[Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] Matthew 19:16-24 (RSV) And behold, one came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do, to have eternal life?” [17] And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? One there is who is good. If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” [18] He said to him, “Which?” And Jesus said, “You shall not kill, You shall not commit adultery, You shall not steal, You shall not bear... Read more
Henry Fairfield Osborn (1857-1935) in 1919: sadly mistaken Nebraska Man and Piltdown Man enthusiast [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * Dr. Gary S. Hurd received a doctorate in Social Science (emphasis in Anthropology) from the University of California, Irvine in 1976. For the next 10 years he was a medical researcher and professor of psychiatry leaving the Medical College of Georgia in 1985. He held numerous adjunct appointments and returned full-time to archaeology, his first interest. He has received honors... Read more
The Piltdown Man hoax (a jaw of an orangutan attached to a human skull). It took 41 years for the scientific community to debunk it. [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license] * * * * * I get sick and tired of people not reading in context. It’s not rocket science to grammatically connect sentences together, and to logically connect thoughts and concepts. I don’t think it is by any means solely an atheist shortcoming. I would contend that it occurs... Read more
Jesus Christ: portrait by Ariel Agemian, based on the image on the Shroud of Turin. [Flickr / CC BY 2.0 license] * * * * * Manuscript evidence and reliability and verification from archaeology of the New Testament (and the Old Testament) leads to the conclusion that we can be assured that we have the actual words of Jesus. Before we even get to the question of miracles, or a purported resurrection, we have to deal with that. This person,... Read more
The verso of Rylands Library Papyrus P52 from the Gospel of John; its most probable date is 117-138 AD, making it one of the earliest NT manuscript fragments. [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] The following are exchanges from the combox for my paper, God, Empiricism, & Atheist Demands for “Evidence”, with new material added presently. My opponents’ words will be in green and blue. They are either atheist or agnostic. * * * * * JGravelle: The following is a list of accounts written about Yeshua by His contemporaries: –... Read more
Reply to atheist Neil Carter’s article,“Why Do Intelligent, Well-Educated People Still Believe Nonsense?” (10-9-15) Galileo Galilei (1564-1642); portrait (c. 1605-1607) by Domenico Tintoretto (1560-1635) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] Neil Carter’s cited words will be in blue. * * * * * Last night for the third time in as many months I found myself explaining to someone raised outside of a devoutly religious environment that religious people are not stupid simply because they believe nonsensical things. . . . Very often they flatly disagree and insist that anyone... Read more
How can an empirical spirit be directly empirically tested? It makes no sense. [public domain / Pixabay] Brad Feaker: I am an agnostic atheist. I leave open the possibility of evidence for a god, therefore I must be agnostic about such a beings existence. But as for my belief? I could really care less about how you define your god. There is simply no reliable evidence for any of them, Catholic or Protestant. So yes – I proportion my belief to... Read more
Mt. St. Helens volcanic eruption (1980) [public domain / Pixabay] * * * * * John W. Loftus runs a large and influential site, Debunking Christianity, and has authored many books of atheist polemics. Previously I had posted my critique of Loftus’ online “Cliff’s Notes” deconversion story, which detailed his odyssey from a Christian pastor to atheism. I also have posted about his ridiculous response to my critique. In that he characterized me as an “idiot . . . joke... Read more
Mars Hill in Athens, or the Areopagus, as seen from the Acropolis (where St. Paul preached to the pagan Athenian philosophers). Photo by A. Mustafin, 25 April 2007. [Wikimedia Commons / Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication license] *** This is an exchange I had in the combox of my post Legitimate Atheist Anger. Otto is an atheist. His words will be in blue. * * * * * Rejection of God is treated harshly in the Bible (as we would... Read more
Madonna and Child (c. 1743), by Pompeo Batoni (1708-1787) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons] * * * * * This article has been re-uploaded under the title, Mary the Mother of God: Idolatry or Plainly Biblical? ***** Read more
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