The Secular Frontier

Check out the trailer for our new Kids chapter book: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GLemL5pm3g ... Read Article

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxiaZEhS3g8 There is a really interesting thing happening in politics right now. Politicians have adopted a lawyer schema where they defend their side at the expense of the truth. And, the people have responded accor ... Read Article

Last time I said: One popular idea on the internet is Jesus started out as a vague dying/rising savior myth who was later placed in historical fictions/gospels (Euhemerized). How do New Testament specialists teaching New Testament at accredited Secula ... Read Article

One popular idea on the internet is Jesus started out as a vague dying/rising savior myth that was later placed in historical stories (Euhemerized). How do New Testament specialists teaching New Testament at accredited Secular universities respond to thi ... Read Article

Masaccio’s fresco (1424-28), in the Brancacci Chapel, Florence, emphasizes the nakedness and shame of the original sinners. Photo: Bridgeman Images (wiki) 4 But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not die, 5 for God knows ... Read Article

Saint Paul (c. 1611) by Peter Paul Rubens (wiki) [Intro] Bart Ehrman’s “New Insights Into The New Testament” Conference (2024 Apostle Paul) [2: Bart’s Preface] Bart Ehrman’s “New Insights Into The New Testament” Conference (202 ... Read Article

It's been really fun following along with the conference presenters. The last presenter, Ehrman, gave an overview of Paul and showed how Paul saw himself as the prophesied one at the end of history who would bring the gentiles to the God of the Jews. Paul ... Read Article

James Tabor has a bit of a different take on Paul's apocalyptic thinking. In Tabor's reading, Genesis was the dust prototype of death and decay that would later be replaced by a cosmos of spirit (pneuma). Here are a few gems from the presentation: The ... Read Article

I've been posting about how Trump is framing himself as the God-chosen candidate, that a vote against Trump is a vote against God. Consider this Truth Social post and picture Trump just shared: "Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be ou ... Read Article

Paula Fredriksen is one of the top Pauline scholars in the world and she gave a talk about Jewish henotheism, the idea Paul thought the world was saturated with many gods but that Paul thought his Jewish God was the highest. Here are a couple of ideas fr ... Read Article

Prof Jenny Knust had an interesting presentation on sexual language in Paul. For example, she argues it's unfair to isolate Paul's condemnation of homosexual acts, because Paul thinks it would be better not to engage in any sexual acts as all - even hete ... Read Article

One tidbit I'd like to share is Walsh argues Paul formed his ideas of the universe out of a stoic milieu, Paul coming from Tarsus, the birthplace of the stoic enlightenment. So, for instance, for Plutarch in “On the Face of the Moon” says when you di ... Read Article

In this talk Marcus discusses how to understand Paul being negative about the Law in some places and positive about it in others. For instance, Paul offers a more positive version of the Law in Romans, which may reflect a significant Jewish-Christian pop ... Read Article

I'd like to highlight how Staples argues against the substitutionary atonement interpretive model of reading Paul and instead argues for a transformation of the heart model which results in good acts and therefore good judgment. The substitutionary atone ... Read Article

'MIRACLES': Former first lady Melania Trump credits a higher power for watching over former President Trump during two assassination attempts. Melania continues the narrative I've been posting about that the right is framing the failed assassination atte ... Read Article

Benjamin White is one of the top and most respected Pauline scholars in the world. White’s talk is about how mathematics is used to help decide which of the New Testament letters are authentically written by Paul. I would like to highlight one poi ... Read Article

Bart provided an overview for the kinds of things that will be found in the conference presentations, and I would like to share a couple of these as background on Paul, and propose some questions that these ideas raise for me. God had made a covenant w ... Read Article

I'm excited to share that I will be reporting for The Secular Web/Internet Infidels on Bart Ehrman's conference this weekend on the apostle Paul. My hope is to share a few gems from each presenter that will encourage my reader to sign up for the conferen ... Read Article

Richest man in the world and Trump sycophant Elon Musk shared his thoughts on atheism: Notice he doesn't raise the issue of whether religion is true, just that it's (in his interpretation) pleasant. Why would a billionaire support Trump ... ? lol. ... Read Article

"Kelly and I are departing Mar-a-Lago, where we just spent a few hours with President Trump and are thanking God for protecting him today—once again. No leader in American history has endured more attacks and remained so strong and resilient. He is ... Read Article

After getting his clock cleaned in the first debate according to every credible poll and source (including RFK jr!), Trump apparently wants no part of another match with Kamala Harris. Trump spun it in this way: ... Read Article

I've talked a lot about how Trump has positioned himself for the argument that a vote against him is a vote against God. RFK Jr has just come out with an ad claiming that joining forces with Trump was a religious-based decision. He said: "For 19 yea ... Read Article

See the previous post in this 2 part mini-series on the Antichrist HERE. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHQqqM5sr7g The presence of the antichrist spirit in the Christian narrative as the ultimate danger primarily means we are not considering an ... Read Article

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ga146HLIzN8 What is the "Again" MAGA wants us to return to? Trump says a big part of this is returning to God. Trump: "Our country is missing a lot of religion. I think it really was a much better place with rel ... Read Article

Donald Trump says he thinks God saved him from assassin's bullet to help fix country's problems. In other words, if you vote against Trump you're voting against God. See the video HERE! ... Read Article