Why return to an ancestral town for a census?
This excerpt is taken from my book, The Nativity: A Critical Examination, and details why Joseph returning to his ancestral town for a census, as according to Luke is a ridiculous idea.
Jonathan MS Pearce
Is Islam threatening the world?
I recently wrote a piece, "I am Rationally Islamaphobic", which set out why I think Islam is a problem, and is a worldview to worry about. Well, it seems like areas of the world are self destructing under its dogmatic extremes. We could argue about defining Islamic extremism, but there is something
My 3-year-old makes an evolutionary hypothesis
OK so my twins are almost 4, but that doesn't stop me being proud when they make what appears to be good causal connections about the world around them. In this case, looking closely at a dinosaur boo, this is what happened. I was busy getting dressed and ready for work; I was impatiently in a hurry
Taxpayers' cash should not be used to fund faith schools, say voters
OK, so if you have been following the debacle of the schools in Birmingham, UK, which have involved the schools inspectorate in the UK, you will know that there is a huge worry
The World Cup, and being run by a bunch of immoral crooks
I am more than a little skeptical about the World Cup in Brazil. This video is cracking (John Oliver is doing such a good job in that slot):
Joseph of Arimathea; a rich prophecy fulfilment
I have spoken about Joseph of Arimathea before, in the videos linked below. Just reading a chapter by Robert M. Price in The End of Christianity, I came across this very simple aspect which shows, to me at any rate, that Matthew's sole job seemed to be to contrive as many random prophecy fulfilments
The German Thinkers Give it Some in Monopoly!
Brilliant
Winell on the ridiculousness of the Atonement
Marlene Winell, an ex-Christian, in Leaving the Fold, wrote, The most serious demand for unquestioned belief is, of course, the atonement. First the believer is to suspend familiar notions of justice, such as
Wonderful piece of creative art
OK, so I am biased. James are my favourite band, having seen them a whole bunch of times etc. But this is stop motion animation at its best. An extraordinary piece of work
The Holy Trinity as Incoherent #2 - Penal Substitution Theory
Some weeks back I wrote a piece on the general incoherence of the Holy Trinity from a logical and philosophical point of view, taking into account existence properties and the like. In this post I want to return to the subject, though to look at it from a theological perspective.
UKIP voters must surely support Scottish independence, no?
UKIP have done spectacularly well in the recent local and European elections in the UK> They were a fringe group of right-wing Euro/climate/immigrant-skeptics. They are now not so fringe, having, post-recession, harnessed the fear vote. Whilst I don’t deny the need for immigration reforms, suppor
Dear Christians With Guns: Anastasia Basil tells it straight
It keeps on happening and it looks like it will probably be business as usual. "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun s a good guy with a gun" mentality just never ceases. Apparently the Constitution is magic and can't be changed and applies to semi-automatic weapons. As this article reports: