Blog archive

How we can flourish – 4 keysNovember 28, 2020
Don’t blame Jesus for the wrongs of the church!November 8, 2020
The fine-tuning adventures of Luke BarnesSeptember 25, 2020
Brute facts and reasons to believeSeptember 6, 2020
The pandemic and the meaning of lifeAugust 26, 2020
Would you like to live forever?August 10, 2020
Money can’t buy health or happiness?July 25, 2020
Whatever happened to my tennis shoe?
(An NDE story)July 12, 2020
Strange thoughts about brains: a casual conversationJune 27, 2020
Pythagorus and GodJune 18, 2020
Blowing in the windJune 1, 2020
If there’s a God, why doesn’t he answer our prayers?May 18, 2020
The Bible: impossible to take seriously?May 5, 2020
Christianity: too weird to be true!?April 27, 2020
In a hurry?April 20, 2020
Making this site more mobile friendlyApril 6, 2020
Can we believe in God in the scientific age?March 26, 2020
God and life in a time of plagueMarch 23, 2020
Is God hiding or just not there?February 26, 2020
Do suffering and evil prove there’s no God?February 13, 2020
6 reasons to disbelieve in God?February 4, 2020
All change – because the world is changingJanuary 17, 2020
How accurate is the text of the New Testament?January 1, 2020
Why I believe in GodDecember 17, 2019
12. It works (mostly!)December 1, 2019
11. Finding God in everyday lifeNovember 13, 2019
10. Jesus appears to people – really?October 30, 2019
9. Does the historical Jesus reveal God?October 16, 2019
8. Experiencing God in a deep way?October 4, 2019
7. The evidence for miraculous healingSeptember 23, 2019
6. I think, therefore ……. ?September 10, 2019
5. Are some things really right and wrong?August 29, 2019
4. Freedom of choiceAugust 19, 2019
3. Who am I?August 11, 2019
2. Was the universe designed, or random?August 5, 2019
1. Why does the universe exist?July 31, 2019
12 reasons to believe in GodJuly 25, 2019
What would it take to convince you that a healing miracle had occurred?July 6, 2019
Ache, angst and aspirationJune 18, 2019
Finding an explanation that worksJune 5, 2019
Free will and determinism: are they compatible?May 19, 2019
Can you tell me why you believe?May 8, 2019
Susan Blackmore: there’s no ‘me’!April 29, 2019
Can we be human without free will?April 2, 2019
Is science the best way to know everything?March 22, 2019
Claim a fallacy and win the argument?March 12, 2019
Did the universe have a beginning? Did it arise from nothing?February 24, 2019
Chinese New Year, modern Buddhism and modern ChristianityFebruary 5, 2019
The evolution of hellJanuary 20, 2019
An ultimate explanation for everything?January 10, 2019
The Exodus (book review)December 29, 2018
Stereoscopic vision and GodDecember 17, 2018
Suspended between belief and disbeliefDecember 10, 2018
Do not adjust your set, normal transmission is resumingDecember 8, 2018
Do we live in a moral universe? How do human rights fit in?November 7, 2018
Did Jesus suffer from a mental disorder?October 12, 2018
Religion is like seeing faces in nature?September 25, 2018
Going from the historical Jesus to the Jesus of faithSeptember 9, 2018
Sam Harris and fake historyAugust 28, 2018
How to read the Bible if you’re an unbelieverAugust 13, 2018
Can life have meaning without God? Five viewsAugust 2, 2018
Are we alone in the universe?July 22, 2018
Atheism vs religion: is there a scientific explanation for why we believe or disbelieve?July 9, 2018
Science vs religion: Is scientific thinking different to religious thinking? Is it better?June 26, 2018
Science vs religion – who believes and who doesn’t?June 19, 2018
Is God genocidal?June 4, 2018
Four things the historians tell us about Jesus’ miracles – and one thing they don’tMay 14, 2018
How strong is the Kalam Cosmological argument?May 2, 2018
Experiencing God?April 9, 2018
How can a christian possibly believe in something as impossible as the resurrection of Jesus?April 1, 2018
“We measure our days out In steps of uncertainty”March 20, 2018
The doubt that breathes beside youMarch 10, 2018
Atheists, christians, the alt-right, white supremacy, patriotism, gender, fake news …. and more!February 18, 2018
God 0 – atheism 5 ?February 8, 2018
Adam and Eve and human geneticsJanuary 24, 2018
Logical truth and psychological truthJanuary 17, 2018
From polite discourse to no discourseJanuary 5, 2018
Can we trust our intuition? (A question from a reader about the start of the universe)December 26, 2017
I don’t normally get much involved in conspiracy theories about Jesus, but ….December 10, 2017
A majority of Aussies think religion does more harm than goodDecember 3, 2017
Did Jesus really perform miracles? Can we believe it?November 20, 2017
“I don’t set much store by signs and wonders, but ….”November 12, 2017
Cosmology and God – the latest newsOctober 31, 2017
Who believes in evolution, and who doesn’t?October 23, 2017
Bart Campolo and the attraction of moderate religion …. and humanismOctober 1, 2017
Yahweh vs Jesus?September 22, 2017
Is God a Jokerman?September 8, 2017
Something from nothing?August 27, 2017
Free will, evolution and human rationalityAugust 17, 2017
Strong evidence of God?July 31, 2017
Buying books online: Book DepositoryJuly 25, 2017
History for AtheistsJuly 7, 2017
Does christian belief make you a better person?June 27, 2017
Do healing miracles prove God exists?June 11, 2017
“The implications of my atheism were incompatible with almost every value I held dear”May 28, 2017
Three questions about faith, meaning and purposeMay 15, 2017
So who’s dogmatic and intolerant?May 1, 2017
Are religious people less logical?April 23, 2017
Changing ideas about the death of JesusApril 14, 2017
Making sense of GodApril 7, 2017
Do we need God for life to have real meaning?March 22, 2017
Troy, archaeology and the Old TestamentMarch 7, 2017
The historical evidence for Jesus seems to be getting strongerMarch 2, 2017
Book review: A Fortunate UniverseFebruary 17, 2017
Update: Did Josephus write about Jesus?February 6, 2017
Liar, lunatic, legend, loser or Lord?January 27, 2017
Questions and doubts, so why do I still believe?January 19, 2017
Atheists and christians – does it have to be war?January 8, 2017
A time to look back …. and forwardsJanuary 1, 2017
Are the stories of Jesus’ birth historically true?December 21, 2016
It always pays to check the evidenceDecember 17, 2016
The wrong way to attack and defend evolution?December 7, 2016
Atheists and religious traditionsNovember 24, 2016
A trial lawyer on evidenceNovember 18, 2016
Was Jesus worshiped as God by his followers after he died?November 12, 2016
When is it right to trust the experts?October 22, 2016
I’m beginning to see a pattern hereOctober 15, 2016
Hugh Mackay on why people stop going to churchSeptember 29, 2016
Why does God keep himself hidden? Is it because he’s not there?September 22, 2016
There is no Planet BSeptember 7, 2016
Does the New Testament contain forgeries, or other books that shouldn’t be there?August 25, 2016
Bart Ehrman, New Testament scholar and agent provocateurAugust 14, 2016
Atheists, agnostics and theistsAugust 7, 2016
Converting an HTML site to WordPressJuly 28, 2016
That nagging feeling that you’ve been wrong all your lifeJuly 19, 2016
Neuroscience, psychology and GodJuly 4, 2016
The what and why of belief in JesusJune 21, 2016
We cannot be kind to each other here for even an hour?June 12, 2016
Health, happiness and GodJune 5, 2016
Our brains and GodMay 27, 2016
Jesus as seen by the historiansMay 11, 2016
Light at the end of the tunnel for some of the world’s poorest peopleMay 2, 2016
Looking for, or avoiding, evidence of divine healingApril 22, 2016
Clues to GodApril 13, 2016
Jesus, modern historical scholarship, and scepticsApril 7, 2016
A foolproof argument against the resurrection?March 27, 2016
Luke Barnes explains the bigger picture of fine-tuningMarch 17, 2016
Arguing about the existence of God (2) – unkleE’s guidelinesMarch 6, 2016
Arguing about the existence of God (1)February 26, 2016
Two scientists, probability and GodFebruary 16, 2016
Too many preconceptions about the Bible?February 6, 2016
Climate report for 2015January 24, 2016
Evolution as a surprising source of faithJanuary 17, 2016
Time for a changeJanuary 11, 2016
Christian belief, prayer and healthJanuary 2, 2016
DNA, evolution and challenges for allDecember 24, 2015
The Messiah, Isaiah and the Sydney Opera HouseDecember 13, 2015
7 facts about religion and terrorismDecember 6, 2015
Getting history right … or notNovember 25, 2015
I remember when the world was very differentNovember 17, 2015
Reality used to be a friend of ours?November 4, 2015
Who needs a crane? (Sceptics or believers?)October 28, 2015
The earth is unique!?October 19, 2015
Reasons to believe: one person’s meat is another’s poisson!October 14, 2015
Recovering from cancerOctober 7, 2015
Sean Carroll’s non-cosmological arguments against GodSeptember 27, 2015
Holy story-telling Batman! It’s Invent-a-Jesus!September 21, 2015
Objections to the theistic argument from fine-tuningSeptember 8, 2015
More objections to the science of cosmic fine-tuningAugust 30, 2015
This blog’s aspirationAugust 18, 2015
Does religion cause terrorism?August 9, 2015
How to avoid ideas you don’t like without actually showing that they’re wrongAugust 5, 2015
The science of Genesis?July 25, 2015
Do mystics really experience God?July 18, 2015
Christianity – the good and the bad?July 10, 2015
The Turin Shroud: fake or genuine?June 28, 2015
Choosing our religion (4): you are what you eat?June 20, 2015
Choosing our religion (3): how people make choicesJune 13, 2015
Why your brain needs GodJune 7, 2015
Choosing our religion (2): can we choose what we believe?June 1, 2015
Choosing our religion (1): do we have free will to choose anything?May 26, 2015
Finding TruthMay 16, 2015
Christians, Muslims, miracles, visions and conversionsMay 9, 2015
Does there have to be a reason for everything?April 28, 2015
The resurrection of Jesus – a reason to believe?April 23, 2015
Adult converts: who are they and why do they do it?April 16, 2015
Atheist slogans: one fewer god than you?April 8, 2015
No more! No more!March 31, 2015
Did the early christian church grow very fast?March 25, 2015
Do religious believers have better health and wellbeing, like, really?March 18, 2015
Sam Harris: “science must destroy religion”March 14, 2015
Horus and Jesus – a case study in inventing and ignoring evidence?March 8, 2015
Bart Ehrman on NazarethMarch 6, 2015
Nazareth – the evidence mountsFebruary 23, 2015
Prayer for healing seems to workFebruary 17, 2015
Indigenous Australians, climate change and the New Testament gospelsFebruary 10, 2015
“The sun came up from the ocean, red with the cold sea mist”January 31, 2015
Bart Ehrman and the evidence for JesusJanuary 19, 2015
When a pastor can’t keep the faithJanuary 14, 2015
God is a matchmaker? (Three stories)January 7, 2015
Is there anybody out there? Or are we alone?January 1, 2015
Believing in Jesus in an age of scepticismDecember 24, 2014
Shock! Horror! Turn off the Xmas lights! We shouldn’t be celebrating Christmas at all!December 21, 2014
Long long journey through the darknessDecember 17, 2014
Theists and non-theists think differently about moralityDecember 6, 2014
Do atheists pretend to know things they don’t know?November 29, 2014
What is faith? (Peter Boghossian vs the Oxford Dictionary)November 20, 2014
Who’s afraid of Peter Boghossian?November 11, 2014
Eight ways to avoid evidenceNovember 2, 2014
Is the human mind evidence of God?October 27, 2014
The primary reason we each believe what we doOctober 14, 2014
Finding true happiness & satisfactionOctober 6, 2014
Does religious belief make you more moral: a case study in misusing data?September 30, 2014
Ways we can try to find happiness, but in the end they don’t seem to workSeptember 22, 2014
How do people ‘find God’?September 14, 2014
An atheist’s thoughts on Jesus and historySeptember 8, 2014
Preserve your memories, they’re all that’s left you?September 2, 2014
Universal fine-tuning – quotes and referencesAugust 30, 2014
Arguments against God based on what God ‘ought’ to doAugust 24, 2014
What does it all mean?August 17, 2014
Would you believe a miracle if it happened to you?August 9, 2014
The fine-tuning argument for the existence of God: does it work?August 2, 2014
Atheist detective convinced by evidence for christianityJuly 30, 2014
Is certainty about religion and ethics a good thing?July 22, 2014
Religion and war: evidence and misinformationJuly 15, 2014
Christians vs atheists: what type of person do you want to be?July 11, 2014
Do atheists beget atheists?June 29, 2014
Arguments about universal fine tuning: Carrier vs BarnesJune 21, 2014
The science of universal fine-tuningJune 14, 2014
I’m a guest bloggerJune 8, 2014
Apologists, truth and being honest with ourselvesJune 7, 2014
Evidence for atheism?May 29, 2014
Philosophical arm wrestle: cosmic fine-tuning vs the problem of evilMay 21, 2014
How the four gospels came to be written?May 15, 2014
Jesus and the historians: ‘fact’ and faithMay 8, 2014
Were the gospels written a long time after the event?April 30, 2014
A miraculous recovery, scepticism and evidenceApril 25, 2014
Is it natural for children to believe in God or do they have to be taught it?April 21, 2014
Is religion dying out? Is this inevitable in the modern world?April 16, 2014
Rejecting the wrong god – throwing the baby out with the bathwater?April 5, 2014
Book review: CS Lewis vs the New AtheistsMarch 27, 2014
Giordano Bruno and CosmosMarch 21, 2014
How can we know if God exists? Do philosophical arguments help?March 14, 2014
Why do people believe or disbelieve? What would it take to change your mind (or mine)?March 9, 2014
Welcome to atheists (and others)March 3, 2014
How do the theistic and anti-theistic arguments rate? A personal assessmentFebruary 26, 2014
20 arguments for the existence of GodFebruary 20, 2014
Science on religion looks at
science vs religionFebruary 15, 2014
Why does the universe exist? God vs science?February 8, 2014
The Big Picture – reasons for an atheist to change his mindFebruary 1, 2014
Does religion make people prejudiced?January 21, 2014
A brief addendum on climate scienceJanuary 14, 2014
World climate 2013: honest disagreement, wilful blindness or deliberate deception?January 13, 2014
“While I can’t definitely say that gods don’t exist I am more certain that they don’t than I am that the sun will rise tomorrow.”January 8, 2014
2013 – that was the year that was ….. hot!January 4, 2014
Irrefutable evidence?December 27, 2013
Jesus: more than a baby!December 22, 2013
The star of BethlehemDecember 17, 2013
Wealth, poverty and inequalityDecember 13, 2013
Religion is a mind virus and our society needs healing from this faith pandemic?December 8, 2013
Are we not men? ¹December 2, 2013
CS Lewis, atheists and the 21st centuryNovember 27, 2013
Christians, atheists and confirmation biasNovember 21, 2013
The ‘fine-tuning’ of the universe – Stenger vs BarnesNovember 14, 2013
Where was God in the bushfires?November 4, 2013
“I don’t believe in an interventionist God” *October 28, 2013
How much did your T-shirt cost?October 20, 2013
What do the leading secular historians say about Jesus?October 12, 2013
Death to the death penalty?October 10, 2013
Collaborators in the exciting search for truthOctober 7, 2013
Was the divinity of Jesus a third century invention of the church?September 30, 2013
Did you know? Odd scientific facts about religionSeptember 26, 2013
Rational thinking is over-rated?September 23, 2013
Brain plasticity, aging and healthSeptember 16, 2013
Keeping an open mindSeptember 12, 2013
Your brain, faith and disbeliefSeptember 4, 2013
Is anybody listening?August 27, 2013
The logical conclusion from atheism …. or science?August 19, 2013
Krauss-Craig “conversation” disappointsAugust 14, 2013
Evidence, christians and scepticsAugust 12, 2013
The mystery of consciousnessAugust 6, 2013
Susan Blackmore and GodJuly 30, 2013
Susan Blackmore: religion as meme and virus?July 22, 2013
Twitter shows up differences between atheists and christiansJuly 17, 2013
How does God ‘prove’ himself to believers?July 13, 2013
Does God use miracles to prove himself? Should he?July 10, 2013
Are many christians converts?July 7, 2013
How on earth did Jesus become God?June 27, 2013
Does believing in God make you healthier and happier?June 22, 2013
Two films about Australia’s boat refugeesJune 20, 2013
The future of western civilisation – no less!June 15, 2013
What is faith?June 7, 2013
Themify – recommended blog themesJune 7, 2013
Is truth the first casualty in the atheist-christian wars?June 3, 2013
A better wayMay 30, 2013
Why does the world exist?May 26, 2013
The unexpected benefits of prayingMay 21, 2013
How US christians react to the religion-science conflictMay 14, 2013
Science and religionMay 10, 2013
The rich get richer, and the poor get the picture *May 6, 2013
Miracles and probability: the adventures of a maths nerdMay 2, 2013
Healing miracles around the worldApril 28, 2013
40,000 christian denominations show the christian God doesn’t exist? (2)April 25, 2013
40,000 christian denominations show the christian God doesn’t exist? (1)April 22, 2013
Believers vs unbelievers – who are more generous?April 17, 2013
Slavery in the spotlightApril 15, 2013
The making of a minimalist christianApril 7, 2013
The oppression goes on?April 4, 2013
Atheism and freewill – the elephant in the room?April 2, 2013
Religion statisticsMarch 28, 2013
Books: historical JesusMarch 26, 2013
Moving naturalism forwards?March 22, 2013
How many early humans?March 16, 2013
The loneliness of the long distance atheist?March 12, 2013
People shouldn’t be bought and soldMarch 6, 2013
Josephus and JesusMarch 3, 2013
Christians vs science?February 28, 2013
Evolution vs God?February 25, 2013
DNA, history and GodFebruary 21, 2013
I’m a guest blogger (again)February 19, 2013
Science and christian belief – where’s the conflict?February 14, 2013
Following JesusFebruary 12, 2013
Why does religion make people happier?February 8, 2013
Conversion storiesFebruary 3, 2013
Tony’s Chocolonely – serious chocolate!January 22, 2013
A general practitioner of the webJanuary 10, 2013
Michael Ruse on evolution and creationJanuary 6, 2013
Do religious people do more good or harm?January 3, 2013
Errors in the New Testament?December 30, 2012
Atheism: reality or illusion …. or both?December 26, 2012
The human mind – a challenge for materialism?December 19, 2012
The burden of proof?December 15, 2012
More on the New Testament documentsDecember 8, 2012
Atheists vs christians: does it have to be war?December 1, 2012
Revised dates for ancient documentsNovember 28, 2012
Is there really a consensus of scholars on historical facts about Jesus?November 18, 2012
Scientific fraudNovember 17, 2012
The evidence for Jesus: a case studyNovember 14, 2012
Forgive for lifeNovember 8, 2012
The best way to combat climate change?November 2, 2012
Jesus – assessing the evidence fairly?October 31, 2012
Is science replacing God?October 22, 2012
Climate changeOctober 12, 2012
The only way to know God?October 4, 2012
The day God saved my life …. perhapsOctober 4, 2012
The hiddenness of GodSeptember 27, 2012
Christianity vs other religionsSeptember 22, 2012
Nagel & Plantinga – a lesson for us allSeptember 16, 2012
Does this look like a world created by a good God?September 8, 2012
Can we trust our experience?September 2, 2012
Nazareth re-visitedAugust 25, 2012
Miracles, evidence and scepticismAugust 19, 2012
Is belief in God just subjective?August 15, 2012
Why believe?August 8, 2012
Visions of Jesus? (again)August 5, 2012
Jesus vs the pagan godsJuly 28, 2012
Jesus vs MithrasJuly 20, 2012
A small victory in the fight against child slaveryJuly 18, 2012
Did Jesus’ followers worship him as divine?July 2, 2012
The global food crisis – 1 billion hungryJune 24, 2012
The moral argument for GodJune 19, 2012
One thing I believeJune 11, 2012
New ways of looking at thingsJune 7, 2012
7 things I ‘know’ about GodJune 6, 2012
Ethical chocolate updateJune 1, 2012
Did Bethlehem and Nazareth exist in Jesus’ day?May 28, 2012
The Jesus myth wars heat upMay 24, 2012
Michael Ruse on why is there something rather than nothing?May 17, 2012
When too much evidence is barely enough?May 9, 2012
How reliable is the New Testament text?April 26, 2012
Atheist myths?April 23, 2012
Another healing??April 15, 2012
An atheist convertApril 5, 2012
Do children naturally believe in God?March 29, 2012
Lawrence Krauss and creation from nothingMarch 25, 2012
Bart Ehrman on did Jesus exist?March 22, 2012
Atheist argumentsMarch 18, 2012
Easter eggs and slaveryMarch 15, 2012
Was Jesus really raised from the dead?March 4, 2012
Two stories – choose oneFebruary 29, 2012
Enjoy your spam!February 23, 2012
Visions of Jesus?February 22, 2012
“People who believe in God are happier.”February 16, 2012
A half truth about evidenceFebruary 8, 2012
Richard Dawkins on who is an atheistFebruary 7, 2012
God of the GapsFebruary 2, 2012
Jerry Coyne and free willJanuary 23, 2012
Was the universe designed?January 9, 2012
Jerry Coyne: why we don’t have free willJanuary 6, 2012
Did Jesus claim to be the son of God?January 1, 2012
Jesus and God, honesty and hopeDecember 26, 2011
Fair Trade chocolate – report 2December 25, 2011
The cosmological argument for the existence of GodDecember 18, 2011
Enjoy your spam!!!December 14, 2011
Books: the philosophy of GodDecember 14, 2011
Bible reading and social attitudesDecember 13, 2011
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet!December 9, 2011
Fair Trade chocolate – report 1December 8, 2011
God explains nothing?December 2, 2011
Honesty and beliefNovember 26, 2011
The story of PZ Myers and the Gelato GuyNovember 24, 2011
My pleasure, their misery?November 21, 2011
Does religion cause wars?November 14, 2011
The cost of addressing world povertyNovember 10, 2011
Do christians fear death?November 7, 2011
A beautiful day?November 6, 2011
7 billion and countingOctober 30, 2011
Peter Singer and infanticideOctober 26, 2011
Craig vs DawkinsOctober 23, 2011
Sam Harris on consciousnessOctober 19, 2011
SupportOctober 16, 2011
Miraculous healings and GodOctober 16, 2011
False arguments? – evidence for Santa?October 10, 2011
The Middle East 2008 concertOctober 8, 2011
False arguments? – many healings, many godsOctober 6, 2011
False arguments? – the unfriendly universeOctober 5, 2011
Sam Harris on faith – sensible or silly?October 3, 2011
Religion in AmericaSeptember 28, 2011
Broken societies, greed & ethicsSeptember 27, 2011
Climate change, lies and statisticsSeptember 18, 2011
Would a good God allow so much suffering?September 9, 2011
Is christianity just cultural?September 4, 2011
Science, faith and certaintyAugust 30, 2011
Archaeology and JesusAugust 29, 2011
God and worryAugust 25, 2011
Why try to be good? (3)August 18, 2011
Why try to be good? (2)August 13, 2011
Why try to be good?August 4, 2011
Farewell Middle East?August 1, 2011
See change?July 31, 2011
Philosophical arguments for the existence of GodJuly 28, 2011
John Dickson on why people believe thingsJuly 22, 2011
drug addicts, triad gangs, and one of my heroesJuly 18, 2011
the cost of climate changeJuly 17, 2011
ECREE: Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence?July 1, 2011
Atheist myths?June 25, 2011
the exploits and adventures of david sloan wilsonJune 19, 2011
is it irrational to believe in divine healing?June 16, 2011
fulfilled prophecy in the bible?June 12, 2011
Who believes in God?June 7, 2011
Is it natural to believe in God?May 30, 2011
a new beginningMay 26, 2011