Debate: Historical Local Flood & Biblical Hyperbole

Last updated on: November 12, 2021 at 12:55 pm By Dave Armstrong

Atheist and former Christian “eric” is a regular commentator at Jonathan MS Pearce’s Tippling Philosopher blog, where this exchange took place. His words will be in blue. ***** [with heavy sarcasm and a mocking intent] It’s all quite easy. The story is literally true. You just have to remember that: -“Wipe out mankind” means “wipe out just some mesopotamians living in the lowlands” -“and animals as well, and crawling things” means “some local varieties of only those animal species living... Read more

Could Jesus Have Possibly Inherited Original Sin?

Last updated on: November 13, 2021 at 10:25 am By Dave Armstrong

Was Mary’s Immaculate Conception Necessary to Prevent Such a Scenario, or Only “Fitting”? Jesus’ Two Natures & Impeccability This is a rare disagreement with my very good friend and apologetics ally Paul Hoffer. He commented underneath my article, Was Mary Sinless? (vs. 3 Church Fathers & Jason Engwer) [11-9-21]. His words will be in blue. ***** As I commented on your wonderful earlier article, everything we teach about Mary is really teaching something about Christ. The teaching about Mary’s sinlessness really... Read more

Pearce’s Potshots #52: No Tomb for Jesus?

Last updated on: November 10, 2021 at 8:19 pm By Dave Armstrong

Skeptical Fairy Tales and Fables vs. the Physical Corroborating Evidence of Archaeology in Jerusalem Atheist anti-theist Jonathan M. S. Pearce is the main writer on the blog, A Tippling Philosopher. His “About” page states: “Pearce is a philosopher, author, blogger, public speaker and teacher from Hampshire in the UK. He specialises in philosophy of religion, but likes to turn his hand to science, psychology, politics and anything involved in investigating reality.” This is a partial reply to a guest post on Jonathan’s blog by David... Read more

Erasmus’ Criticism of Popes = Today’s Pope-Bashing?

Last updated on: November 10, 2021 at 2:30 pm By Dave Armstrong

The influential and important, self-described “traditionalist” website One Peter Five has taken lately to describing its endorsement of rather aggressive and pointed papal criticism as “in the spirit of Erasmus“: the great 16th century satirist, classicist, linguist, and reformer. Thus, an “Editor’s Note” at the beginning of the article, “The Francis Pontificate is the Catechism of Hypocrisy” (J. Basil Dannebohm, 8-25-21) states: Editor’s note: OnePeterFive is publishing the following commentary, written in the spirit of Erasmus, whose sardonic critique of the... Read more

Debate: a Universe Self-Created from Nothing?

Last updated on: November 9, 2021 at 6:31 pm By Dave Armstrong

This is a follow-up discussion of sorts to my post, Seidensticker Folly #75: Why a Universe at All? (11-5-21). Discussion occurred on atheist JMS Pearce’s blog. Atheist abb3w was one of many who participated in that. Some of his words originally posted in the post above are transferred here, with further dialogue. His words will be in blue. ***** As near as I can make out, physics currently answers “Why is there something rather than nothing?” with “Because having Nothing is... Read more

Was Mary Sinless? (vs. 3 Church Fathers & Jason Engwer)

Last updated on: November 9, 2021 at 4:22 pm By Dave Armstrong

Jason Engwer is a Protestant and anti-Catholic apologist, who runs the Tribalblogue site. I will be responding to several of his “anti-Mary” comments, as noted. His words will be in blue. ***** Simeon’s prophecy in Luke 2:35 involves a negative assessment of Mary, not a positive one. It’s about a sword of division and judgment that will adversely affect Mary. See, especially, the use of sword imagery in Ezekiel. (combox comment, 12-14-16) Luke 2:34-35 (RSV) and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his... Read more

Anti-Perpetual Virginity Arguments Debunked (vs. J. Engwer)

Last updated on: November 9, 2021 at 1:21 pm By Dave Armstrong

Jason Engwer is a Protestant and anti-Catholic apologist, who runs the Tribalblogue site. I will be responding to his article, Are Jesus’ Siblings Children From Joseph’s Previous Marriage? (1-8-17). His words will be in blue. ***** One of the most important concepts to focus on when thinking about this issue is what other options were available to the authors in question. What other language could they have used? For example, Luke refers to Jesus as Mary’s “firstborn” (2:7), even though elsewhere... Read more

Seidensticker Folly #75: Why a Universe at All?

Last updated on: November 9, 2021 at 4:49 pm By Dave Armstrong

Atheist and anti-theist Bob Seidensticker runs the influential Cross Examined blog. He asked me there, on 8-11-18: “I’ve got 1000+ posts here attacking your worldview. You just going to let that stand? Or could you present a helpful new perspective that I’ve ignored on one or two of those posts?” He added in June 2017 in a combox: “If I’ve misunderstood the Christian position or Christian arguments, point that out. Show me where I’ve mischaracterized them.” Delighted to oblige his wishes . . . Bob (for the record) virtually begged and pleaded with me... Read more

COVID Vaccine Side Effects: >1.5M Incl. 15K Deaths in Europe

Last updated on: November 4, 2021 at 2:55 pm By Dave Armstrong

Brian Shilhavy wrote an article entitled, “Shock: European Union Reports 1.5 Million Vaccine Injuries, 15,472 Deaths” (Technocracy News & Trends, 6-25-21). He writes: The EU counterpart to the U.S. VAERS database reports deaths and injuries that are likely understated because not all cases are reported. Even still, the actually reported numbers are staggering. . . . The European database of suspected drug reaction reports is EudraVigilance, which also tracks reports of injuries and deaths following the experimental COVID-19 “vaccines.” A subscriber from... Read more

WHAT?! Vaccinated = Higher Overall Death Rate in UK

Last updated on: November 4, 2021 at 3:05 pm By Dave Armstrong

Also, Two-Thirds of Deaths in the UK from the Delta Variant of COVID-19 Were Among Vaccinated People Norman Fenton, Professor in Risk Information Management at Queen Mary University of London, and Martin Neil, Professor in Computer Science and Statistics at QMUL, wrote an article entitled, “A comparison of age adjusted all-cause mortality rates in England between vaccinated and unvaccinated” (Probability and Risk, 9-23-21). They stated: The UK Government’s own data does not support the claims made for vaccine effectiveness/safety. In... Read more