Culture

A collection of 292 posts

Christianity

The Christian Destruction of the Classical World

The New York Times recently ran a piece on a new book, the book being The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World by Catherine Nixey. The book looks to be an evisceration of the notion that Christianity has so pristinely added so much to the world, as

equality

Saudi Arabia issues first driving licences to women

A glimmer of hope in the world of Islamic theocracies... From The Guardian: Saudi Arabia has issued its first driving licences for women three weeks before it ends the world’s only ban on female drivers, though many of the activists who pushed for change are still in jail. Ten

extremism

Preacher Clarification: Execute Gays "Humanely"

Well, that's okay, then... Why am I not surprised? Dead State reports: Matt Powell is a young Christian preacher with a little over 350 YouTube subscribers who is trying to create a following for himself. The problem is that whenever his videos get any sort of attention, it’

Biblical Exegesis

The Flat Tire and the Gospels

Guest post by Richard Russell We begin with a joke. It was the night before the Chemistry 217 final exam, but the brothers of Beta Beta Sigma were not in the mood to study. They hit the bars, then the party circuit, then their private stash back at the frat

Culture

‘Nested Belonging’: towards a Politics of ‘Nested Identity’

This is a guest post by my good friend Rob Stroud. Let me know what you think. It can be found at his blog here. You may not be alone in noticing that while the ice-caps are melting, relations between groups are cooling. We’ve entered a new ‘Cold War’

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: Analysing some "Counter-Evidence"

Time to take the defenders to task. And, I must say, we have a dismal failure on our hands here. As many of you will know, I have been running a series debunking the historicity of the Exodus accounts in the Old Testament. The importance and ramifications of doing this

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: Concluding Matters

It's been quite a little project, but it is time to draw matters to a close. So far, the series has covered a number of different related subjects: * The Exodus Debunked: Chronology * The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims * The Exodus Debunked: Camels * The Exodus Debunked:

Bart Ehrman

The Resurrection Debunked: Naturalistic Explanations

As mentioned in my previous posts, it is that time of year that the historicity of the Easter accounts gets analysed by us skeptics. And found wanting. Very wanting. [caption id="attachment_6627" align="alignright" width="216"] Tintoretto [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption]

Biblical Exegesis

The Resurrection Debunked: The Empty Tomb

As mentioned in my two previous posts, it is that time of year again where the Resurrection of Jesus requires a thorough going over. Here it continues. There are three aspects to the debunking of the Resurrection: 1) The Gospels are not reliable sources of information; they are poor quality

Biblical Exegesis

The Resurrection Debunked

I have recently been running a series debunking the Exodus and have linked to this Easter series. Since Easter is upon us, and since I have a raft of new readers, I am going to re-run my extensive series on the Resurrection and Easter. A few years back, someone in

Bart Ehrman

Ehrman vs Licona 2018

I have not watched a debate for ages. I like both these people. My friend said of this: "I enjoyed this. I think Mike Lincona is struggling a bit and has to admit that some bits might not have actually happened but somehow the gospels are still reliable."

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: Narrative Sources

"It is thus clearer than the sun at noonday that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses, but by someone who lived longer after Moses”Spinoza, 1670 I will continue my deconstruction of the Exodus accounts by concentrating on the issues surrounding the claims concerning the typology and the

archaeology

The Bible Unearthed

I know most of you will have seen this before, but I thought I'd post a video of the documentary around the book of the same name by Finkelstein and Silberman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5RfScpEcZ8

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: Coming out of Egypt

I will continue my deconstruction of the Exodus accounts by concentrating on the issues surrounding the claims of the Hebrews coming out of Egypt. The articles so far have been: * The Exodus Debunked: Chronology * The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims * The Exodus Debunked: Camels * The Exodus Debunked:

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: Archaeological Issues

I will continue my deconstruction of the Exodus accounts by concentrating on the archaeological issues. The articles so far have been: * The Exodus Debunked: Chronology * The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims * The Exodus Debunked: Camels * The Exodus Debunked: Hardening of Hearts * The Exodus Debunked: Moses’ Birth * The

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: the Hyksos and the Land of Goshen

I will continue my deconstruction of the Exodus accounts by concentrating on the Hyksos. The articles so far have been: * The Exodus Debunked: Chronology * The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims * The Exodus Debunked: Camels * The Exodus Debunked: Hardening of Hearts * The Exodus Debunked: Moses’ Birth * The Exodus

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: You Philistines!

I will continue my deconstruction of the Exodus accounts by concentrating on the Philistines. The articles so far have been: * The Exodus Debunked: Chronology * The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims * The Exodus Debunked: Camels * The Exodus Debunked: Hardening of Hearts * The Exodus Debunked: Moses’ Birth I want

archaeology

The Exodus Debunked: Moses' Birth

I will continue my deconstruction of the Exodus accounts by concentrating on Moses. The articles so far have been: * The Exodus Debunked: Chronology * The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims * The Exodus Debunked: Camels * The Exodus Debunked: Hardening of Hearts I want to compile them all into a

Biblical Exegesis

The Exodus Debunked: A Ridiculous Story with Ridiculous Claims

The Exodus account is one of the key stories of the Bible, creating a foundation upon what so much else in the Bible is built. Without the truth of the Exodus, the truth of Moses, the Mosaic Law and any number of other claims are brought into suspicion. Previously, I

Biblical Exegesis

The Nativity Census Challenge: Update

For any of you who haven't been reading the threads on the census, a challenge that I set to See Noevo to answer, I would like to update you on what he has delivered by way of riposte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIIuR-HjFho For longtime readers

atheism

Why the Atheist's Obsession with God?

Hi recently received this question on Facebook from someone I used to work with: When I was at uni I wrote a thesis on religious connotations in science fiction films. I also don’t believe in god but find it fascinating how those that don’t believe in god seem

Biblical Exegesis

Women Should Remain Silent - Were Paul's Words an Interpolation?

The Apostle Paul has some infamous words regarding the position of women. Here he is in 1 Corinthians 14: 34 The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves, just as the Law also says. 35 If they

apostasy

UN Human Rights Council condemns death penalty for blasphemy, apostasy and homosexuality

The following news (taken from Humanists UK) is great, if not a little obvious in my humble opinion. What is particularly galling is the issue of Saudi Arabia, in the context of the UN Human Rights Council (from wiki): In September 2015, Faisal bin Hassan Trad, Saudi Arabia's

equality

University of Bath Spa 'turned down politically incorrect transgender research'

I can't believe I just posted about this very topic, and universities having a conflict over truth versus social justice, and this very problem raises its ugly head in a UK university (see Jonathan Haidt: The Conflict Between Truth and Social Justice at Universities"). There I was,

Culture

Split Brain Patient: Half Theist, Half Atheist

This is pretty fascinating. I would like to have time to look into it further. Do any of you lovely people know anything about it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFJPtVRlI64&feature=youtu.be This has profound implications. As neurologist VS Ramachandran asks, does one-half of the brain