thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
Vale Maurice Casey New Testament historian, Maurice Casey, Emeritus Professor of New Testament Languages and Literature in the University of Nottingham, died late last week after a long period of illness. Casey was the author of several books and a recognised expert in Aramaic and the Aramaic sources in the gospels. I have found his […]
Last post I looked at one aspect of the historical evidence for the life of Jesus – Were the gospels written a long time after the event? Another question often asked, or a claim often made, relates to how much evidence there is for the events and teachings outlined in the gospels, and how much […]
I was asked recently, in the comments section of another blog, about how long the gospels were written after the time of Jesus’ death. I said it wasn’t long by ancient standards, so I thought it might be worth outlining the facts on this matter.
I came across another story of an apparent healing miracle recently, so I investigated it.
I’ve seen it many times. A confident statement by a committed atheist that religion is dying out. It is inevitable. Modernisation, especially science, has made it impossible for the virus of faith to survive much longer. Scandinavia is a peaceful paradise and almost godless, and shows that once society rides itself of God, prosperity and […]
Over the years I’ve met many people, in ‘real life’ and on the internet, who have changed their beliefs about God. Some have moved from unbelief to belief in Jesus, others have moved from belief to atheism. And I have come across a few who have changed their belief twice – from faith to unbelief […]
The trial of Giordano Bruno by the Roman Inquisition, by Ettore Ferrari. Picture: Wikipedia. Recently the TV series Cosmos: a Spacetime Odyssey hosted by astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, was launched on TV screens around the world. I didn’t watch it (we don’t have pay TV) but the first episode generated some controversy, with critics arguing […]
My friend Howie has a blog, Truth is Elusive, and his latest post discusses the philosophical arguments for the existence of God, and whether they are effective or even useful. His broad conclusion is “not very” – that is not for him, not for many people, only for a few. I mostly agree with Howie […]
People believe in God, or disbelieve, for many different reasons. What convinces one person makes no impression on another. So I am always interested in what convinces people, or not. And I am very interested in attempts people make to give an integrated and holistic explanation for belief. Fellow blogger (Minimalist Christian) Phil Hemsley was […]
It’s that time of year, when even non-christians think about Jesus, at least a little. But what do they think? What should they think?