Gospel of Matthew - A Tippling Philosopher (Page 2)

Easter Doubt: On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 2)

As mentioned in my previous post, someone in Malawi is about to have a debate on national TV with a Christian about the Resurrection accounts and I have been asked to help provide some ideas for the debate, so here goes. There are three aspects to the debunking of the

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: The Mistranslation of "Virgin"

This is the third instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series and I will concentrate on the virgin birth. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Remaining on the subject of the virgin birth, it is worth noting the issue involving the mistranslation of

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: The Gospel Sources

I am going to run a series this Christmas time to skeptically evaluate the nativity of Jesus, running alongside my previous book on the subject (The Nativity: A Critical Examination), which I think you should all buy. All of you. This initial piece will concern the sources. And the first

Easter

Easter Round-Up: Everything You Need To Skeptically Know About The Resurrection

Being that time of year, let me remind you of some things that I have written on the Resurrection (and death and burial) of Jesus: On the Skepticism of the Resurrection On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 2) On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 3) On the Skepticism

Biblical Exegesis

Matthew and the guards at the tomb

In this post, I am going to look at the resurrection account given by Matthew, in particular his addition found in no other Gospel account, that there were guards stationed at the tomb. According to Matthew, the chief priests were worried that the disciples might steal Jesus’ body to fake

Biblical Exegesis

On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 3)

As mentioned in my two previous posts, it is that time of year again where the Resurrection of Jesus requires a thorough going over. Here is continues. There are three aspects to the debunking of the Resurrection: 1) The Gospels are not reliable sources of information; they are poor quality

Biblical Exegesis

On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 2)

As mentioned in my previous post, someone in Malawi is about to have a debate on national TV with a Christian about the Resurrection accounts and I have been asked to help provide some ideas for the debate, so here goes. There are three aspects to the debunking of the

Epistemology

Me & Koresh vs the Gospel Writers & Jesus

Christian: Why is it more probable that your god exists than man made him up? We have an exceptionally high prior probability that your god is false given that we both believe that every other god claimed to be true (before and after) is false. Thus, on prior probability, the

Biblical Exegesis

Extraordinary Claims DO Require Extraordinary Evidence!

I thought I'd resurrect this old chestnut from a few years ago. This was reported by the Secular Outpost some time ago. Gotta feel sorry for Licona - seems like such a nice guy! "As reported by Christianity Today (see here), New Testament scholar Michael Licona has

Aaron Adair

Star of Bethlehem: Methodological Difficulties

Aaron Adair wrote a superb book which I edited called The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View. It is well worth reading, and you will learn a number of gems. I thought I would give you a taste with part of the second chapter detailing methodological difficulties involved with the Gospel of Matthew a

Biblical Exegesis

On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 3)

Having looked at points 1) and 2) it is time to see if there is a more plausible explanation for the data from a naturalistic perspective than the Christian claims. Before setting out the positive case, I want to spend a little time going over some of the data from the Gospels and how they are probl

Biblical Exegesis

On the Skepticism of the Resurrection (part 2)

As mentioned in my previous post, someone in Malawi is about to have a debate on national TV with a Christian about the Resurrection accounts and I have been asked to help provide some ideas for the debate, so here goes.

Aaron Adair

Response to Triablogue's Jason Engwer on Nativity Accounts (Part 1)

Triablogue's Jason Engwer has written a criticism of some of my recent posts (as well as my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination) on the Nativity accounts in Matthew (and Luke). Here, I will respond to him and his points.

Featured ATP

Herod would never have slaughtered the innocents

It's that time of year when those nativity accounts get brought up. And summarily debunked. My book, The Nativity: A Critical Examination, hopefully does a good job of dealing with the many attempts to harmonise the contradictory accounts in Matthew and Luke.

Biblical Exegesis

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

atheism

Me and Koresh vs the Gospel Writers and Jesus

Christian: Why is it more probable that your god exists than man made him up? We have an exceptionally high prior probability that your god is false given that we both believe that every other god claimed to be true (before and after) is false. Thus, on prior probability, the JC God is HIGHLY

Bart Ehrman

Ehrman on the Nativity

This is the sort of stuff I talk about in my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination, available from the sidebar over there on your right! From Bart Ehrman's blog: - Christianity In Antiquity (behind a members only wall):

Gospel of Luke

"Jonathan Pearce Points Out the Many Questions Raised By The Stories of Jesus' Infancy in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke"

Ed Babinski has recently kindly written about my book, The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Here is his post. Thanks, Ed! Jonathan Pearce has composed a book titled, The Nativity: A Critical Examination in which he asks questions like these (to which I have added a few comments myself below-