thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
CS Lewis was the most influential writer or teacher in my early christian faith, but it has become fashionable among both atheists and some christians to minimise his contribution and worth. How do his arguments for christian belief stack up today?
“Confirmation bias …. is a tendency of people to favor information that confirms their beliefs or hypotheses. People display this bias when they gather or remember information selectively, or when they interpret it in a biased way …. [or] interpret ambiguous evidence as supporting their existing position.” (Wikipedia) Atheists often accuse christians of confirmation bias, […]
A lot of things are written about Jesus, by believers, sceptics and everyone in between. But what do the experts (historians at leading universities) say? Ken, a reader of this blog, asked a question about this recently in comments on another topic, so I thought a separate post might help clarify.
In a recent discussion, a reader commented on a claim by Alvin Boyd Kuhn that “Christianity took a wrong turn during the 3rd century and looked to one man being divine” We can all choose to believe whatever we wish, but is there any historical evidence for this claim?
Last post, I discussed Nate’s idea that God used miracles to prove he existed in Jesus’ day, and so he should still do so today if he existed. And I gave reasons to believe that wasn’t a correct understanding of God, nor of Jesus’ life. So, does God give us any good reasons to believe, […]
Nate generated some discussion on miracles on his Finding Truth blog. Some of his blog, and the subsequent discussion, suggested that miracles in the Bible and the ministry of Jesus were meant to provide proof of Jesus’ divinity. And therefore if God wants us to believe in him today, he should keep on providing convincing […]
Most historians have concluded that a man named Jesus truly lived and died in first century Palestine, and that the gospels tell us significant details about his life. These historians include non-believers and Jews (who generally believe Jesus was no more than an outstanding man) as well as Christians (who generally believe he was divine). […]
Phil Hemsley has a blog, Thoughts from a Minimalist Christian. Since I have discovered it, I have enjoyed reading Phil’s thoughts, but I wondered how a 40 year old atheist (as he once was) came to convert to christian belief. So I asked him.
I have recently read two very different books about Jesus and history. One was long, one short; one was by a retired academic, the other by a rising star; one was a detailed analysis of all the things we can objectively know about Jesus’ life, the other a postmodern explanation of why our knowledge is […]
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 […]