the nativity

A collection of 77 posts

Biblical Exegesis

(The Worst) Quote of the Day (Ever): JohnM on Probability and Whatnot.

Holy cow. Get ready for this. I am not trying to be rhetorical here, but these are corkers, and none of them in a good way. The total lack of understanding is almost embarrassing. Should I waste my time dealing with these comments? Probably not. It gets frustrating when an

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: Ancestral Maths

As I have pointed out numerous times, the census as claimed in the Gospel of Luke, is simply incoherent.  I have given out a challenge to one of the commenters here. Here is my challenge in the form of statements that the apologist has to address: 1. A client kingdom

Biblical Exegesis

The Nativity Census Challenge: Update

For any of you who haven't been reading the threads on the census, a challenge that I set to See Noevo to answer, I would like to update you on what he has delivered by way of riposte: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIIuR-HjFho For longtime readers

Biblical Exegesis

The Nativity Census Challenge: Possibiliter ergo Probabiliter

Let us recap on the Nativity Census Challenge posed to a Christian commenter here. Here is my challenge in the form of statements that he has to address: 1. A client kingdom has never been taxed directly or had such censuses in the history of the Roman Empire. 2. When

Biblical Exegesis

The Nativity Census Challenge: Answer This.

My Christmas goodwill and patience has evaporated like a week-old pan of mulled wine left on the slow-burning hob. Infamous commenter here, See Noevo, most of the time just has no ability to see his own comments and behaviour in an objective light. He suffers very much from the Dunning-Kruger

Biblical Exegesis

Nativity Plays, Epistemology and Censuses

I recently had the twee pleasure of seeing my twins in their annual Nativity play at their primary school. This is something that goes on in every single primary school up and down the nation, almost without fail. As I point out in my book on the Nativity accounts and

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: A Christmas Round-Up

[caption id="attachment_6023" align="alignleft" width="113"] My book. Dig it.[/caption] I have, at different Christmases, run some series debunking the historical claims within the Bible (specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Luke) to show them as wanting, running alongside my book

Biblical Exegesis

Christmas Crackers: To Bethlehem or Not to Bethlehem

This came up in conversation and so I will present the issues concerning Bethlehem in the nativity accounts in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. These posts concerning the nativity sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Bethlehem is a very important place for the average Christian. It

Biblical Exegesis

Christmas Crackers: Why Return to an Ancestral Town for a Census?

Since this has come up in a recent thread, where Christian commenter and biblical accuracy asserter See Noevo has been defending it, I thought I'd run through some of the many myriad issues with the Lukan census. This excerpt is taken from my book, The Nativity: A Critical

Biblical Exegesis

Merry Christmas Everybody, but It Never Happened Though...

Christmas is upon us; the season of joy and merriment. I have a book called The Nativity: A Critical Examination, which is a topical read, methinks. Given the time of year, let us look at the claims of the (only two) Gospels that actually mention the birth of Jesus. Which

Biblical Exegesis

When Your Everyday Catholic Doesn't Get It

See Noevo is no doubt a committed Catholic, but what he said recently really illustrated much of the problem in debating laymen. I don't mean this to be a personal attack on him and to use "laymen" pejoratively, but my point is important. My piece in

Biblical Exegesis

Responding to Criticism on the Herod/Census Problem

This is my second rebuttal to the efforts Dave Armstrong is putting in to trying to debunk my claims of contradictions in the Bible. The first rebuttal, completed yesterday, looked at his criticisms of my case that there are contradictions involved in the accounts of Jesus alighting on the shore

Christmas

The Most Genius Thing You Will See about Christmas

Philomena Cunk, the pseudonym of comedian Diane Morgan, is awesome. This is for you, my American friends (though there are loads of UK references that might go over your heads like a large marquee). The part on Die Hard is fab: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ_NzBnl3k0

Biblical Exegesis

My Debate on the Nativity with Randal Rauser

Some time ago, I had my first public debate, hosted by the Reasonable Doubts podcast and radio show. Check out my book on the subject The Nativity: A 'critical Examination. As I posted a couple of years back: My pre-recorded debate with Randal Rauser, a Christian apologist from Canada,

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity - Quirinius vs Herod and the Ten Year Gap

This is the fifth instalment in the “Debunking the Nativity” series (not including a rebuttal piece) and I will concentrate in this piece on Quirinius and Herod. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. If you have watched any primary school nativity, you will have seen

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: Boney M

[caption id="attachment_6023" align="alignleft" width="113"] My book. Dig it.[/caption] I have recently been running a series debunking the historical claims within the Bible (specifically the Gospels of Matthew and Luke) to show them as wanting, running alongside my book The

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: To Bethlehem or Not to Bethlehem

This is the fifth instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series (not including a rebuttal piece) and I will concentrate in this piece on Bethlehem. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Bethlehem is a very important place for the average Christian. It is

Biblical Exegesis

Conflicting Genealogies of Jesus and the Thesis of a Matrilineal Bloodline Refuted

In one of my recent (indeed, the last) posts about the Nativity, it has been pointed out that some Christians defend a particular harmonisation of a biblical difference. I would like to set it out here in order to show that his epistemological approach is somewhat dodgy and that the

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: Contradictory Genealogies

This is the fourth instalment in the "Debunking the Nativity" series and I will concentrate on the genealogies of Jesus. These posts sit alongside my book The Nativity: A Critical Examination. Both the Gospel of Luke and the Gospel of Matthew contain genealogies which look to trace Jesus’

Biblical Exegesis

Debunking the Nativity: The Male Genome

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. Continuing along the theme of the conception of Jesus, let us look at biological problems that have theological

Aaron Adair

My Interview with Dr Aaron Adair on the Star of Bethlehem

Here is an interview from a few years ago with (now) Dr Aaron Adair. The interview was around the time of the release of his book The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR2uyD_1SHs

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 Virgin Birth

This is the second 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. The first thing to note is that the Gospel authors had an agenda. They were pro-Jesus non-eyewitnesses who

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

Aaron Adair

Another Great Review for "The Star of Bethlehem: A Skeptical View"

Aaron Adair has written a fantastic skeptical analysis of the claims surrounding the Star of Bethlehem. It really is the go-to book on the subject, and it was a joy for me to edit it. Here is another recent review for it: 5.0 out of 5 stars A Rising