See https://www.academia.edu/s/faa7f58532 Some initial thoughts:

It wasn’t uncommon in history to invent fantastic origin stories for famous individuals. Augustus Caesar’s birth was foretold by portents, according to the Roman historian Suetonius. I will be looking at Crossan’s argument for Caesar’s Pax Romana (Peace through Victory) vs Jesus’s Peace through Justice in later posts. For now, I’d like to consider the … Christmas: The Origin Of The Nativity

FROM THE REPORT: See the report here: https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/12/08/about-four-in-ten-u-s-adults-believe-humanity-is-living-in-the-end-times/

It is interesting to note the Quran has been historically interpreted as condoning marital rape. Here is an interesting summary by Dr. Shabir Ally, a liberal Muslim scholar who received his PhD from an accredited secular university. See especially time 4:58-7:29 :

Check out this short video about people in the first kingdom who thought Yahweh had a wife: