Reading Time: < 1 minute This is something I have been meaning to do for a long time. Phil Halper, with his superb skydivephil channel, has produced some brilliant videos over time critiquing the Kalam, William Lane Craig, theistic cosmology, animal suffering arguments and all sorts, whilst also producing some of the best, most in-depth documentaries on cosmology. He has […]
Space
Posted inHistory, Space
“Who do you say I am?” Bad Commentary Research on the SoB
Reading Time: 10 minutes In my previous post [also here] on a recent attempt at defending an astronomical Star of Bethlehem, I highlighted a number of issues with the writing of Dave Armstrong. In the time between writing that blog and now, Dave has made several more posts, along with comment exchanges. As I highlighted in my old post, Dave failed […]
Posted inSpace
Taking on that SOB in Catholic News
Reading Time: 9 minutes It’s been a long time since I posted here at ATP. Every holiday season there will be articles repeating the theories of what the Star of Bethlehem really was. Or could have been. It definitely was real, and it could have been any of a dozen things. Or so the articles go on, and each year it’s […]
Posted inSpace
“Astronauts Talk Disclosure of Extra-Terrestrial Contact”
Reading Time: < 1 minute This video was linked to me as a friend of a friend created it, by all accounts. It’s ironic as I am finally listening to Carl Sagan’s A Demon-Haunted World right now that deals explicitly with this sort of claim. Disclaimer – I have not watched this video yet, but am about to. It’s like […]
Posted inScience, Space
Astrology is to astronomy what ‘crop circles’ are to Meteor Crater
Reading Time: 4 minutes The late cosmologist Carl Sagan’s wife and collaborator, Ann Druyan, reiterated something essential recently: Facts and truth actually matter.
Posted inSpace
A Christmas Comet and Mythical Merriness with the Star of Bethlehem
Reading Time: 3 minutes ‘Tis the season yet again, and snow has finally begun to fall in New England. The holidays are upon us, and the skies have been filled with celestial wonders. Last week the Geminid meteor shower came, with meteors appearing out of the constellation of the twins about once a minute. Just the other night we […]
Posted inScience, Space
Frank Tipler on the Star of Bethlehem…Refuted
Reading Time: 16 minutes Aaron Adair, who in the past has contributed widely to ATP, a few years ago wrote the “go-to book” about the Star of Bethlehem, looking critically at the phenomenon. The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View really is a very good book. Aaron, together with myself, has recently decided to produce a second, updated edition of the […]
![By Greg Edwards (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons](https://i0.wp.com/onlysky.media/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Baba_Brinkman_Cusp_Conference_2010.jpg?resize=512%2C341&ssl=1)
Posted inComedy, Science, Space
QI: British Comedy Panel Show Takes on the Nativity… and Scientific Comedy!
Reading Time: 3 minutes I’m not particularly nationalistic, but there are certain things that I rate about Britain, and one of them is our comedy. We have a rich variety of comedy and we can pretty much say what we like. I have previously posted a good selection of clips that take religion to task. Well, considering that I have […]
Posted inScience, Space
Adair Interviewed over that SOB
Reading Time: < 1 minute The Star of Bethlehem, that is. Aaron Adair is the author of the go-to book on the star, looking at it critically and scientifically: The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View. Here, fellow Patheosers Andrew Hall and Jack Matirko speak to Adair about the star, astrology, astronomy and the Bible. Good stuff.
Posted inComedy, Space
God is A Busy Guy (or Gal)
Reading Time: 3 minutes In an earlier article titled “A Conversation With God” I raised some interesting questions about the number of planets that the god in the story was required to monitor. The “galaxy cluster” that he claimed was his responsibility is what astronomers call the “local group.” (See Note) It consists of about 30 galaxies, some of […]