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 December 29, 2006
December 27, 2006 Now for my second review of one of these postmodern/emergent sorts, Rob Bell's Velvet Elvis. I've also started a TWeb thread to discuss this and the McLaren review here. December 26, 2006 Eh -- some extra work I thought I'd have got put on hold, so I may as well catch up on my reading, especially on books I've borrowed from people. (hee hee) So today we have a review of my first look at what's been called postmodern Christianity -- Brian McLaren's A New Kind of Christian. December 19, 2006 It looks like this will pretty much be it for the year as far as uploads: there'll be a few new items added to the Classics Library before we're done with 2006, and offline, there's some good progress on the "gift book" idea for college students. I hope to have more news next month. Of course I may just post something else at some point anyway, but we'll see. We do have a prayer request for a reader's uncle, named Jim, who has lost a leg to diabetes-induced gangrene and is now on dialysis. Please pray for his recovery and for his family to feel God's comfort and prescence at this difficult time. Otherwise, a blessed observed Savior's birthday to all -- and we'll see you next year. December 14, 2006 OK, now that THAT is over....a reader submitted a link for a review of The Nativity Story; it's here. Also, ministry link exchange: Ten Minas Ministries. December 13, 2006 Impostor alert: Whoever is posting on the CARM forums in my name is not the real me, folks. I only have time for TheologyWeb if anything these days. Whoever is posting on CARM's forums in my name is an impostor. December 11, 2006 I'll be improving some files in the Classics collection today, and we also have an anti-blog note. The self-alleged "Rational Response Squad" (aka Fundy Atheists on the Run) has now launched a program in which they give away 1001 copies of The God Who Wasn't There to anyone making a video of themselves, posted on "YouTube" (the video version of Wikipedia, to the extent that it is an exercise in unrestrained anarchy), blaspheming the Holy Spirit. Of course their understanding of what that means is as primtive as Flemming's was (they need only make a video of themselves saying they are not Christians; it is not necessary to say specifically, "I deny the Holy Spirit"), but in any event, it's nice to see that the crew there has finally grown up a little, so that they are now in their terrible twos. May we suggest for their next feat they ask their readers to post videos of themselves crying for their blankies. December 8, 2006
December 6, 2006 Yeah, I know it's not technically the 6th but I may be real busy tomorrow. We have a special prayer request for "Timothy" who is incarcerated and facing trial in January. He was raised in the faith but wandered away and now regards Christianity as a fairy tale. Also, for those who enjoy that feature, the November 2006 Screwballs of the Month is up on the toon site. December 5, 2006 Anti-blog request first: Anyone who will see The Nativity Story and would like to write a review for me, please drop me a line. I don't plan to see it unless it causes controversy.
November 29, 2006
Finally a little "anti-blog" note on a couple of publishing projects. Impossible Faith will likely be in print in January. On the college "gift book" idea I've been asked to write a formal book proposal for a publisher to look at, and January is again when we'll see more action on that. November 28, 2006
November 21, 2006
November 17, 2006
November 16, 2006 Time for an anti-blog note. I haven't dealt with Earl Doherty in a long time, but he has finally crossed the line and become someone Too Stupid to Reply To. In a recent effort he barks at the heels of real scholars (people with serious credentials, which is not him) for not taking Jesus-myth nuttiness seriously. I make an appearance too, and it encapsulates (along with his citation elsewhere of Farrell Till [!] as an authority) why Earl has crossed the Too Stupid line: The notorious Internet apologist, J. P. Holding (a pseudonym), has offered the following as an explanation for the universal silence on the life of Jesus in the epistles: there was no need to mention any of this stuff—everyone already knew it! Quite apart from this never being a reason for Christian writers and preachers, since the Gospels were adopted, not to make mention of things we already knew, it is based on more than one unlikely assumption. Are we to assume that this awareness would universally lead all Christian writers before the Gospels (and many after) to remain silent, suppressing their own instinct to talk about the historical Jesus? Are we to assume that in fact, in every Christian community, everyone did know everything there was to know about Jesus’ life, even in newly-formed congregations such as Paul sometimes writes to? Perhaps such congregations circulated memos admonishing those who wrote to them not to mention details about Jesus because they already knew everything there was to know and were tired of hearing it. (One wonders if Mr. Holding ever receives complaints from his wife that he never tells her that he loves her. Perhaps he answers: “But, dear, you don’t need to be told. You already know that I love you!”) As you can see, Earl makes no mention of my points about high context vs low context -- he apparently never checks my material for updates, not even after this many years. Shame on you, Earl. Or maybe he does, and knows that the high-low context dichotomy is the stake in his heart. As a reminder:
Holding claims that only if someone forgets a piece of information does it become necessary to remind him of it. To judge by Paul’s letters, many people did indeed forget what Jesus had said on earth, since they were still arguing over issues that Jesus supposedly had settled. Here is Holding’s “need,” yet no one answers the call. Earl tried to show this in his "Sound of Silence" nonsense and failed all 200 times. Pretty sad stuff. Sentiments like those of Stanton and Holding are beyond naïve. They are a denial, a surrender, of common sense reasoning which a moment’s consideration should render dismissible. The problem is, like so many of the glib arguments used against mythicism, they have not been given a moment’s consideration. Well, it's nice to be in the same boat with someone as prestigious as Stanton. In any event, I guess the concept of high context is one part of that denial of common sense I'm in. Most of Earl's reply to the scholars is along this line; they're all blind, ignorant of his genius, etc. and of course his treatment of the secular references is all been there done that as far as we are concerned, and Earl has still been too chicken to take on the bulk of my material on him. We'll leave it at that, with Earl's ego inflated to 6500 psi as he floats around wondering why he don't get no respect. To check back on all that stuff we wrote, go here and look under Doherty. November 15, 2006
November 13, 2006
November 9, 2006 Added the fourth Letter to a Maladjusted Misotheist, Sam Harris. I've also found and contacted a self-pub company for TIF and am now working on the necessary technical details. If all goes to plan TIF should be in print in very early 2007. November 8, 2006 Reworked and added some material in the Classics Library. November 7, 2006
November 6, 2006
November 3, 2006
November 2, 2006 I've put up another sample chapter of the "gift book," this one on the pagan copycat thesis. In addition, we have our first part of a response to Sam Harris' Letter a Christian Nation, titled Letter to a Maladjusted Misotheist. Have fun with it. October 31, 2006 Okay, so -- what's today? Reformation Day. Got it. Time to go around the neighborhood nailing 95 Theses to everyone's door. We have a new guest item called The Barefaced Archaeologist by "Beast Rabban". Other than that, before the week is over I want to post one more sample chapter of that gift book project, as well as start giving the business to Sam Harris' Letter to a Christian Nation, which arrived to me by post this week complete with a scholarship detoxification kit. Also, though I have removed the graphic, the answer to the Wal-Mart Bible Letter is still online. October 25, 2006 I put together one short, sample chapter for the gift book project; you can see it here (it is a Word document). I want to do two more samples and an outline for my supporter who was interested in this project. Also, I've gotten enough requests (some very motivated) about a book titled Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris that I've decided to do something specific about it. Harris appeared in Flemming's The God Who Wasn't There, which by itself was sufficient for him to earn the title of Grade A Knucklehead, but from the excerpts I have seen, Letter takes him even further down the scale to Goo on a Stick. Not surprisingly, praise for the book comes from non-experts in the field like mathematics and psychology professors who wouldn't know what "exegesis" meant if they found it in a dictionary. But anyway, we'll start working on that one soon. October 23, 2006 A couple of notes here...and one new instructional item. Guess this amounts to an anti-blog entry.
October 17, 2006 OK, thanks to the folks with gmail. I figured out the problem. I had put a block on a "stupid person" writing from a gmail account and Earthlink managed to bar ALL mail from gmail accounts that way. I'm putting the skids on that now. Anyone who wrote me with gmail may resend to my standard address. October 15, 2006 Need some help here: I just had a person write me and say that I didn't answer some email over the past year. This is the second person to do so and I just noted that both had an email address with "gmail.com". So I'd like to ask anyone with a gmail address to write me at my usual email (jphold@earthlink.net) and at the same time send me a cc copy to the address I use for the toon site (sheilarangslinger@yahoo.com). I want to see what happens. Added a copy of my interview on The Narrow Mind to the Audio Library. Also did the first "field test" of the Trusting the New Testament series at my church this past weeked and got a few insights. October 6, 2006 Got a book review of A Biblical History of Israel. This item also was used to update the article on Jericho with the latest scholarship. October 5, 2006 For those who enjoy that feature, the September 2006 Screwballs of the Month is up on my toon site. October 3, 2006 Started up the Apologetics Bible Study for John with stuff already on the site only. Also, I'll be on "The Narrow Mind" program with Gene Cook as a guest this Friday. September 29, 2006 Wrapped up the Corinthians Bible Study. September 26, 2006 Added a tad more material to the Corinthians Bible Study. Hopefully this one will be done by the end of the week. On the side, I have noticed that the article on Scientist testimonies is ranked #1 in traffic this month. I assume someone has linked to it from some major traffic area...anyone know who did that? We're curious. There's also some substantial traffic to our Wal-Mart Bible letter response...let's keep that going. September 22, 2006 Added some more material to the Corinthians Bible Study. September 20, 2006 I've been busily scouting out locations to try the new teaching series, and also funding sources for publishing projects, so there's not been much to post. I did enter into the next round of debate with gentleman atheist John Powell on the Christ myth (link below) and we also have a guest item, The Dawkins Delusion by "Beast Rabban". September 14, 2006 Another online ministry has, with my approval, posted a version of the correction to the Wal-Mart Bible Letter (see entry below) that is equipped with online signature capabilities. You can find that here (with our usual caveat about links to those who may hold positions we do not necessarily agree with on other issues). September 13, 2006 Yep, got a bunch of typos and links corrected, added some more Classics, and today also a "Too Stupid to Reply To" entry added to the Encyclopedia on a guy I've been asked about, David Plotz of slate.com. September 11, 2006 Earthquake? What earthquake? Nah....I didn't feel it. But to think someone we know moved here from California lately saying it was good to be away from them... Anyways, the schedule for the week is to correct some typo and link problems on the site, and some Classics work too, and also see about some more field tests for the new teaching series. September 8, 2006 Got a couple of interesting Word docs for ya'll. The first one is a guest piece by reader Michael Belote, which is a letter to one Rev. Betsy Singleton of Little Rock -- who is a classic example of a practitioner of the sort of "ex uh geezuz" that comes of today's post-modern mentality. Second, we have a special project some folks out there might like to participate in. Some time ago we did a parody of a site called "Why Does God Hate Amputees" (since changed to "Why Won't God Heal Amputees" -- and it has also dropped the tacky sales of T-shirts and mugs). This was such a ridiculous and amateurish project that I put the response on my toon site rather than here on Tekton where we now address only more quality opposition. Anyway, the author of that site, Marshall Brain, has now decided to take another trip down Nuisance Road and has started a campaign called "The Wal-Mart Bible Letter" in which he hopes to persuade Wal-Mart to stop carrying Bibles, based on some of the silly arguments he uses in his "amputees" website. Me, I don't care whether Wal-Mart carries Bibles or not. But Brainy is sending his letter to them November 1, and asking for signatures, and I do care about poor scholarship being passed off as something worthwhile. So why don't we just pre-empt Mr. Brain's little project some? Check here for details. Added prayer request: For "K. W." and family and financial hardship. September 5, 2006 Several people have asked to look at the materials associated with the teaching series I've been working on, and I want to say thanks. For this shorter week I'll work on some "handout" material that would go with the lessons. I also have in mind to do a streamlined version for youth groups, which wouldn't take long to do. There'll be variable updates to the Classics Library this week. We also have a special prayer request for "Cassandra, a nursing student at EKU," who "is facing a VERY tough semester." September 1, 2006 Just an anti-blog note here...I'm reminded again of why I seldom if ever bother with the idiocy over at the Secular Web any more. With a few exceptions, it's a club for purveyors of misinformed tommyrot who are too badly schooled to know how badly schooled they are. This item by a Skeptical no one in particular fails to pass the social science peer review test from the very start: The whole repertoire of Jesus sayings, though often borrowed from the rabbis of the time, fills our literature by the force of its eloquence. "Love your neighbor as yourself," we are told. Why? Well no need to bother with whys: it sounds good. "If only we would follow this command, the world would be heaven," a pastor once said in my presence. I reflected. Something was amiss here. I sniffed and pawed the roots of this tree, never satisfied with fruits alone, and came to realize: no! I do not love my neighbor as myself. I do not love my family as myself. I do not even love my lover as myself. Why? As simple as the sun: they aren't myself. I love my brother with brotherly love, my other brother with brotherly love, but even then, I love them differently. To love all men, all my neighbors, equally is promiscuous enough. To love them as myself--absurd! "Love your neighbor as yourself," but love requires intimacy. Love requires a breaking of defenses, a knowledge, an appreciation, respect, and admiration of. Would I love any Joe with the same fervor I reserve for my child? Then corrupt is my love! The way I love myself is unique. I care for my needs, I pride my deeds, I search and research my depths, and really concern myself with myself. To invest this energy and intimacy into any other person--supposing they even wanted it, which they shouldn't--would waste my time and dull my blades. No, I love every man as a self unto himself. I love my mother as mother, my brother as brother, my friend as friend, each according to his kind, and each to the degree I choose, free from command and order. It's too bad this know-nothing didn't paw at the tree of scholarship and find out what the actual Biblical definition of love is, which is to say, nothing like what is described (that's modern, Western, sentimentalist "love", not ancient agape). This is followed upon as well by a manipulation of the Golden Rule akin to Barker's "it can be used by sadomasochists". If the Secular Web ever stops hosting items by insufficiently educated people like this, perhaps I can take them seriously again someday. August 30, 2006 The meeting went well, so there'll be a field test of the teaching series in the near future, and I need to work some more on it with stuff like handouts and some of the other tech details. For today I have a brief "too stupid to reply to" note on a website called "Jesus Police" and I'll also likely load some new Classics items over the next few days. Ernesto? Pish tosh. It's not even raining right now...worry about those storms in the Pacific instead. August 28, 2006 I'll load up some more Classics today; tomorrow I'll be having a meeting about field tests of the teaching series (see below). Don't worry about Ernesto....I won't. It's currently slated to go right overhead, but when it gets here (if it does) it'll just make for one of those dark, rainy days I enjoy so much. August 25, 2006 I wrapped up initial drafts of the teaching modules with one on Q/Markan priority and one on the Resurrection. Now I'll lay them aside for a few days and then go back and check them, while at the same time looking for a place to "field test" the series, which I'm making initial inquiries about next week. Other than that, we have a new guest item: Matt Paulson graciously sends us his paper on the Trinity, All Things New: The Trinitarian Form of Salvation in the Theological Vision of St. Irenaeus of Lyons. It's a Word document. I've also started a thread on TheologyWeb to report broken links, and have been slowly fixing them. Finally, for those who follow my other site, I've begun loading the new Shrike Team comic. August 17, 2006 I decided to take a break from the teaching modules and do some new stuff. First of all we have three new book reviews:
Other than that, I'll be plugging in some Classics entries later today, and my debate with gentleman atheist John Powell on the Christ myth has entered Round 4. Now an update on the teaching modules; I've finished the fifth, and I have three more to go, which I hope to do next week. And I want to share, with permission, this poignant email I received that needs no comment -- other than that it moves me even more than ever to do this project. I found your site today as a link from ASA Jones' www.ex-atheist.com. Right away I knew that I had hit on something valuable, especially when I read Why Johnny Can't Believe. August 13, 2006 Tekton guest writer and TheologyWeb owner-dictator (hee hee) Dee Dee Warren will be appearing on Gene Cook's radio program tomorrow night talking about preterism. See details here. Otherwise, I hope to finish off the teaching modules by the end of this week. August 10, 2006 Just another note here: I've finished the third module, on textual criticism, and started on the fourth, which is about "Problems with Christianity" -- based on a TWeb thread someone started. This one's a mixed bag and I'm going to have to think about how to make it into something thematically coherent. On the side, I want to note that I've been reading (or plan to read) several books which I will post reviews for all at once at some near future date. These include several items reviwed by request, such as Wildman's Fidelity with Plausibility (a load of "liberal" Christological tripe), MacArthur's Fool's Gold (which I am told disses my man N. T. Wright -- for all the respect I have for MacArthur, I think he's way out of what he should be handling there), Piper's Desiring God, and the most neato one of all, Unmasking the Pagan Christ, in which evangelical authors take Tom Harpur down a notch. Yum. I also have some new stuff for Classics I want to add. But first of all, gotta get these teaching modules down. August 9, 2006 Just an "anti-blog" note here that I've just finished the second module of my Trusting the New Testament series, PowerPoint and Word files together. The subject of this one, as noted. is the authenticity of the NT, the authorship of the texts and their authenticity, as opposed to certain popular sources like The Gospel of Judas. Also a bit on the formation of the canon. I've already started on the third module, which is about textual reliability. It's a challenge to make this stuff anything but bone dry. (hee hee) August 4, 2006 There's nothing new loaded here; on my toon site, the July Screwballs of the Month are aboard, though I did not put a "what's new" note for it yet as I plan another upload there tomorrow of my current Range Patrol comic. What I've spent most of this last week working on is the first module of my Trusting the New Testament series. I have a PowerPoint and a Word file that I've finished, and if you want to see them you can drop me a line. This first module is a sort of "introduction to the problem" highlighting present sources of misinformation (such as The Da Vinci Code and The God Who Wasn't There) as well an explaining some of the "psychology" behind what we here call fundamentalist atheism. Next up I want to work on the module on authentic versus inauthentic Gospels and other documents.
July 28, 2006 Put up the first variation on the Corinthians Apologetics Bible Study, with just stuff taken from within the site. There's nothing really new for the moment. You can also check out Dr. Winfriend Corduan's blog page here to see a toon cariacture I did of him, and he did his own toon of me as "SuperLibrarian". Watch out for the Power Shush move! July 26, 2006 Back from the No Other Gods conference trip, which included a semi-vacation with friends and relatives in NC. It was great to see my old friend and twin brother Kerry Gilliard again, plus meet some people I'd only known before by name and reputation: Marcia Montenegro (specialist in addressing New Age claims); Dustin Segers (a kindred spirit!); and Winfried Corduan (who asked me to draw a cariacture of him for his blog). Kudos and thanks to Jeff Downs, the conference organizer. Everything went well! The down side: Internet access was horrible while I was away; thanks to tech glitches with my webmail service, I was only able to answer mail this past Monday from a public library. May have to play some serious "catch up" these next few days. Even so I have two goals for the rest of the month: 1) Get at least a start on the Apologetics Bible Study for Corinthians; 2) now that I've seen how a conference works "from the inside" I'd like to work up a program of my own with the theme Trusting the New Testament, and field test it locally. I'll provide more details on this when I've got more of the meat of the presentation figured out. July 17, 2006 Couple of things before I go off to the No Other Gods conference, then a few words from a special recurring guest (heh heh).... My debate with John Powell on the Christ myth enters Round 2 (link below); I'll try to keep up with it (and e-mail) as best I can but there are no guarantees. Also, for folks who follow it, I've started posting my next Range Patrol comic over on tektoonics.com. Now for a word from a special guest...since I am used to turning over responses to some of the sillier people out there to my toons, well...  Dear Jeff Villard, Hello, dearie, this is Sheila Rangslinger. How are you? Life dull these days, I take it? I'm writing to let you know that JP has received your, er, material in the mail. Such as it is. But really, we DO wish you'd pay a bit more attention before you send junk mail. Not that we expect it, since Skeptics like that silly little Van Eck man don't either. But anyway, you probably ought to know that, um, JP has a copy of Dever's first book already. In fact he reviewed it, well, simply ages ago right here. Don't you think it would be a smart thing from now on for you to, you know, search this site before you waste your time and money like that, sending him photocopies of pages from the books? You will find in that review that JP actually does "half-like" (maybe even more than half) Dever. But he also doesn't "do" Old Testament archaeology. It isn't his subject, so neither of Dever's books you wrote about are within his purview to do more than reviews of. Sorry, dear. But if you need something to occupy your precious little time, you might want to pick up Kenneth Kitchen's On the Reliability of the Old Testament. It's got simply scads of things you can't handle. If you ever do want to have JP set aside a little time for you, do try to find something he's already dealt with as a subject. Really, now, do you know how much he could plop on YOUR addled little head? (Oh, and you say JP needs "real competition"? Not little ants like you, you mean? Search the site, dear....people like Crossan, Mack, Price; what are they? Chump change?) Anyway, we would like to thank you for all those photocopies from Dever. JP says the backs of them will be perfect for him to sketch the script for one of our upcoming adventures on, and if you're really really nice, we may even name a bad guy after you in one of the stories. Maybe call him "Dullard" to remind us of your name. One last bit of advice...you have quite a long ways to go before your sarcasm reaches the quality of JP's. It would help if you learned to spell, too (e.g., "come on" doesn't have a hyphen in it). Take care, Sheila July 11, 2006 Our reader from myspace notes that the RR offer is circulating now WITHOUT the $100/radio show offer for naming 5 historical figures. The death by qualification has occurred. On the other hand, I've started a formal debate on TheologyWeb on the Christ myth with John Powell, one of the few "gentleman atheists" out there I have respect for. You can view it here. Other than that....I've finished the James Bible Study for now; I'm deciding between John and Luke-Acts for the next one. Then, given the rampant Skeptical stupidity we've witnessed of late, I figured I ought to re-iterate our No More Stupid People policy and I decided to add a nifty determinitive factor to it. I also updated the archive of TheologyWeb debates, which I haven't done in a while (check the pulldown menu on the front page for that). Don't expect too much more to be added here for the rest of the month...it's time for me to prep for, then go to, the No Other Gods conference that's been posted for on the front page here for a time. July 8, 2006 I know I don't do many weekend uploads, but this deserves attention from a reader: His own experience with "Rational Responders". Keeping in mind these guys also don't want to debate me on Flemming's movie, apparently. Worth a quote: I actually posted some of these suggestions on the “Rational Responders” discussion board. I was promptly informed that “biblical figures” did not count because the Bible is not trustworthy. (Nevermind that this is the usual skeptic play of treating the Bible as one monolithic source when it is in fact a collection of often independent sources of different genres and time periods). When I pointed out that figures such as John the Baptist and Judas the Galilean were well established by non-biblical sources, I was told that it did not matter because they wanted to “whittle” the number of possibilities down. Biblical figures, even those whose existence is not disputed and is established by non-biblical sources, would not be considered for the contest. This made no sense. Looks like the death by a thousand qualifications has already occurred. Taps, anyone? Meanwhile, I wonder why Flemming's blog isn't promoting this but instead giving us accounts of him eating vegetables. Also: A prayer request for "the W family", who's going through financial trouble and may lose their home. July 7, 2006 A reader directed me to a thread now started at RR's forum here for submissions on that challenge I noted yesterday, and this warrants another anti-blog entry. To start, it looks like RR has found some toenails between their teeth already and have added this new rule to save them from bankruptcy: You can't use historical figures that have been posed already if you hope to win the money. However we will gladly discuss the precedent you set on the show if you are able to mix and match 5 from other peoples efforts. You'll also be able to find solace in the fact that you've taught us, something we we're unaware of. So in other words, now you have to make it five fresh faces each time to get money out of them, which sounds like a bicycle pedalling backwards from this vantage point. They also say "clarification and further guidelines" are on the way. Oh boy. They've also enlisted Richard "Twist and Shout" Carrier to help them and it so happened that someone suggested Confucius too. Carrier commented on this (even linking to the same article I did yesterday) and much of it is quite interesting, inasmuch as it seems clear he can't allow this one to take 1/5 of the way to a prize. I noted that it's not really fair to allow the Analects if we exclude the Gospels for Jesus; Carrier says that "we have no data that argues for the Analects being written later than 25 years after his death, though they could have been, and some scholars think some of the Analects were, but not with any definite proof. So we don't know." But he does argue that the level of details provided in the Analects suggest a date within 25 years. Oh? In that case, we can use the Gospels, because even the wild-eyed Jesus Seminar is willing to trace some of what's in the Gospels back to Jesus, no? Carrier adds a great deal more about how problematic historical records from China are, but in the end, he has no more than "maybe" to offer, which opens the door to use the same language when it comes to the Gospels, and tells us that RR's contest will no doubt die a death of a thousand qualifications before any dough is handed out. On the positive side, someone also suggested the great Greek leader Solon, and Carrier grants that one as valid. Some others suggested that I'd look into myself would be Ojin of Japan, Thales, and Leif Erikson. (I also like John the Baptist as a candidate, but am betting he'd be regarded as non-existent as well. Sigh.) July 6, 2006 Couple of notes, then an anti-blog entry. First, the June Screwball feature is up on my Tektoonics site, for those who liked that stuff. Second, link recommend here for the C. S Lewis Society of California. I'm always glad to stump for Bro Lewis, my fellow INTJ in apologetics. Now here's an anti-blog commentary. Last couple of months, Brian Flemming turned somersaults to keep from debating me; I figured maybe I could get some of his "fans" to do a debate instead -- specifically, a group calling itself the Rational Responders, but whom I would rename Fundy Atheists On the Run. I asked Tekton Research Associate Punkish to propose a debate to them, and after an initial response asking what topic I had in mind, followed by Punkish's answer (that the subject was Flemming's movie), not a peep. I'd like to think that their reply email (or maybe Punkish's) got mugged on the way by one of those bogus emails from deposed Nigerian dictators who need your bank account number, but I'm more inclined to think the folks at RR don't want to debate me either. And given what follows, little wonder. A reader sent us a copy of this "bulletin that has been circulating on myspace" from the RR crew, and it's got that ring of hilarity to it (below, with comments): $666 to first person to prove Jesus existed! PASS IT ON! The Rational Response Squad is proud to announce that we are giving believers of Jesus Christ a chance (again) to provide sufficient proof that he existed. We are offering two prizes! One prize for contemporary evidence of his existence, a second prize if you can set a precedent that contemporary evidence might be unnecessary. PRIZE 1: Provide one single reference that originated during the supposed lifetime of Jesus Christ. This means a single person who wrote about him while he was alive. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof, and for Jesus: a man who walked on water, turned water into wine, healed the crippled, then died and came back to life to fly into the sky, the proof just isn't there. Our listeners are well aware that there is no contemporary evidence for Jesus Christ, and because of this, Jesus likely never existed. This is your chance (again) to shut us up! Not only will you win $666, but we'll be forced to tell our audience that evidence exists, and our friend Brian Flemming will be forced to completely overhaul his movie. If that happens, may I suggest that perhaps it would be more appropriate for it to be animated. But note here, that RR doesn't seem to really know what it is they want us to prove. Do they want us to prove that a certain man named Jesus walked the earth (regardless of what else he did), or that he walked the earth AND did all these things like walking on water? Is this a simple question of historicity of a person, or is it more? RR's bulletin flips between the two like a Mexican jumping bean on a griddle. In addition, what's with the notion that evidence has to be contemporary with the subject to be of any use? Historians from the ancient and the modern world wrote/write most of their material about things that happened before they were born. What's the deal here? If Tacitus was born in (say) 63 AD, then anything he says from 62 AD or before is down the loo automatically? RR apparently gets their historiography out of a box of Cocoa Puffs, or else is posting one of those "bet you can't jump over that building -- knew you couldn't" challenges last heard on the playground in third grade. Moving on... AWARD FOR CONTEMPORARY EVIDENCE: $666 The evidence must reconcile well with what we know of the time from Roman records and other writers of the day. They must also not conflict with cities, governments, places and people we know who actually lived during the time. Keep in mind the New Testament was written well after Jesus died, and serves as no proof of his existence. What doesn't count as "CONTEMPORARY" evidence? Lucian, The Talmud, Pliny the Younger, Thallus, Flavius Josephus, Tacitus, and Suetonius. Those are the most common proofs, none of which were written while Jesus was alive. Etc. and so on, ditto on the above. Of course they'd never want to debate me on the dates of the Gospels either; much less have they put together any sort of system for dating ancient documents. PRIZE 2: Inevitably when we ask for contemporary evidence of Jesus Christ, some unintellectual spouts off... "You'd have to be a fool to ignore the thousands of writings, evidences, blah blah blah." Yet, none of the evidences provided arise from the lifetime of Jesus. People actually want us to believe a man walked on water, rose from the dead, yada yada yada, and NOBODY wrote it down! Give us a break! However... we are not above being wrong. So, with that in mind. We are offering a $100 reward and an appearance on our radio show where we will admit we we're wrong to the person who can set a precedent that other important historical figures exist without contemporary evidence. Provide us with the names of five important historical figures that were not written about until at least 25 years after they died (like Jesus). Keep in mind, if you do this you haven't proved Jesus existed, merely a good precedent. Once again, the same bait and switch. Is it that the man existed, or that he did miracles? What's the subject? I'd rather they use that $100 (or was it $666?) to get some suitable psychotherapy or else a good proofreader. As far as important historical figures goes, well, that's easy. It would be easy to provide as many as 10 or 20 such figures (especially if you define "important" any way you want to -- what about Roman Senators or the like named only once in Tacitus?) but they shimmy between simple existence and performance of amazing deeds, so it's hard to tell exactly who they think would qualify. But let's name some candidates.
These guys get no mention until hundreds of years after they lived, in the Talmudic material (except Gamaliel in Acts, which they'd date late anyway, more than 25 years after his death to be sure; and possibly Hillel, who some argue is mentioned by a Greek name in Josephus; but that's still more than 25 years later). I've included two miracle workers (Honi and Hanina) since it's not clear what it is RR actually wants; but if they are actually asking only for miracle workers (not "important" people of any kind) then who knows what the heck they want. Just at random I also checked into Confucius and how well he qualifies. RR throws out the Gospels, so in fairness we also throw out the Analects, and hmmm. An academic site here seems to indicate that the earliest source for his life is...uh....around 100-150 years later than when he lived (Mencius). Also goes on a bit about how much legend is mixed in with even later stuff (400 years later...interesting parallel to the heretical Gospels). I'm not qualified to judge the veracity of any of this, but it's noteworthy that this author -- a professor at Berkeley -- doesn't seem to have any doubt that the dude existed. (For more, one of our associate sites has an item here which I found after my own informal search.) And so: To sum up once again, provide us with the names of five important historical figures that nobody wrote about until 25 years after afforementioned historical figure died. If you can do this you have set a precedent that other historical figures exist without contemporary proof. Well, I win then. I even added a sixth (Confucius) in case they decide Acts actually is good enough for Gamaliel. So where's my money? (They won't send it -- the bulletin says you have to post it on their own message board, and "NONE OTHERS WILL BE CONSIDERED" -- not even here, or on TWeb, apparently, which gets skillions more visits than they do.) AWARD FOR SETTING PRECEDENT: $100 and appearance on our show when we put our foots in our mouths. Never mind the foot in their mouth...I think RR needs to remove something from somewhere else first. June 29, 2006
Special prayer request for "Dave," an agnostic who is refusing to investigate Christianity with no serious consideration. A reader asks: ....would you pray that God would open his heart and mind and have him reconsider his choice to not investigate Christianity. June 27, 2006
Also, a couple of requests for attention here. First, a "missing child" report (described here); this is someone whose parent is involved in a major ministry. Prayer request as well for Tekton guest writer Jeffrey Stueber for personal issues. June 23, 2006 I've moved the bulk of the project against the Skeptics' Annotated Bible over to the Tektoonics site, leaving only a brief commentary here. Call it my way of saying what a ridiculous project SAB is. Also three new book reviews:
June 20, 2006 Just some new Classics entries since yesterday, but also something that deserves an anti-blog entry. Poor Brian Flemming just doesn't seem to be getting the sort of attention he wants: His "War on Easter" attracted the sort of people who go around with booze in their car; more recently, on his blog, he whines about a "selective" showing of his film at a church (maybe he wanted the church to show that part where he asks Richard Carrier if he's afraid he'll have to perform a sexual act on Satan) -- this, even as he was quite "selective" in interviewing only Christians "on the street" whose ignorance he could be assured of. Never mind that though wiser minds at Biola were only a step away from his front door. He also continues to avoid debate with us, of course (wisely) on TheologyWeb, where he'd have the chance to convert a group of informed and intelligent Christians if he had the case he claims to. In other words, he wants to be selective in who he debates. How ironic. But more than that, a reader searched magazine and newspaper archives for references to Flemming and found that for the most part, no one seems to know or care about his film. Despite paying for publicity to the hilt, it seems few people care about it -- very ironic indeed, since while I do NOT discourage people from seeing the film (aside from the colossal waste of money it entails -- in other words, get it from the library or borrow it somehow, as you would Ishtar), Flemming whines incessantly about how apologists try to get people to not see it at all. Ironic: Because almost no one apparently cares to see it in the first place. The moment of the day, however, came from comments in one of the articles in The Christian Century, a liberal Christian magazine, by one James Byassee, who said of Flemming: I've also found in churches that it's the former fundamentalists who tend to be most committed to prayer and have the greatest biblical literacy and the deepest zeal to serve others. My complaint about Flemming is that he is not "former" enough. He clings to a fringe historical view about Jesus despite massive evidence to the contrary. He vilifies moderate Christians in terms they themselves would not recognize. And he denigrates his fundamentalist interlocutors as people without a shred of intellect or integrity. He has left behind the content of fundamentalism, but not the form. And: Flemming's attack on nonfundamentalist Christianity reveals his own persistent fundamentalism. That mainline Christians only "sort of believe is a stock claim of fundamentalist preachers, here spun out to give secularists their jollies. This fundamentalism extends to his reading of history. He has latched on to a fringe claim about Jesus' nonexistence and about Paul's gnosticism and clings to it not in the face of counterevidence but in ignorance of it. It is another stock fundamentalist move to ignore responsible scholarship on a subject while still claiming to be thinking historically or scientifically. The fundamentalist claim that creation science is "better science" than evolutionary biology is here paralleled in Flemming's claims to offer a better history of the origins of Christianity.... It is painful to watch Flemming strew his personal baggage on the screen. The film is the strange fruit of outrageously poor religious instruction and of an incredibly brittle worldview. I'm not the only one who sees Flemming for the "fundy atheist" he is, eh! June 19, 2006 Signed on today to discover some quirky connectivity problems (alternately slow and fast transfer of data); I'll have a technician here tomorrow if it doesn't clear up. Meanwhile we got a little bit on an apologetics gimmick called the Bible Wheel. June 16, 2006
June 14, 2006 Tropical Storm Alberto? Big deal...we get summer thunderstorms that are worse...
Special prayer requests for C., a nursing student in college, whose work will leave her very little chance to attend church, much to her dismay; and for A. S., for health recovery. June 7, 2006 More was added to the Classics Library, and I have a couple of notes. Two readers recommended a transcript of a debate here between William Lane Craig and Bart Ehrman, in which, it is said, Ehrman got it handed to him on a platter....I would not be surprised. Second, I wanted to note that our friend Bede posted a note on his blog about the "Crucified Orpheus" amulet that deserves coverage. After affirming his earlier note that it was a fake, and referring readers to a translation of the passage in the German work that said so, Bede adds: ....another reader, who knew Gandy and Freke (and defends them) put my charges to them. Initially, Gandy denied tried to muddy the waters. I presented the evidence with references and Gandy admitted that not only had he read the note in his book that said the amulet was probably fake, he had even marked it on his copy. Only two conclusions are possible from this. Either Freke and Gandy are dishonestly suppressing information that counts against their thesis, or they are too stupid to remember their own research. Either way, everything in their book should be treated with the deepest suspicious and scepticism. On a final amusing note, Gandy was threatening to sue Wikipaedia because my entry their exposed their mistakes/duplicity. After the Da Vinci trial, I'm not sure that conspiracy theorists would be well advised take their case to court. June 5, 2006 Just a few quick notes here...
June 2, 2006 Added an addendum to the most recent item on Earl Doherty analyzing points from a review of Doherty's work by the SecWeb's Richard Carrier. Also more Classics additions. May 30, 2006 Been getting some good reader feedback on that last "rant" and some questions I'm addressing in an update. Check the TWeb thread too. May 26, 2006
Also a couple of anti-blog notes. First, interesting item here on the James ossuary; Skeptics who think the IAA slammed the door on authenticity had better heed the advice they used to throw our way and not make rash decisions. And speaking of rashes, Brian Flemming's self-serving FAQ for his movie has this interesting reply to those who charge his film with yet another blatant error: Does Hebrews 8:4 really say, "If he [Jesus] had been on earth, he would not have been a priest at all?" Yes. Christian tradition has altered translations of this passage to be more consistent with Christian doctrine. But the most plausible interpretation from the original Greek is this translation. Beyond Belief Media stands by its decision to use the most plausible translation, not the translation favored by Christian tradition. Hmm, that's funny, because one of Flemming's own interviewees, Richard Carrier, said this in reply to Earl Doherty (emphasis added): Doherty intuitively mentions the correct reading, but is evidently unaware of the more esoteric details of Greek grammar that confirm this intuition: an ei...an phrase using the imperfect tense is always a present contrafactual (a past contrafactual would call for the aorist). In other words: "So, then, if he were on earth, he would not be a priest..." is the only correct translation. This is not an obscure point in Greek grammar. It is so fundamental to habits of oral discourse that this is simply the only way to read this passage. This takes away some of the force of [Doherty's] interpretation, but does not contradict it. We'll have more to say about Hebrews 8:4 some other time, and of course as noted in the quote Carrier still argues that as read Heb. 8:4 does not necessarily fail to fit into Doherty's thesis. However, it seems now that Richard Carrier, according to Flemming, is a part of the Christian tradition that has altered translations of the passage, and is simply wrong about "has been" being "the most plausible interpretation" of the word used. Flemming had better not "stand by" that decision too long. He might end up with another case of "Beddru burn." May 22, 2006
On the side, I was surprised (yes) to hear that indeed there are some calling for a boycott of The Da Vinci Code. I added some links in my review to a couple of stories about this. May 20, 2006 Added a few new thoughts to the review of TDC. Also noted this amusing bit of self-serving cowardice on Brian "Chicken" Flemming's blog. He starts by quoting his prior debate partner, centuriOn, on a note that, Strictly speaking, the 4 Gospels are anonymous documents from an archeological standpoint. We can rely, for example, on the testimony of some of the 2nd-century fathers, but their testimony is a secondary source, not a primary source. Let me note here that I'm not clear on whether I'd agree with that as it seems to be stated, unless the same is also said of works like Tacitus' Annals (which I suspect it would be). But whatever the case, note how Flemming does his usual cowardly imposition: Translation: That the Gospels were written by disciples is something we encourage Christians to believe ("tradition"), even though it isn't true ("evidence"). Of course, Flemming would never wish for his gullible fans to know that when it comes to works like Tacitus' Annals, the evidence for authorship is the same as it is for the Gospels, though not as much by far is extant for the Annals: We have the internal evidence (eg, superscriptions at the beginning). We have external testimony ("tradition" is merely a formal name for this within the setting of the church, and it IS evidence, just as is those who secondhand attest to the authorship of the Annals). In this light, Flemming calling Christians "Ignorant -- by design" is hypocritical as well as deceptive. Flemming set authorship of the Gospels off limits as a topic in his "Statement of Belief" not because he doesn't want us bringing in "supernatural claims" but because he is unequipped to deal with the epistemic questions of determining the authorship of an ancient document. No supernaturalism is needed for that issue, nor what he calls "faith". And so we say again: When will Flemming crawl out of the safety of his roach hole and get into an extended debate with an informed Christian? He won't -- because he can't. And he'll do everything he can to distract who he can from the truth. May 19, 2006
And not surprisingly, the cowardice of Brian Flemming manifested itself once again as Sheila was banned from one of his forums under a pretense of democracy and a shifting definition of terms to accommodate rules made on the fly to get rid of her. We'll put a special project together on Sheila's home site sometime in the next few weeks. The roach hasn't found safety in his hole by any means -- we have Raid. See our new toon that tells the story in a nutshell. May 16, 2006 Time for an "anti-blog" note. A reader sent me a link to this item which deserves attention. Within it says: The Da Vinci Code" has undermined faith in the Roman Catholic Church and badly damaged its credibility, a survey of British readers of Dan Brown's bestseller showed on Tuesday. "It's only fiction," eh? One of the elements of my talk on TDC notes a comparison to Uncle Tom's Cabin, a work of fiction that was a rallying call for the American abolitionist movement. Unlike Brown's book, though, it had sound research. And of course, TDC itself claims that the NT was a horrible fiction that made our world a more horrible place. Just fiction....phooey. If your church isn't giving this a sound answer, you need to find another church that takes some responsibility for feeding the flock. One more note. Since Brian Flemming seems to be snug in his roach hole, I've sent my favorite toon, Sheila, to stir the pot on one of his forums here. Feel free to join in and assist in the carnage! May 15, 2006 Today's upload features a grouping of book reviews, as is my custom, from several books I have read over the past month or two. But I want to direct special attention to the one for Reinventing Jesus. I can't say it enough, so I will say it here too: Buy this book if you've had it up to here with Twinkie Christianity.
Also, a reader in Michigan is looking for advice from someone in his area about dealing with JWs. If you can help write him at kinglux@hotmail.com. May 12, 2006
It's also time to note what time of year it is here in central Florida: time for summer storms, which means I may be compelled to go unplug everything any time between 11 AM and 7 PM, unless I fell like maybe seeing lightning blow things up. And I won't even say the "H word". May 10, 2006 Updated the item on Brian Flemming linked below. It seems clear by now that Flemming is an unconscionable coward who will do whatever it takes to avoid debate with informed Christians. Also a few new entries in the Classics Library. May 5, 2006
Other notes:
May 2, 2006 Just some notes here. First, the April Screwball feature is up on my other site here for those who liked that feature. Second, we're still waiting for Brian Flemming to respond to an invitation to debate me on TWeb; if we hear nothing in the next day or two, we'll assume he's not got the nerve to respond and instead critique a presentation he did in a debate with someone else. Third, I have on the block a series of book reviews which I will release all at once, some by me and some by guest writers. These will include Baigent's Jesus Papers, Tabor's Jesus Dynasty, Gardner's Magdalene Legacy, The Archaeological Study Bible, the Context Group's social science commentary on Paul, and best of all, a blockbuster book titled Reinventing Jesus which will soon be available to purchase from Amazon. I'll put all these up when that last one gets closer to being released. May 1, 2006 Thanks to a reader who alerted us to a response by Keith Parsons to our item on his entry in The Empty Tomb. Now we're even more certain that Parsons isn't someone who deserves to be taken seriously. April 28, 2006
Plus, Daniel Wallace has expanded his review of Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus here. It sounds a lot like what we said, though I think the term Wallace is looking for at the end is "fundy atheist" (hee hee). April 27, 2006 Well, here's one of those anti-blog entries. Bad news, good news, eh? Bad news: A reader noted an item here by what looks to be a fairly influential publication, listing the 50 Most Influential Christians in America. If it has any authority, it speaks fairly well to why Western Christianity is in such a pitiful state. Of these 50:
I don't know anything about 11 of these people (Hybels, Long, Barnett, Maxwell, Sweet, Lamb, White, Jackson, McManus, McCarrick, Vaughan) so I will not comment on them or categorize them. On the positive side, I'd list 7: Colson (because he does SOME apologetics and scholarship, though it's not why he's listed), Kennedy (he appreciates the importance of it), Piper (though I come close to putting him in the same category as Warren because of his misplaced defenses of Calvinism), Bell (who I am told actually teaches contextually!), Wilkinson, McLaren and Moore (who actually does have SOME meat in her material, but not much). Add Pope Benedict, as we arguably can, and we reach 8. It'll be a great day when these names include the likes of Witherington, Wright, and other scholars and apologists....but that day is probably a long way off, if it comes at all. In the meantime, the list tells us all we need to know about the state of the church and why we are caught flat-footed by things like The Da Vinci Code and The God Who Wasn't There. And speaking of that film, one of our readers, a blogger himself, has given us an award here which we'll proudly display the picture of:  His comments: It is with great pleasure that I announce this week's Baloney Buster of the Week award. This week's award goes to James Patrick Holding for his Tektonics site. Special note goes to his sister site "Tektoonics" and "The Apostate Who Wasn't All There." If you'd like to see a curvaceous Easter bunny dropping two ton weights on an atheist's head then this is the place. To read someone who is less amused with JP check out Richard Packham's response to "Packham Refuted." I mentioned last week that JP Holding is someone using humor to fight baloney. Additionally he has the distinction of being smart, funny and good at drawing talking bunnies. Sheila and I thank "lingamish" for the Baloney Buster Award!  And a bit of other fun in close, check out this poem here on modern diversionary expressions against Christianity. April 26, 2006 A reader pointed us to a funny parody of the JEDP theory done here that's worth a look. Meanwhile, here, we have more updates to the items on fantasy lit and on The God Who Wasn't There (the "Ishtar of atheism" as one reader put it -- links below). April 24, 2006 Just an "anti-blog" note here, about a book I was asked to look at titled The Secret Supper. It's basically a Da Vinci Code book that takes place in the time of Da Vinci, with some of the same ideas (that he implanted secret codes in his art showing how the church was in error; Mary Magadalene is "John" in The Last Supper, but it's not clear in this one that she was married to Jesus; ancient documents purportedly overturning the church, this time, from John). Differences: It's said to be the Cathar heresy of the medieval period that's original Christianity (not likely; vegetarian peaceniks like the Cathars wouldn't have come out of first century Palestine, and it's not possible to envision Jesus teaching New Age access to deity, nor would the idea of Jesus resurrected in a "body of light" ever been thought of). The author, Javier Sierra, doesn't say as directly as Brown that he's offering true history, but at the end he makes the ridiculous comment that the Nag Hammadi documents were more important a discovery than the Dead Sea Scrolls (and he seems to think they have value in terms of original Christianity). Call in The Da Vinci Wannabe. April 21, 2006 Few more updates in the "War on Error" (link below) including a very revealing commentary for us by a former student of Alan Dundes, charging that The God Who Wasn't There misrepresents or inadequately represents Dundes' views. April 20, 2006
Plus a plug for startup sites here and here (with all the usual potential disclaimers attached). :-) April 19, 2006 Continued our "War on Error" with a few more entries. And for those interested, I have a new Rangslinger comic up on my other site, Tektoonics. April 17, 2006 Okay! Now that we've kicked Keptic out on his kiester, some new stuff. A reader recommended some links here and here on that Gospel of Judas eBay reject; we also have, as part of our "War on Error" as we will call it, some comments on a reply of Earl Doherty to Mike Licona on The God Who Wasn't There. And speaking of that silly thing, we're covering the film in detail now, a little more each day; go here for more (with notes as to when our other site does something, too). April 14, 2006 Mua haaa haaaa! We of the (cough, COUGH) Flemming Foundation are taking our WAR ON EASTER here to Tekton! We have hacked into the site and are giving you stupid Christians this transcript of a debate between ME, Dr. Imus Keptic, and your stupid hero James Patrick Holding, in which I beat his pseudonym-hauling self to a PULP! Cower, fools! We will be making copies of it and hiding it in church toilet stalls during your stupid pagan-derived Easter holiday! BLEAH HAAA HAAA HAAAAAAAA! April 13, 2006 Brian Flemming quotes fellow malcontent and poor researcher Sam Harris as saying that ridicule is a potent weapon. I'm glad he agrees. So I hope he and everyone else enjoys a new project on my toon site, here. And speaking of fantasies, a reader contributed some thoughts on Harry Potter to our essay on fantasy lit.
April 12, 2006 Okay, here's the deal -- for now I simply updated my little item on that "Not All There" (hee hee) movie (link below) with links to two thorough treatments and a few more comments. April 11, 2006 News from the Delusions of Competence Sector on the Christ-myth front: Read the thread I started at TWeb here on something started by a certain angry apostate with ants in his pants -- Brian Flemming ("The Apostate Who's Not All There") did this little Doherty imitation film some time ago and now wants to (snicker, snork) hide copies of it in churches along with other stuff. What say? Do I need to put the "JP Hold" on this guy in the ring or what? He looks like he'd collapse pretty easily. April 10, 2006 Couldn't resist (sigh). Did up some commentary on this Gospel of Judas thing. And speaking of worthless records of history: At reader request, we have prepared a little 1 page (front and back) flyer (in Word format) that can be passed out to folks who go to see The Da Vinci Code movie that opens May 19. Caveat in mind: It's done without seeing the movie yet, and I expect I'll revise it after I see it. Right now it only addresses the book. I will be at the very first showing in my area if I can, and add some stuff in about the movie the same day. I personally do not expect it to have the same level of detail as the book when it comes to the claims of fact (Teabing's lecture sure wouldn't roll well in a supposed thriller film!) and likely no new claims of fact either. So in a way I think it will be less "dangerous" than the book. We shall see. Two other items: There's an interesting series being worked up here on logical fallacies that is worth a look, by a reader of ours (with the usual cautions that we may not agree with ALL that can be found on the site as a whole). Second, a reader has asked for prayer for an uncle named Donald who is in a very bad way with cancer just now. April 4, 2006 Some more stuff here I forgot to mention. Consider this one of my anti-blog entries, heh? I've gotten some notes about this thing called "The Gospel of Judas" that was/will be apparently made a big deal of on some TV special. I expect this is just some late and obscure document, with nowhere near the attestation of the canonical Gospels, that the desperate crowd might make some use of (it's not even mentioned in Jenkins' Hidden Gospels), claiming that it undermines the foundation of Christianity (for only the 7687th time). Feel free to write me with specific questions about it, and we'll see what can be made of it. (Emendation, 4/6: Jenkins apparently does mention it after all, on page 35; it's just not in the index.) I sent the first revamped newsletter out on the 31st and found out that yes, Hotmail still has some silly restriction so that you can't send bulk mail to over a certain number of recipients. Paying for the Spam of others we are, as Yoda might say. So if you subscribe via Hotmail, you didn't get the newsletter; if you want it anyway, let me know, but next time (for April's newsletter) I'll break the mailing into portions like I used to do. I mentioned once earlier that I was looking to get Tekton into some different avenues of disseminating information -- films, books, what have you. Lately I've had two things come to the fore in service of this. First, I've entered into an informal partnership with another national ministry that just happens to be headquartered nearby -- they do films on some of the same topics I deal in, and I'm helping out by reviewing material and assisting in things like finding interview contacts. From this it's possible if not probable that some further cooperation will come. Second, I'd like to announce the beginning of a new project that has been in mind for a while (and if you get the newsletter, you'll have seen this already, so feel free to read no further). The article titled The Impossible Faith (here) has been one of the most influential on the site, and the time is right to offer a version of it in the form of a book. Standard routes of using a publisher are no longer open, because publishers have adopted a "don't call us, we'll call you" stance when it comes to submissions, so I'll have to go with a self-publish option, as was done with The Mormon Defenders -- though this time, I prefer to take the "publish on demand" route. As some may recall, this article so disturbed one particular Skeptic that he paid another Skeptic at least five thousand dollars to write a rebuttal to it. If this is the sort of influence the arguments in The Impossible Faith can have, then it certainly makes sense to give them a wider hearing. To pursue this project will require financing, and options are available for as little as $1200 and no more than $4000. We'll decide what options to pursue depending on support received from various sources, but if this is something you'd like to help support, please visit the page here for instructions on making a gift to the ministry, and include a memo of some sort to indicate that the gift is earmarked for the TIF project. If you wish to see a "prospectus" for the project, please write me and let me know if you are able to take documents in either Microsoft Word of Microsoft Works format. April 3, 2006 For those who used to like it, the March Screwball of the Month feature is now up on my other site, tektoonics.com. Also, a note that I do have a copy of, and plan to write a review of, Baigent's The Jesus Papers. Hopefully have it up here by May 1. March 31, 2006 Richard Carrier apparently wants some more of his stuffing removed on the Rubicon issue, so we're glad to oblige. March 29, 2006
Startup plug: Check out this site, a hopeful startup. March 23, 2006 Added an entry to the Encyclopedia for Dennis Diehl, giving him all the space he warrants for response under our present response policy. Also been continuing to upgrade the Classics collection with streamlining procedures. March 20, 2006 We have the next entry in the Scholarly Diplomacy Series up, as Matthew Green offers Round 2 on Kirby and the empty tomb. I'll look to have a reply of my own before the end of the month; and at that time as well news of a special project, which will also be announced in the first "issue" of the revamped Tekton newsletter some of ya'll get by email. March 13, 2006
We also have a link exchange for a startup here. Please note that we do disagree with positions held by certain links there, such as theistic evolution and dispensational eschatology. March 9, 2006 No new articles this time -- I have stuff in the works -- but this was too good (or too bad) not to make note of as a sort of blog-type entry. I noted in the most recent Screwball feature (on tektoonics.com) about a UCC church that had misused a Biblical reference in a banner, but all we knew of was the apology they issued after the fact, not what the banner said. A reader saw our feature and pointed us to a copy of the banner that was still extant. Here it is:  If you're not sure what the problem is, check the reference and see WHO said those words. If this isn't a sign that the church is in pathetic shape, nothing else is. The only good news is that most of my atheist opponents are pretty much just as bad. March 7, 2006 Started up the Galatians Apologetics Bible Study with material from the site only so far. The material noted last round is also now loaded on my other site. March 1, 2006 A few new entries in the Classics material, plus finished up the Apologetics Bible Study on Jude (links below). Next up will be Galatians. Also, the February Screwball of the Month feature will appear on my other site, tektoonics.com, on March 10 at the same time as I finish the second Shrike Team comic for that site. A reader also noted a review of Ehrman's Misquoting Jesus that we think deserves notice, here. February 24, 2006
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