The Secular Frontier

I've been thinking with Keith Augustine on supposed survival after death that some claim for mediums, Out of Body Experiences, and Near-Death experiences. Gregory Shushan  ("Diversity and Similarity of Near-Death Experiences across Cultures and History: ... Read Article

Last time, I thought a bit about mediumship, and how the observational evidence doesn't lead us to a supernatural spirit-world medium hypothesis rather than a "mundane" supernatural psychic mind reading that does not involve undead spirits communicating w ... Read Article

(Theatrical poster for a mind reading performance, 1900 wiki) In this essay Sudduth covers a lot of ground, but mainly considers Keith Augustine’s critique of recent attempts to use the example of a well-known medium Mrs. Piper to argue the soul ... Read Article

Previously, I've talked about how Trump is positioning himself that a vote against him is a vote against God. What better way to spend a political rally than as Christian Worship time, lol? https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RJ86JGoX05o For anyone no ... Read Article

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