thoughtful ideas on life's big questions
I have spent many hours this past week reading up on the Egyptian god Horus and the claim that more than a hundred aspects of the life of Jesus recorded in the gospels were copied from the mythology of Horus – and hence that the Jesus stories must also be myth. What I have found […]
I have long had an interest in the effectiveness of prayer for healing. My initial reaction to healing claims tends to be mild scepticism (I believe healing can occur but I don’t believe all claims of divine healing are credible), but I try to find cases where there is good evidence. So I am interested […]
How could indigenous Australians, climate change and the New Testament gospels possibly be connected? But there really is a connection. So please read on!
Bart Ehrman is a respected New Testament scholar and an “atheist-leaning agnostic”. As well as academic publications, he has written a number of popular-level books about Jesus and the New Testament. Many of the books present a more sceptical view of the New Testament than many christians accept, but one of his more recent books, […]
The headline said “Former Pastor Decides To Spend A Year Without God”. A christian pastor was going to try living as an atheist for a year, and see what happened. Like many, I was interested in what led to this radical step, and where it would lead. Not long ago, a year later, he announced […]
I enjoy hearing people’s stories, especially when they have a happy ending. So here’s three more …. three individuals finding a new purpose in life through God.
I like to collect stories, especially stories of people finding God. (He wasn’t lost of course, just lost to them! 🙂 ) I enjoy reading (or hearing in conversation) people’s stories simply to get to know them better, but also because I like to learn from others’ experiences. These two stories both concern Professors of […]
Are theists more moral than non-theists, or is it the other way round? Do theists and non-theists think very differently about ethics? It used to be easy to argue about these questions because everyone had a story to tell and no-one had any scientific evidence. But nowadays psychologists and others are undertaking scientific studies of […]
Previously I wrote about recent research on Ways we can try to find happiness, but in the end they don’t seem to work. So psychologists have found that pleasure seeking and materialism may provide short term pleasure but they don’t make for a happy or satisfied life. So what does?
Initial note This is unfortunately a sometimes negative post, and slightly longer than usual. I’m sorry about that. I have tried to be fair and positive, but I think it was important to address this issue. Both christians and non-believers seem to want to prove that their belief makes for a better society and the […]