Reading Time: 8 minutes I have long been fascinated by the Resurrection of Jesus, which is really the core tenet of the Christian faith. The Apostle Paul makes this abundantly clear when he states “If Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have died in Christ […]
the Resurrection
Posted inReligion
The Empty Tomb: The claim that the Bible refutes
Reading Time: 12 minutes The Empty Tomb has, for years, been a mainstay for Christian apologists, who claim Jesus rose from the dead in a glorious Resurrection. The Empty Tomb was used as one of the “minimal facts” to “prove” the resurrection of Jesus. So, what exactly is the Empty Tomb apologetic? According to all four gospels (attributed to […]
Posted inReligion
Did Jesus die by crucifixion?
Reading Time: 7 minutes Easter is fast approaching… Apologists like William Lane Craig, Gary Habermas, and Mike Licona often use the “Minimal Facts” argument to “prove” that the Resurrection of Jesus can be shown to be a historical “fact.” This approach seeks to establish—or take as givens—certain claims that most everyone will agree to, and these then supposedly lead […]
Posted inReligion
Answering Dan Barker’s Easter Challenge
Reading Time: 7 minutes With Easter not far away, I thought it would be instructional to examine the Easter story in some detail, and how the four Gospels seem to contradict one another on crucial details, and whether the different accounts can be harmonized. This situation inspired Dan Barker, a former evangelical Christian preacher, to issue a challenge to […]
Posted inReligion
The myth of Jesus’ resurrection
Reading Time: 3 minutes Jesus was crucified, died, and was resurrected this weekend many hundreds of years ago. Oh what joy this brings. To Christians. Except it didn’t happen. Well, certainly not the resurrection bit. I’m what I call a “minimal historicist,” which is to say I believe Jesus existed (though I: won’t die on that hill), but that […]
Posted inReligion
Christian apologetics and defending Matthew’s guards
Reading Time: 17 minutes There’s something meta going on when a Christian apologist takes aim at a biblical account of mine with some typical apologetics, claiming I am making stuff up out of whole cloth when I myself accused the Gospel writers (or apologists) of making stuff up out of whole cloth to defend themselves against Jewish accusations 2,000 […]
Posted inReligion
The Swoon Theory: Did Jesus Really Die?
Reading Time: < 1 minute In short, yes, I think so. But these theories are interesting and are far more probable than the Christian thesis in explaining the data (the Gospel and Pauline accounts). “Swoon Theory” comes from “swooning”, meaning to fall unconscious, and several of these theories contest that Jesus actually died on the cross, claiming he was taken […]
Posted inReligion
Presentation – The Resurrection: A Critical Examination
Reading Time: < 1 minute Although I have been serialising my book in a lot of detail with Derek Lamber of MythVision, for a truncated account, here is a presentation I gave to Dorset Humanists just after lockdown had ended – it was one of their first so the audience was very small. Please grab my book on the subject: […]
Posted inReligion
The “Empty Tomb” & The “Minimal Facts” argument
Reading Time: 6 minutes Here is another guest piece by the inimitable David Austin, this time on the topic of the Empty Tomb. The “Empty Tomb” & The “Minimal Facts” argument The “Empty Tomb” claim has been the mainstay of Christian apologists’ arguments for a long time. The apologists love to say, whenever the resurrection is challenged by a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Going Live on MythVision Tonight
Reading Time: < 1 minute I know I’ve been neglecting you a bit recently for which I keep apologising. I am appearing live on Derek Lambert’s MythVision YouTube channel/podcast today, 24th, 11am EST, 4pm BST. Here is where it will be live streamed – watch it on YouTube to access the live chat: Derek Lambert has been pretty legendary in […]