“A Leap of Faith”
In a comment on my most recent post about Jesus’ use of the word “faith”, Stig Martinsen points to the phrase “a leap of faith” as evidence that Christians sometimes speak of “faith” in a way that implies belief that goes beyond reason or evidence. I don’t plan to reply to his point here, but … “A Leap of Faith”
Matthew Ferguson: History, Probability, and Miracles (2013)
Historian Matthew Ferguson uses Bayes’ Theorem to analyze the historicity of miracle claims. Among other things, Ferguson compares the historical evidence for a purported miracle by Vespasian to the historical evidence for the purported resurrection of Jesus. LINK Note: as always, links do not constitute endorsement. Your name Your email Subject Your message (optional)
Matthew Ferguson: Knocking Out the Pillars of the “Minimal Facts” Apologetic (2013)
I have only skimmed this article, but it appears to be a very comprehensive rebuttal to the “minimal facts” apologetics favored by several Christian apologists, including Licona, Habermas, and Craig. LINK Note: as always, links do not necessarily constitute endorsement. We’d love to know what you think of the article. Please feel free to debate … Matthew Ferguson: Knocking Out the Pillars of the “Minimal Facts” Apologetic (2013)
Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 4
Part of Geisler’s case for the claim that “Jesus actually died on the cross” is based on the spear-wound story, which is found only in the historically unreliable Fourth gospel. One general reason for doubting the historicity and reliability of the spear-wound story is this: GR3. The Passion narratives of the gospels are historically unreliable … Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 4
Why I am Not Concerned about Christian Theist Philosophers of Religion
One reason I am not concerned about the prevalence of Christian theists in the field of philosophy of religion is that they do a nice job of arguing against each other. William Lane Craig’s favorite argument for the existence of God is the Kalam cosmological argument. I’m happy that there are some atheist philosophers who … Why I am Not Concerned about Christian Theist Philosophers of Religion
Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 3
In previous posts I have argued that only two of Geisler’s eight reasons for the claim that “Jesus actually died on the cross” are worthy of serious consideration. One of those two reasons is based on the spear-wound story, which is found ONLY in the historically unreliable Fourth gospel (John 19:31-37). There are many reasons … Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 3
Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 2
In When Skeptics Ask, Norman Geisler presents eight reasons in support of the claim that Jesus actually died on the cross. In my previous post on this subject I argued that six of those reasons should be quickly set aside as weak or defective reasons. In my view, only two reasons out of the eight … Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 2
The Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 2
A challenge (or two) to my previous post “The Case for the Death of Jesus” came from a reader “hardindr”. Another reader, Tom Hanson, commented “Personally I’m with hardindr.” So in this post I will respond to comments from hardindr, with the intention of also responding to Tom Hanson’s concerns. Here is the first comment … The Case for the Death of Jesus – Part 2
Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus
Let me cut to the chase: Geisler’s case for the claim that “Jesus actually died on the cross” is crap. It might be marginally better than William Craig’s case, but it is most definitely a hot steaming pile of crap. As with Craig’s case, part of the reason Geisler’s case fails is that he tries … Norman Geisler’s Case for the Death of Jesus
The Case for the Death of Jesus
I have written several posts about William Craig’s “case” for the death of Jesus in his book The Son Rises. In those posts I showed that Craig made about 81 historical claims, but failed to provide any historical evidence for 85% of those claims, and provided only weak and dubious historical evidence for the other … The Case for the Death of Jesus