thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
“Why does the world exist?” is one of the most fundamental questions about life. It may be a clue to deep truths about life and perhaps about God. And it can make all but the most ardent theist squirm for lack of a satisfactory answer. “Why does the world exist?” is also a book which […]
Conventional ‘wisdom’ says that religion and science are at war, or at least opposed. Certainly you’ll find many atheists and many believers saying that. But there is another side to the story. Some scientific discoveries seem (to some) to support belief, and many scientists are believers. And in recent times, the scientific study of religion […]
I am a bit of a maths nerd – I enjoy using spreadsheets and graphs to analyse and illustrate. But I can’t claim much expertise – I did once obtain a Distinction in Statistics at Uni, but I’ve forgotten all of that now. So while writing up some material on healing miracles (see Healing miracles […]
Craig Keener is a New Testament scholar who decided to test whether the accounts of miraculous healings in the Bible had parallels in reports today. He read hundreds of written accounts, interviewed hundreds of eye witnesses (including some of his in-laws in Africa) and obtained written documentation where he could, and wrote his findings up […]
In October 2012, 14 eminent scientists, philosophers and other thinkers met for 3 days in a workshop entitled Moving Naturalism Forwards. Why did they meet and what were the outcomes?
In a discussion on another post (on archaeology at Nazareth), a reader referred to first century Jewish historian, Josephus. He suggested that Josephus had not mentioned Jesus in his history, and that this was “telling”. I felt the comment merited a separate post. Did Josephus refer to Jesus? What is the current consensus of relevant […]
It’s more or less a stereotype, especially in the US: christians are thought to be anti-science. Except the evidence apparently says something different.
This blog and the website are just over 18 months old, though they continue on from previous versions that go back years. I thought it might be appropriate, as 2013 begins, to review what I am aiming to do and what this site offers.
When believers and unbelievers discuss, someone or other is likely to say something like: The one making the claim has the burden of proof! What is the burden of proof in this case, and who has it?
A couple of weeks back I posted some information on the surviving documentation for a number of ancient texts including the New Testament (Revised dates for ancient documents). Now, in the comments to that post, I have been asked some more questions about the New Testament documents. So here’s the answers to those questions, as […]