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  December 31, 2007 One of our ministry friends recommends an intervew with a former full preterist found here. That'll be it -- see you next year! December 28, 2007 Paul Jacobsen whines back in response to our shredding of his amateurish treatment of Case for the Real Jesus. It was dull and silly but I had nothing else to do for a few moments, so here's a response which I'll also discuss on TWeb so that Jacobsen can enjoy a little more public shame. December 24, 2007 A deist friend of ours from TWeb has a Christmas present for John Loftus and his buddies -- a new parody blog! You can find it here where I and a growing team from TWeb are taking part. (It's so effective that one atheist has already failed to recognize it is a parody!) Come on over and get your "Xmas" laughs! December 21, 2007 Added a review of the chapter on translations to the review of Hector Avalos' End of Biblical Studies. You'll also find a link to a TWeb discussion on the book. December 13, 2007 News to note...
December 10, 2007 I was made aware that Ben Witherington has posted some extended commentary on that goofy "Zeitgeist" movie; check it out here. I'm still not bothering with it....and I do have a larger fish to fry anyway. That'll come as soon as I know what the deal is with this jury duty stuff. December 6, 2007 For those who enjoy that feature, the November 2007 Screwballs of the Month are up on the toon site. Updates may be sketchy for the next couple of weeks. I'm settling down into my new church home, discovering (to my immense satisfaction) how they wish to make use of me, and background work continues on the plan I announced on the 29th. Next week I also have the distinct displeasure of a jury summons to deal with, and there's no telling how much time that will take up, if it takes up any at all. (Sorry -- but my years of working for the state prison system, and managing a law library, have made me pretty cynical about the state of the justice system.) November 30, 2007 Hum....updated a very old item on a group called Pastor John's House. It appears my prophecy is coming to pass (snicker). November 29, 2007 First of all, readers may find of interest this critique (page 24, PDF format) of Richard Dawkins by a former Skeptic. Now also for an announcement. I've said a few times in the past couple of years that I've wanted to take Tekton more in the direction of a speaking/teaching ministry. As part of that process I eagerly took part in the Southern Baptist Convention's Certified Apologetics Instructor program. I have finished this program, and I have also recently made some other changes. I have formally left the church I have been associated with over the past several years, having found that it does not have the capability to provide the kind of support required for an apologetics ministry. My membership has been shifted now to First Baptist Church in Leesburg, Florida, which is reckoned as a pioneer in parachurch ministry efforts. At this new setting, I and another CAI member will be beginning a new effort to conduct a teaching, speaking, and publishing ministry which we will "test market" in the state of Florida. We are currently in a series of meetings with local and state contacts who we are looking to for advice in polishing the ministry prospectus. Once this polishing is complete, I intend to make a fuller announcement here on Tekton concerning the scope and needs of this new ministry. Obviously, this means that posts here on the site will continue to be less common than they used to be some years back. The time for compiliation is over and now it is time to put the compiliation to work in other venues. I'm also considering some structual changes to the site, but they will happen slowly and likely without being noticed. November 21, 2007 Added a link in the Audio Library to a hub page where you can hear my three lessons at the Triad Apologetics Conference in Greensboro (as well as other lessons by the other participants). On the side, I'd like to make a small plug for organizations like this one near me which broker adoptions for pets in need of a home. If I do get another little dog to replace Toby, it will be from here or another place like it. (As of now, I'm tempted to take ALL of their toy poodles home...hee hee...) November 20, 2007 Added an entry for the Apologetics Bible Study for Colossians and also (later in the day) for 2 Peter. Same caveat as yesterday. November 19, 2007 Added an entry for the Apologetics Bible Study for Ephesians. I'm actually not going full depth on it, because I have some ideas for the Bible Study series which may mean using it in a new venue, and I'd like to keep things simple until that is decided. I'll still try to have some news about a new ministry plan before the end of the month, but because of certain timings and meetings that need to occur first, it may be before the end of next month before I can share this news. November 15, 2007 Off to Atlanta for the weekend early tomorrow. Meanwhile Tekton reader Jeffrey Stueber has a new book out, Refuting Atheism. Check it out here. November 14, 2007 I'm in between weekend speaking trips just now; all went very well in NC and VA, and this coming weekend I'll be in the Atlanta area giving a talk on NT reliability. This will just be a two day trip, but between this and the upcoming holiday, I may not get to post much. Today I do have replies to the last three chapters (5 through 7) of Paul Jacobsen's commentary on The Case for the Real Jesus. November 7, 2007 As some of you will have heard, this past Sunday morning, very early, we lost our little dog Toby to heart failure. Toby was 16 years old (80 in human years) and was a delightful companion and muse as I worked through the day. We will miss him very much. I may adopt another small dog someday, once I figure out some ministry plans. I'll be gone the next few days for speaking engagements in NC and VA; I should have some email access, but would appreciate it if readers could hold mail until next Tuesday. Meanwhile this before I go:
October 31, 2007 Updated the Why Johnny Can't Believe article with material from an insightful article passed on by a reader. October 29, 2007 Found one of those rare questions I have not yet addressed: Where is Rachel's tomb located? Also, a couple of news notes. First, I'm set to finish my 30 CAI teachings tomorrow, if all goes to plan; once that ball starts rolling, it'll pave one way (of several) to do with a major project I have in the works. In November expect some extensive news about a project I'm planning with others. Second, if you're in the area of Greensboro, NC on November 10th-11th, you can stop by and have some fun at the Triad Apologetics Conference where I'll be doing some presentations. I'll also be in Danville, VA the day after that. Drop me a line if you think you'll be popping by. October 18, 2007 Three new reviews -- two books, one DVD:
October 17, 2007 I recently did one of those Internet radio shows; you can listen in to that here and get a few laughs at how the "Rational Responders" donned their 11 herbs and spices. October 16, 2007 One last update on the item for Ch. 17 of TIF vs. Richard "Greek Goddess of Debate" Carrier. October 15, 2007 Added a response to Ch. 4 of Paul Jacobsen's commentary on The Case for the Real Jesus, but there isn't much to say since he doesn't follow the pagan copycat thesis wholesale. October 10, 2007 Another update on the item for Ch. 17 of TIF vs. Carrier. I have awarded Richard Carrier a Gold Screwball Award, with a promising possibility for Platinum, for this astounding howler that I have addressed in the latest linked above. To set it up, he had said: Christians are even told, point blank: don't debate (Galatians 5:20-26), even though debate is the lifeblood of critical inquiry. I replied: Funny, since Carrier once said (before Johnny made dollar signs in his eyes) that he saw "no need" to debate me any more. But Gal. 5:20-26 lists fruit of the Spirit and works of the flesh and says nothing at all about debating, unless Carrier thinks it is one of the acts like "revelling," which maybe is how his own debates go in practice. Now get this. Carrier replies: Even more egregiously, Holding claims Galatians 5:19-26 "says nothing at all about debating" even though it has the word "debate" in it (eris)... UH -- what???? First of all, as Witherington's Galatians commentary notes, eris is used in the mirror-position of "peace" in the list of fruits of the Spirit, which means that it cannot simply mean an honest discussion of conflicting viewpoints! But here's the real kicker: "Eris" was the name of the Greek goddess of strife who delighted in bloodshed! It is so darned funny that a 4 year old watching The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy knows more than Carrier does! Not only is he deficient in Greek (see Oct. 2 entry), he's deficient in Greek mythology as well!  October 9, 2007 I slightly updated the item on prayer to include some thoughts I have been meaning to put in there, but keep forgetting to. I'm done with 3 of the 7 teaching engagements; 2 more today, 2 more tomorrow. I should probably mention that these go towards my CAI credit and by the time I'm done with these, I'll have 24 of my 30 done. I should have all 30 done by Oct. 31. Treat, not trick! Couple of reader notes. You can hear an interview with Ben Witherington here on The Sci Phi Show. And a new reader blog on Marshall "God Didn't Buy Me a Hot Dog" Brain here. October 6, 2007 Will reader Tommy D. please drop me a line, as I have lost your email address. Richard Carrier, the Quack of the Secular Web (see Oct. 2 entry), has shambled forth with a bit more material on TIF, which I'll do this week a bit at a time; today there are updates on the items for Ch. 17 and Ch. 19. October 5, 2007 Also, for those who enjoy that feature, the September 2007 Screwball Awards are up at the toon site October 4, 2007 I have seven (yes, seven) teaching sessions in four days next week, so it may be a while before I do any more uploads. October 2, 2007 Readers may find this blog entry by Dr. Daniel Wallace of some interest. More on this perhaps later. (wink wink, nod nod) September 27, 2007
I'll have some major news to report in about a month and a half concerning a new ministry effort. September 24, 2007 Three new book reviews:
September 19, 2007 More added from study in The Jesus Legend: To the articles on oral traditon, precision in the Gospels, geographical errors in Mark, and the death of Judas (check this one out especially!). September 17, 2007 I've divvied up the Classics Library into sections to make it easier to use. There will also be more material added. September 14, 2007 Added a response to Ch. 3 of Paul Jacobsen's commentary on The Case for the Real Jesus, which was so bad I nearly threw up. September 11, 2007 Did a second comparative position piece, this one on the subject of 1 Tim. 2:11-15 and women not teaching in church: Battle royale, Glenn Miller vs Douglas Moo! September 10, 2007 In between work on CAI stuff I'm adding bits to essays based on notes from The Jesus Legend. There's a major update to the item on John 6:53-4 as Jesus teaching "cannibalism" answering the question of whether Jesus' mode of expression was "unJewish" in that passage. There are also minor updates to the item answering Earl Doherty on the alleged "silences" of Paul on Jesus. More later. September 7, 2007 Added a bit of reader commentary to the end of the Why Johnny Can't Believe article. September 6, 2007 For those who enjoy that feature, the August 2007 Screwball Awards are up at the toon site. I have teaching engagements to work on for a series at my church and will be busy with that for a few days. September 4, 2007
September 3, 2007 Hokey smokes! Just a few days after learning about being cited by Lee Strobel (see Aug. 20) entry a reader also let me know that my work was cited by a new book called The Jesus Legend by Paul Eddy and Greg Boyd, which takes on such things as the Christ myth. Sure enough: Our guest item on pagan copycat theories and on Napoleon as a myth is cited on pages 149; my essay on Tacitus is used between pages 181-83, and two essays related to my harmonization series (the main article linked here, and the article on Gospel precision) are referenced on pages 425 and 433, respectively. Cool! Public thanks to the authors of this book! Also, I've said I won't be addressing that ridiculous "Zeitgeist" movie, but one of our readers has decided to do so here if you do want to see the carnage. September 1, 2007 Starting today, prayer requests I formerly put in the newsletter will have their own page on the site, found here. Based on my traffic stats for items in the pulldown menus, where I have put a front page link, they'll get plenty of loving attention there. :) Also wish to note a DVD recording of a debate between David Wood and Ali Ataie, President of the Muslim Interfaith Council. Check it out here. August 29, 2007 Posted an addendum to the Why Johnny Can't Believe article titled Whining from the Postmodern Highchair. August 28, 2007 Added more to the depth defense of CFRJ (link below) including links and a review by our guest author "Wildcat". I also finished reviewing old files and am now working a lot other projects I alluded to earlier for ministry partners. August 27, 2007 A reader advised me that my name was used in vain by an author in a book titled Everything You Know About God is Wrong, so I got it and sure enough, a fundy atheist therein had some whining to do about my article on Jephthah. My answer within. August 23, 2007 Added some more linking material to the CFRJ depth defense (link below). I won't note updates to this area from here on unless I add a rebuttal to an opponent. I'm working on some projects for other ministry partners at this time as well. August 21, 2007 Finished the initial "bones" of the CFRJ depth defense hub (link below). More will be added as I come across any attempts to rebut CFRJ. Also updated the page on logical fallacies. August 20, 2007 A mix of notes here.... I've been asked if I'll review Hitchens' God is Not Great. The answer is "no". It's got nothing new and is just an extended rant. However, I have linked in the Bookshop to a review by someone else here which seems thorough (with the usual caveat that we may or may not agree with all on the site). To keep up with the latest on the Jesus Project, check Mark Goodacre's blog. There have been some mea culpas (see Aug. 14 entry) but it still needs to be an embarrassment. Reader recommends this blog: here. Last, some interesting news: A reader told me about this some weeks ago but I waited til I got the "hard copy" myself to announce....Tekton is listed in an Appendix of "Helpful Websites to Investigate the Real Jeus" on page 279 of Lee Strobel's new book, The Case for the Real Jesus. It's described as, "....a feisty site that answers critics of historic Christianity." Glenn Miller's ThinkTank also gets a plug. My Mithra essay is also referenced in notes on page 289 and 290. A big, public thank you to Lee Strobel! As a further show of thanks, we're offering a combination review/depth study of the book, both to encourage readers to purchase it and pre-emptively defend it against the inevitable criticism from the skeptics. I've done the first three challenges today and will do the others before the end of the week. Speaking of which, we reply also to Paul Jacobsen's amateurish 2nd address to the book here. August 14, 2007
August 9, 2007 Still checking old stuff, but I just read this, which is an excerpt from an article by Lee Grady of Charisma magazine: One friend of mine in Texas recently inquired to see if a prominent preacher could speak at her conference. The minister's assistant faxed back a list of requirements that had to be met in order to book a speaking engagement. The demands included: Hmmm. Maybe I could get some of that if I offered to skateboard while teaching apologetics.... August 7, 2007 Still checking old stuff, but this was too good not to report. You can see a fuller story here at Mark Goodacre's blog but the jist is this: The so-called "Jesus Project" we mentioned April 4 is headed towards Debacle City. Just a few quotes for those in a hurry: One of the strengths of the blogging community, all the more so when it is backed up by e-listers, is that it can hold public bodies to account; it can test misleading claims. The Jesus Project was recently announced as a kind of successor to the Jesus Seminar, but with the intention to be "the first methodologically agnostic approach to the question of Jesus’ historical existence". The project's website had an impressive roster of fellows including names like John Dominic Crossan, Richard Bauckham, Philip Esler, Adela Yarbro Collins, Kathleen Corley and Marcus Borg. Alongside these there were some independent scholars like Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy. It has been interesting to watch as it has become clear that several of the listed fellows in fact have no association with the project at all. I asked Richard Bauckham, for example, and he confirmed that he had nothing to do with the project and could not imagine how he was added. I would like to add that I also asked Justin Meggitt about his involvement and he confirmed that he had been asked to be a fellow.... Clearly the bloggers' and e-listers' efforts have made an impact because today all the materials on The Jesus Project website have been taken down, including the list of fellows, and leaving only the front page with an "update in progress" sign. Let us hope that when it returns there will be some explanation of the recent debacle.... Hmm. I wonder if John Loftus was on the list too.... August 3, 2007 For those who enjoy that feature, the July 2007 Screwball Awards are up at the toon site. I will spend the next week or so prepping for a teaching engagement and also conducting one of my periodic reviews of the site's entire content for things in need of updating or tweaking. No changes will be noted here unless they are significant. August 2, 2007 Just some pop up notes....I wrote a little bit on the guards at the tomb for a feedback piece for my friends at CMI, here. They also gave me some pointers to an apologetics site down their way, here, and an article of theirs chronicling verification of a detail in the book of Jeremiah. August 1, 2007 Yawn. If you want to see my latest reply to the highly disturbed "Tekton on Trial" feature, it's on the toon site under the name of the highly disturbed individual who runs it. At this point it seems clear that this individual isn't quite possessive of a level head or of difficult challenges, so we won't be noting updates here further; you may assume that I'll answer anything on there wihin the space of two days that requires an answer. July 31, 2007 Got another new categorical subsection in the Classics Library for America's Christian Heritage. This, like the last subdivision, was an extraction and copying process for reader convenience. I also added a bit to the Why Johnny Can't Believe article in light of the parody item I posted yesterday. Reader also submits an emergency prayer request: My mother's struggling to provide for my sister and I, she thinks she may lose her job, and she's starting to lose hope. Please post a prayer request for us on Tekton! July 30, 2007 Couple of anti-blog notes....
I also got a piece of junk mail that put me in a puckish mood. Check this out. July 27, 2007 Got a new categorical subsection in the Classics Library for Classic Legal Apologetics. This is not new material; we've simply extracted and copied entries from the main library that are of a legal nature, for reader convenience. Other than that, two sites worth a look. A reader has a new blog here that delivers headaches to the door of the Loftus Lunacy Gang, which is always a good thing. A reader also recommends a review of Christopher Hitchens' book here. July 25, 2007
July 24, 2007 I "filtered" the Gary Lenaire piece and moved the old version over to the toon site as I indicated I would. The Classics Library also has new stuff in it. May not be much more this week as I have a lesson to prepare on postmodernism and Christianity. July 20, 2007 Did a comparative position piece on the subject of 1 Cor. 14 and women being silent in church: Battle royale, Glenn Miller vs D. A. Carson! July 19, 2007 If you want to see my latest reply to the highly disturbed "Tekton on Trial" feature, it's on the toon site under the name of the highly disturbed individual who runs it. But you'd be better off checking out this reader-recommended blog instead, here. July 13, 2007 I've been putting more stuff in the Classics Library and likely will do more next week. Next week I also have a couple of presentations to prep for so I may not get anything else up. Also would like to note the soon-publication of a resource called the Apologetics Bible. Looks like it could be very useful. July 10, 2007 By request, did a little bit on a Fred Phelps item titled, "'God Loves Everyone': 701 Passages Proving God's Hate and Wrath for Most of Mankind." Ugh. July 9, 2007 First of all, will "JSD" please email me -- I don't have your address on file. Other than that, finished with a couple of annoyances: namely, Christ Hallquist (see TWeb thread linked below) and Hermann Detering (see link in last entry). Good riddance to bad rubbish in both cases. July 6, 2007
July 3, 2007 Some odds and ends here....
June 29, 2007 It's been a bit since we added to our response to the Christian Crimeline, but Punkish had a few to update, so I did a few updates too. Too bad no Skeptics seem to want to keep busy refuting it. I wonder why not. June 26, 2007
June 25, 2007 Couple of new book reviews: Bruce Ware's God's Lesser Glory, reviewed by guest author Dee Dee Warren, and John Hick's The Metaphor of God Incarnate. June 24, 2007 A minor note: Word had reached me that Robert Price had a new book titled Jesus is Dead -- published by American Atheist Press -- which responded to myself, Glenn Miller, and others. Turns out to be no big deal; Price is just putting into print essays that are already on his personal website, including one on The Impossible Faith I replied to here. Price didn't change a thing, so his material was rebutted before it hit the press; but it is nice to be put in the same threat level by him as the likes of Miller, Craig, and Wright to the point that he felt it worthwhile to include in an anthology. June 22, 2007
June 18, 2007 We're going to turn up the pressure a bit on John Loftus with the countdown timer above. He needs to apologize for his lie about reviewing his own book. Meanwhile I will still be working on teaching activities this week, though I hope also to do a bit more on Detering. June 15, 2007 Theodore "the Snore" Drange is still having problems figuring out my reply to him, as I found out recently when I got bored and saw a part 2 to his snooze parade. See the continued response here. June 14, 2007 Readers may want to check out the TWeb thread on Chris Hallquist to view his latest adventure in oral-podiatric insertion techniques. It's also time to let everyone know that Florida's thunderstorm season is kicking in, which means I may have to unplug the whole works and put off projects at any time during the late morning to early evening. I'm working on stuff for speaking engagements right now; I've now done 3 of my required 30 for the CAI program. June 9, 2007 Yes, an unusual Saturday upload, for two reasons. First, a special prayer request for Tekton guest writer "Safari Man," who asks for prayers for his serenity. Second, we wish to bring attention to a new blog here called Answering Muslims. June 8, 2007
June 6, 2007 Seems Chris Hallquist knows how to pedal his tricycle backwards as fast as any of the Skeptics out there. Since that's the case, I'm going to start discussing his shortcomings on TWeb so more people can be amused by them. Tune in to that here. And speaking of Screwballs, for those who enjoy that feature, the May 2007 Screwballs of the Month is up at the toon site. June 4, 2007 Okay, so -- the dust is settled, and thanks to this past incident, I now have a blog with my name on it that I will probably just sit on for the next 50 years and do nothing with. Meanwhile I have a lot of work to do related to fulfilling requirements for the CAI program (see April 26 entry). Yesterday I did the very first practicum session, leaving 29 to go, and I have a second opportunity to prepare for on Sunday, and several more this summer. So things may be thin here at the site for a while. One thing I did wish to add today is a "Too Stupid to Reply To" entry in the Encyclopedia for a blogging Skeptic named Chris Hallquist. Confidence is about all he has going for him. May 31, 2007 The lies keep piling higher from John "Honest Doubter" Loftus. Now aside from what we documented yesterday, he has been caught in an even more blatant lie having to do with reviewing his own book on Amazon. See the post at the top of the page here. Then look at the posts here and here and here where Loftus denies that he reviewed his own book. Meanwhile as well, we have the start of a look at a critic named Hermann Detering who claims that Paul's letters are all forgeries. May 30, 2007 Uh oh.... Looks like we caught John "Honest Doubter" Loftus in a big, fat lie. For the "headline news" version, see the blog entry at Atheism Sucks here. For the drawn out version, including 15 pages of excuse-making by Loftus, see here.  May 29, 2007 It seems Drange isn't the only member of the Empty Tomb crew that replied to me; Richard Carrier did, too, but since he's already decided I'm not worth replying to (unless someone pays him) he "answered" me in the form of thinly-disguised "FAQs" about his chapters. We updated the item on grave robbery. He also seems to "answer" points in the theft thesis reply but doesn't answer in any detail, much less rebutting the details, so we'll leave that one alone. I'll also check his "spiritual body FAQ" for any replies. A little later in the week I hope to fulfill a reader request to look at a really radical critic who thinks Paul's letters are forgeries. Oh boy....you can smell the herring from here. May 25, 2007
May 23, 2007 Another addition to the Trial of Gary Lenaire. May 22, 2007 Added a brief addendum to the article on the Kingdom of God and preterism in response to a reader query about the typological meaning of the Jewish feasts under a preterist paradigm. May 18, 2007
May 15, 2007 Okay! The Impossible Faith is finally out in print. Check that out via Amazon Books here. May 14, 2007 In the Audio Library, added an entry for an interview I did with The Sci Phi Show. This also has interviews with P.Z. Myers and Charles Townes on their take on science and religion as an atheist and a Christian, respectively. Also, see new entries under "New Age" and "Evolution" for links to articles written by one of our guest writers, Jeffrey Stueber, including one titled Why Morality is Inexplicable in Naturalism. May 10, 2007 For those who enjoy that feature, the April 2007 Screwballs of the Month are up. There is also another addition to the Trial of Gary Lenaire. May 9, 2007 OK, here's an "anti-blog" note reporting some news and priorities....
May 4, 2007 I'm back now. The conference was very interesting and thankfully, very little email piled up while I was gone. As I expected, I had no email access at all while I was in North Carolina. I also got a note that my sample copies of Impossible Faith are on their way and it should be available for ordering very shortly. April 26, 2007 Just a note that in a couple of days, I'll be on the road for about a week attending a workshop associated with the Certified Apologetics Instructor program. This is also a bit of a plug for it; if you're part of a Southern Baptist church, they're looking for motivated individuals to take part in it. I have to add as well that I have no idea whether I'll have Net access at any time during that week, so I'll ask readers to hold off on emailing me until after May 6, so that I have time to get back in the swing of things once I do return. Late add on: I had to get someone's attention to find out, but it looks like Impossible Faith will be ready to order sometime in the next two weeks. April 23, 2007
This will be all for uploads for 2-3 weeks, by my plan, except for some additions to the Classics Library. I need to prep for a special workshop I'll be attending next week. April 20, 2007 Added some more to the Trial of Gary Lenaire. Late add on: Steve Hays, aka Captain Calvinism, seems to want more licks from us. We'll be discussing the matter here April 18, 2007 No new articles today, other than some tweaking in the Classics Library (and look for a lot more to be added to that soon). However, I wanted to share news about this new product on the market specifically created for some of the Skeptics I have been dealing with lately:  Be sure and pick up some for your favorite fundy atheist. April 17, 2007 Added some more to the Trial of Gary Lenaire. April 13, 2007 Added some more to the Trial of Gary Lenaire. This was his most bogus chapter yet. April 12, 2007 Updated the tomb of Jesus article to note that there's apparently been some (ahem) backtracking (!) by the people involved with the film (cough)... April 11, 2007 Updated the item Why Johnny Can't Believe with some comments, a letter from a reader, and some links on subject matter. April 10, 2007 Update to the Trial of Gary Lenaire. He's still guilty. April 9, 2007 The March 2007 Screwballs of the Month feature is up on the toon site. April 6, 2007
April 5, 2007 I'm having some technical problems with my Net service that I need to get fixed, so I may not back for a couple of days, but I wanted to advise of two items. One is a reader recommmend about a SF writer who was formerly an atheist but became a believer -- see here. The other -- It's "Gerkin-Holding III". Yep. My Skeptic friend Kyle Gerkin and I have a debate posted on the Resurrection at publicquare.net. You can find it here. Sure was nice to spar with him again! April 4, 2007 It's three days after April Fools' Day, but as it happens, the 4th is a good day to feature fools as well, and we have two. The first is Gary Lenaire, whose book we are looking at by request; but since it is just the same old stuff, I'm having fun with it. The second fool is actually a set of likely fools. We've received notice of something called The Jesus Project, which has been described thusly here: The Jesus Project will be devoted to examining the case for the historical existence of Jesus, based on a rigorous application of the historical critical method to the gospels and related literature... Unlike the “Jesus Seminar,” founded in 1985 by the late University of Montana Professor Robert Funk, the new Project regards the claim that Jesus of Nazareth was an historical figure as a “testable hypothesis.” R. Joseph Hoffmann, chair of the Committee since 2003 and former lecturer at Oxford University, said that the project has been called for by a number of scholars who felt that the first Jesus Seminar may have been—for political reasons—too reluctant to follow where the evidence led. “When you have pared the sayings of Jesus down to fewer than twenty, one begins to wonder about the survivors,” Hoffmann said. According to Hoffmann, the goal is not to "disprove" Jesus or to sensationalize the question of his existence, but to acknowledge the question and examine it impartially—without theological or apologetic constraints. "The Jesus Project is an attempt to evaluate every scrap of evidence for the historical Jesus, but it is also an attempt to evaluate the quality of the evidence itself—something that earlier projects did not do explicitly. This new project will be more inclusive and rigorous in its approach. It will include scholars from a variety of areas outside biblical and religious studies, including archaeologists, social historians, classicists and people in historical linguistics," said Hoffmann. The Jesus Project will be limited to 50 members; scholars plan to meet twice a year, with geographical venues changing each year. The meetings and discussions will also be open to the public. The work of the seminar will consist of the writing of unanimous opinions, and where that is not possible, majority and minority opinions, written as articles, which will be gathered and published once a year under the CSER imprint with Prometheus Books. The work of the Project is limited to five years; at which point a final report will be issued by the committee members. It's not hard to see where this will go, given who has here been identified as members so far: Members of the Project include James M. Robinson (senior consultant), editor of the international Q Project and of the Nag Hammadi (Gnostic) Library project; Van Harvey, a leading philosopher and historian and chair emeritus of Religious Studies at Stanford University; Gerd Luedemann, a Jesus Seminar veteran and professor at the University of Goettingen; Robert Price, editor of the Journal of Higher Criticism; and other leading scholars in biblical studies, classics and ancient history, social anthropology and archaeology. Word is that Earl Doherty is on the docket too, though I have not confirmed that yet. In any event, it looks like we'll have plenty more rehashed nonsense to give answer links to in the next 5 years. March 29, 2007 If there are any readers in Indiana who might have time to copy a rare book, found only in a couple of libraries in that state, for our Classics Library, please write to me. I also actually found something new to write about, on the subject of Christ's statement that Judas would have been better off not born. A reader has also asked about a new fictional work out entitled The Expected One by Kathleen McGowan. It's more Da Vinci Code type stuff, only this one actually has scenes in the first century as part of it. I don't have to tell you it is full of typical errors (such as putting the Zealots in the time of Jesus); the author claims that she has "proof" that her book tells the actual truth, but it's not scholarship, of course; it's nonsense like dreams and very late legends; we have the typical Holy Blood n' Grail lineup of claims. Stupid stuff, and it's not even a decent beach read like Brown's novel was. March 28, 2007 Special thanks go to two tech wizards, "Sylvester" and L. C., for some hard work on the site these past few days fixing up problems with 404 pages. Now a few notes otherwise.... A reader has alerted us to a project which is a "rival" of Wikipedia, called Conservapedia. I'll never be one who is much for this sort of project myself, but readers may wish to make their own contrubutions there, certainly rather than at "The Abomination That Causes Misinformation" (that is, Wikipedia). They need more articles on Christianity and upgrading to existing articles. There's a startup apologetics site that looks promising, Upon Truth, and my friends at CMI have some new body blows for Richard Dawkins here. Last, I'm now starting in earnest on the proposed book on the Christ myth. More details as time passes. March 23, 2007 Wrapped up the tomb of Jesus article (link below). We'll keep an eye out for further information to add. March 22, 2007
March 20, 2007
March 16, 2007 At reader suggestion, I'm adding to each of the Scripture Index pages a brief summary of the genre and purpose of each Biblical book (see for example Deuteronomy). I'll also likely add more to Classics as the day goes on. March 15, 2007 Worked up some more of the Jesus Family Tomb book....good grief, this has a lot of fluff in it. I'll also likely add to the Classics Library as the day goes on. March 14, 2007
March 13, 2007 Two notes for today: First, I've had some tech glitches with the very large file on scientists of the Christian faith so over the next few days I'm dividing it up into alphabetical pages by scientist last name. It'll be done by the end of the week. I also added a bit more on the "tomb of Jesus" article (link below) as we start to look at actual arguments from the book. Today I just looked at arguments for the "Mary Magdalene" ossuary. March 12, 2007 OK! It took too darned long for the Jesus Family Tomb book to arrive, but it finally came, and I'm starting my "clearinghouse" record here. Also two other notes: The February 2007 Screwballs of the Month is up on my toon site; and a friend of Tekton is starting a special educational program-effort here we'd like to bring notice to. The rest of this week I'll be adding more to the "family tomb" article and also adding to the Classics Library. March 1, 2007 Nice to see there's plenty of work being done to refute this tomb nonsense....when the book arrives, I'll start putting together that detailed report, and at this stage it appears a lot of it will be a collection of the best responses out there, arranged categorically (yeah, the "clearinghouse" approach) with me just adding a few comments here and there. Do keep up with Witherington's blog, linked below. February 27, 2007 I'm just a glutton for punishment, I suppose. I've just ordered the book that this whole "Jesus family tomb" thing is reported in; don't ask me to say anything about the website or the TV presentations, because the website is a mess, frankly, with too many vague and undeveloped arguments; and TV is Sound Bite Heaven and likely to be no better. I always like it better when I can get what people put down in writing -- let's get the details down. I'll root my way through the darned thing and produce a detailed report as soon as I can. Just because I'm a glutton for punishment. Meanwhile the CADRE is weighing in; see here. February 26, 2007 I'll have more on Bauckham this week, but given the number of messages I have gotten on it, I figured I'd best say a word about this claim to have found the family tomb of Jesus. Color me unimpressed by the blather going on about it. There are more than a few problems with identifying this bunch of boxes with anything related to Jesus:
Looking around a bit, I found that the scholar who first studied these ossuaries some years ago, Amos Kloner, made points 2 and 3 himself in saying that these had nothing to do with the Jesus of Christianity, and added that his family was too poor to afford such luxuriant burial accommodations. Indeed, he's apparently reaffirmed his doubts in the face of the renewal of these claims, telling the Jerusalem newspaper, "....it's impossible. It's nonsense." Strike 4. Call it a yawner....I'm going to go draw some toons. But if you want more detail, Ben Witherington my man has taken it down here, and there's another treatment by Darrell Bock here. February 23, 2007 I've had a few enquires about a nutcase named Jose Miranda....I don't plan to do anything on him, as I expect his insanity speaks for itself, but if you really want something on him, I'd suggest Anton Hein's site, here. I've got rather meatier stuff to pursue...such as additions to certain articles with notes taken from that juicy Bauckham book we reviewed last round:
More to come next week. February 22, 2007 I've been working on that "gift book" for the past couple of weeks, and made a lot of progress; but we're at a stopping point for a bit, so time for some new material here:
February 7, 2007
February 2, 2007 I suppose it would be a good idea, since the news is going around about the tornadoes that hit my area, to give an update. None were anywhere near where I lived; I was aware of storms passing through early in the morning (because my little dog, Toby, is scared of thunder and lightning) but there was nothing serious close to me. Meanwhile I'm making progress on the "gift book" manuscript. January 29, 2007 Quite a bit to say today, so we'll have an anti-blog note. Let's start with accessories to the main issue. First, I've added to the response to McGuire (see link below) some excellent comments from Tekton guest writer Matt Paulson, who I'd like to say a special thanks to for this and for other contributions over the years. Second, a reader brought attention to an upcoming book by McGrath that answers Richard Dawkins, titled The Dawkins Delusion. The subtitle I found quite poignant in light of all we've said here about "fundy atheism". Third, two immediate prayer requests: One for "B." for problems related to severe nerve damage to an arm; and one for "J." for personal issues. Fourth, a reader alerted us to yet another response to (Ir)rational Responders here. Now for the main subject of this anti-blog note -- updates on our various publishing projects.
January 25, 2007
Also would bring attention to two sites -- the first is a blog on the problem of evil by David Wood. The second is called Challenge Blasphemy and it is a response to the dodo birds over at Irrational Responders and their "blasphemy challenge". While I don't endorse all the material there (especially the prophecy links), I think it'd be great for everyone to help them out with their video project. January 21, 2007 Got an "anti-blog" note here about a fraudulent website being run by an atheist which he has titled "Apologetics for Jesus". This guy is an example of someone who outsmarted himself. Some time ago he wrote me with a website address to a similar-looking site called "Apologizing for Jesus" asking me to link to hm. It was clearly a parody site by an atheist and I told him to hit the road. Today he tried again, but he had apparently forgotten that he had written to me before and I called him down on it. From there we had a series of "the cow jumped over the moon" excuses, none of which washed, but to seal the deal, check out the page at this atheist forum where he plainly says: Yes, it's a spoof. The site is intended to look Christian at first glance, but then the deeper you get into it, the more obvious it should become that it is actually an Atheist site. A word to the wise....you don't fool JPH with this kind of crap, guys. And if you try to pull it on others after trying to pull it on me, I'll expose it here in post and in haste. Exposing pathological liars is a specialty of mine. January 19, 2007 I'm reading Bauckham's book now and it's got some good stuff in it. In the meantime we have an update to The John W. Loftus Hall of High Level Discussion showing some of the latest self-contradictory hijinks. Also, a reader has produced a video rebuttal to The God Who Wasn't There which may be of interest here. January 16, 2007 Guest writer "Nick P." has an item for us on chronological snobbery (one of my favorite pet peeves). January 12, 2007 Our first book review of the year is by request: Restoration: Returning the Torah of God to the Disciples of Jesus by D. Thomas Lancaster. Coming soon will be reviews of Bauckham's latest work on the eyewitness testimony of the Gospels, as well as McLaren's A Generous Orthodoxy and the latest thick conspiracy theory by Robert Eisenman. I'd also like to bring attention to a recent blog entry by our comrade in nonsense debunking, Venerable Bede. It speaks for itself in a time when we have unqualified nutcases continuing to promote the Jesus myth thesis. Who wrote the Works of Shakespeare? All right, I won't keep you in suspense. The answer is William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon with the occasional help of some collaborators. Some readers might be surprised to hear that for the last 150 years shelves of books have appeared arguing that Francis Bacon or the Earl of Oxford or Christopher Marlowe actually wrote the plays. Of course, this is all so much pseudo-scholarly garbage. If you want chapter and verse then look up Brian Vicker's destruction of the "anti-Stratford" position in August 2005 in TLS or Jonathan Bate's excellent The Genius of Shakespeare. The question of the authorship of Shakespeare's works is interesting to this blog, not because of any real doubt about the answer, but what it teaches us about another pseudo-scholarly conspiracy theory - whether Jesus existed. Both theses are pushed by amateurs or people expert in other fields. Anti-Stratfordians are often novelists because they imagine writing a play is the same sort of process as writing a book. Shakespeare was an actor who drifted into writing and his plays were obviously written by a man intimately involved in the production of theatre. Jesus Mythers usually have some literary training too, but they are never professional historians. They misunderstand the way historical evidence is analysed and replace it with literary constructs not supported by the facts. Also, anti-Stratfordianism and Jesus Mythology are both based on a silence. In the case of Shakespeare, the whole edifice is constructed on the lack of any original manuscripts by Shakespeare. The reason they don't exist today is that they never did. All there ever were were the working copies used by Shakespeare's theatre company. The printed editions of the plays were put together from performances and eventually gathered together by Shakespeare's colleagues after he died. With Jesus Mythers, the missing evidence is Paul talking about the historical Jesus. Again this is based on the misconception that Paul ought to have discussed such matters at length in letters that set out to answer specific problems and provide encouragement to converts. The bad news from the anti-Stratfordians is that they never go away. After a century of scorn from the academy, long, bad and sad books claiming so and so wrote Shakespeare continue to appear. From this, we can be sure that the Jesus Myth will not die either. We are stuck with it so may as well get used to it. A full-length scholarly refutation is now long overdue. January 10, 2007 We've added several entries (and will add more as the day goes on) to the Classics Library including a number that link to a site called the Bible Centre. This is a subscription site (though see their rules) with a mission much like our own in terms of preservation. Check it out if this is your sort of thing. There was also a flub at the printer with Impossible Faith; apparently all my material went to the land of emails from Nigerian dictators. So we're starting on that again from scratch. Also, a prayer request for B.L., for illness. January 4, 2007
Reader prayer request also for "Vanessa" and her father, who fell and is paralyzed. Reader says: "I'm asking for prayer at this time that God would heal him and give him a complete recovery and that Vanessa and her family would be comforted at this time by God's grace. Thanks." January 3, 2007 We'll start the year by adding a new template to the Classics Library for works responding to Robert Ingersoll from his own time. Other than that I'd like to spend some time this week and next putting together some chapters for the "graduation gift" book I mentioned last month. These will NOT be posted but I want to have them ready in case I need them. New stuff for 2006. New stuff for 2005. New stuff for 2004. New stuff for 2003. Go home! |
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