Christianity

Jehovah is a Sexist

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This is not a very philosophically sophisticated argument, but it is one that helped me to escape from the idiocy of Christianity:1. Jehovah is a sexist (if Jehovah exists).Therefore,2. Christianity is a false religion.This is, of course, a very condensed summary of an argument, and requires a bit of filling out to reveal the logic … Jehovah is a Sexist

The Argument from Silence, Part 6: Uta Ranke-Heinemann on Paul’s Silence about the Empty Tomb

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In this post, I want to revisit an argument from silence used by Uta Ranke-Heinemann against the historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus. The empty tomb on Easter Sunday morning is a legend. This is shown by the simple fact that the apostle Paul, the most crucial preacher of Christ’s resurrection, and the earliest … The Argument from Silence, Part 6: Uta Ranke-Heinemann on Paul’s Silence about the Empty Tomb

The Argument from Silence, Part 5: W.L. Craig on the Absence of Competing Burial Traditions as Evidence for the pre-Markan Burial Tradition

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In this post, I want to revisit an argument from silence used by William Lane Craig in his case for the historicity of the empty tomb. According to Craig, the absence of competing burial traditions (to the pre-Markan burial story) is evidence for the historicity of the pre-Markan burial story. Craig then argues that the … The Argument from Silence, Part 5: W.L. Craig on the Absence of Competing Burial Traditions as Evidence for the pre-Markan Burial Tradition

The Argument from Silence, Part 4: Absence of Denials of Jesus’ Historicity as Evidence for Jesus’ Historicity

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When one thinks about the historicity of Jesus and arguments from silence, one usually thinks of various arguments from silence against the historicity of Jesus. In this post, I want to sketch an argument from silence for the historicity of Jesus. The Argument Formulated B: The Relevant Background Evidence B1.Both Christian and non-Christian sources in … The Argument from Silence, Part 4: Absence of Denials of Jesus’ Historicity as Evidence for Jesus’ Historicity

The Argument from Silence, Part 3: Peter Kirby’s Second Argument from Silence Against the Empty Tomb

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Now that I have evaluated Peter Kirby’s first argument from silence against the historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus, I now want to consider his second argument from silence against the historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus (hereafter, “Kirby’s second argument”). According to that argument, the absence of evidence that Christians venerated Jesus’ … The Argument from Silence, Part 3: Peter Kirby’s Second Argument from Silence Against the Empty Tomb

The Argument from Silence, Part 2: Peter Kirby’s First Argument from Silence Against the Empty Tomb

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Now that I have provided a Bayesian interpretation of arguments from silence, I want to evaluate my friend Peter Kirby’s argument from silence against the historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus (hereafter, “Kirby’s argument”). To be precise, in his essay, Kirby considers two arguments from silence. The first is based upon the silence of … The Argument from Silence, Part 2: Peter Kirby’s First Argument from Silence Against the Empty Tomb

Argument Against the Resurrection of Jesus – Part 24

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In Joseph “Rick” Reinckens’s webpage A Lawyer Examines the Swoon Theory we get a short snippet from Origen that allegedly confirms a Roman practice of stabbing victims of crucifixion with a spear:  In his Commentary on Matthew, Origen, one of the early Church Fathers, says the lance thrust to Jesus was administered “according to Roman custom, below the armpit.” … Argument Against the Resurrection of Jesus – Part 24

The Poverty of Theistic Morality

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In an effort to increase visibility of an article that has been largely ignored by theists, I thought it would be interesting to discuss what Adolf Grünbaum has to say about the theistic implications of morality in his excellent essay, “The Poverty of Theistic Morality.” He writes: One vital lesson of that analysis will be … The Poverty of Theistic Morality