The Secular Frontier

In Part 12 of this series, I concluded that Peter Kreeft's Objection #4 against the Swoon Theory FAILS, because the core argument for Objection #4 consists of two DUBIOUS premises and one FALSE premise. Before I move on to Objection #5, I would like to consider a possible way to repair Objection #4 which attempts to get around some of the serious problems that I have pointed out with the core argument for that objection. REPAIRING THE CORE ARGUMENT One obvious way to attempt to repair Objection #4 is to add various historical assumptions to the core argument, crucial assumptions that are needed for the argument to work: 1g. On Friday evening, after Jesus’ body was removed from the cross, it was totally encased in winding sheets (that included between 11 pounds and 90 pounds of spices and a gummy substance). 2a. On Friday evening, after Jesus’ body was removed from the cross, it was placed into a stone tomb. 10. The air in Jesus' tomb was cold on that Friday evening. 11. The air ... Read Article

The trailer for the new "I Am Jesus Christ" video game is out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfbz1KuLXTc&t ... Read Article

See Dawkins' letter here ... Read Article

I just found out that an important  religious studies scholar is publishing a major work on the notion of sacrifice in ancient Judaism and Christianity.  In it he is arguing against the penal substitution interpretation of sacrifice.  Penal Substitution is basically the idea that because of sin we deserve to die, but what luck Christ paid the penalty!  This new study is exactly the sort of thing I look at in my 2 penal substitution critique essays:  (1) https://infidels.org/library/modern/a-critique-of-the-penal-substitution-interpretation-of-the-cross-of-christ/ (2) https://infidels.org/library/modern/jesus-mythicism/ The new book will be available in Canada on November 23, so I'm very excited: That I May Dwell among Them: Incarnation and Atonement in the Tabernacle Narrative by Gary A. Anderson (Author) DESCRIPTION: What does Israel’s tabernacle mean for Christians today?  The Tabernacle Narrative comprises passages in Exodus and Leviticus that detail the co ... Read Article

WHERE WE ARE In Part 8 of this series, I presented a careful analysis of Peter Kreeft's Objection #4 against the Swoon Theory. In Part 9 of this series, I argued that the key premise (1b) in Objection #4 is supported by an argument consisting of two FALSE premises: premise (B) and premise (3b). Thus, the key premise (1b) is DUBIOUS and might well be FALSE. In Part 10 of this series, I argued that even if we assume the burial account in the Gospel of John to be historical and accurate, the strongest claim it can support is this: 1g. On Friday evening, after Jesus’ body was removed from the cross, it was totally encased in winding sheets (that included between 11 pounds and 90 pounds of spices and a gummy substance). This historical claim is too weak to provide a strong objection against the Swoon Theory. Thus, the argument given by Kreeft and Tacelli for the key premise (1b) FAILS, and in order to repair the argument by replacing one of the false premises of the argument, p ... Read Article

A believer left a Jack Chick "This Was Your Life" tract in my mailbox. If you ever need proof that we are dealing with the intellectual and emotional level of a child: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQQ-fFdUd34&t ... Read Article

"Yet I would not be truthful if I attributed my embrace of Christianity solely to the realisation that atheism is too weak and divisive a doctrine to fortify us against our menacing foes. I have also turned to Christianity because I ultimately found life without any spiritual solace unendurable — indeed very nearly self-destructive. Atheism failed to answer a simple question: what is the meaning and purpose of life?" See full article here Of course, if you like the Christian worldview but don't believe the supernatural stuff, it's not necessarily an either/or. A secular activist may follow Nietzsche's vision of "Caesar with the soul of Christ." Jesus did not find meaning but bestowed it, transfiguring widow, orphan, stranger and enemy to be lovable. This is the opposite of the Greek ideal of questing for purpose ... Read Article

One role that I take very seriously is the “numbers guy.” Reporters will email or set up a call with me and ask a lot of factual questions about the share of Americans who are evangelical or non-religious or attend services weekly and they expect that I have the answer. And, I do have AN answer. I don’t have THE answer. Because this is not hard science. We know that when water gets below 32 degrees, it freezes. We just don’t have objective metrics like that in my world. See the article here ... Read Article

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4OcLuPR-qU ... Read Article

At the end of the month, the brand new Society of Biblical Literature study bible in the NRSVUE translation is coming out: In March, Bart Ehrman's new book on Armageddon is coming out: These two volumes are must-haves for anyone interested in the secular critique of religion! ... Read Article

Last night was a big win for reproductive rights in Ohio, so of course some Christian Nationalists are urging the Ohio government to ignore the results: ... Read Article

"According to a breaking New York Times poll, if the election was held today, Donald Trump would win over 300 electoral votes. And a CBS poll has Trump +3 points over Biden. Trump is currently leading in nearly every swing state (Benny Johnson) see: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/05/us/politics/biden-trump-2024-poll.html ... Read Article

WHERE WE ARE Most of the stories about Jesus in the Gospel of Matthew were borrowed from the earlier Gospel of Mark. In Part 1 of this series, I provided some general reasons why we should doubt the historical reliability of any changes or additions to the stories about Jesus made by the author of the Gospel of Matthew to the stories about Jesus that came from the Gospel of Mark. One of the biggest and most obvious additions by the author of the Gospel of Matthew to the stories about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark is the addition of the birth story of Jesus, constituting the first two chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. There is no birth story of Jesus at all in the Gospel of Mark. So, if the birth story in the Gospel of Matthew is historically dubious, then that would give us good reason to doubt the historical reliability of any other additions or changes to the stories about Jesus that the author of the ... Read Article

So, last time I pointed out Carrier's spicy blog post that religious studies scholars are simply not fact-checking evidence for the existence of Jesus, because if they did more people would agree with Carrier's mythicism. Again, here is Carrier's post: https://www.richardcarrier.info/archives/25689 Two of Carrier's peers, Dr. James McGrath and Dr. Kipp Davis have posted a response video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWjdbrm4EHA ... Read Article

Robyn Faith Walsh spoke next, and raised the issue that the gospel writers were not literate spokesmen for their faith communities, but highly educated Greek speaking Christians working within a network of writers, as was the practice in the ancient world. Given this, if there are sophisticated Greek literary allusions in the gospels, how does this affect historical claims about Jesus? ... Read Article