Take The Text Seriously

PSA: YOU CAN’T CONSIDER THE BIBLICAL TEXT A HISTORICAL DOCUMENT AND THEN TRY TO EXEMPT IT FROM HISTORICAL CRITICISM. THAT WOULD BE CALLED HAVING YOUR CAKE AND EATING IT TOO. ALL I AM SAYING IS LEARN TO TAKE THE BIBLICAL TEXT SERIOUSLY NOT JUST RELIGIOUSLY.More

The Historical Foundations of the Christian Faith

“Is it not…important to measure one’s own faith by the faith of the first witnesses or if need be to have it corrected from there?…Thus the insistence on the character of faith as [a] decision and the need to venture it [gives] rise to the danger of losing sight of the historical foundations when talking…More

“The Bible”

No one in Paul’s period would have ever seen a ‘Bible.’ Individual texts or discrete collections (such as Psalms, or Proverbs, or various prophets) were bound together as separate scrolls. The scriptural texts in themselves, further, were unstable: Qumran’s library of twenty-one Isaiah manuscripts, for example, preserves over 1,000 individual textual variants. Other books, non…More

Historical Documents and “Divine Guidance”

Some people will make you think that in order to understand the biblical text you have to be guided or filled by the “Holy Spirit” (from here on HS). Putting aside the fact that no one knows what the heck that even means (I’ve never met a single person who can properly defend that position…More

Understanding the Biblical Text

The idea that you can understand the biblical text without also understanding the socio-historical context in which it was written is like saying you can do algebraic topology without first learning basic math. It’s about taking the time to study and understand as much as you can, not only what’s in the text itself but…More

“Evolutionary Religion” by J.L. Schellenberg

Every now and then you run into a book that grips your imagination from beginning to end. I find that the best books tend to be those that you don’t necessarily agree with on every single detail, but, rather, those that make you think and envision a different world. This book definitely did it for…More

Epistemic Peers and Intellectual Humility

Some of humanity’s most profound and enduring discussions deal with the ultimate questions (Why are we here? Is there a God? Why is there something rather than nothing? What happens after we die?).  These discussions are not going anywhere anytime soon, and will probably be with us forever. They tend to stir up strong emotions…More

Some Thoughts on The New Testament

The New Testament is a fascinating collection of ancient literature. It could be said that no other text has had such a lasting and transformative impact on Western culture (keeping in mind that itself was also heavily influenced by the context in which it was written). Given its popularity, it appeals to all sorts of…More

God As A Moral Authority

Here are some thoughts that occurred to me when reading a book on moral autonomy. Granted, I haven’t given this too much thought so my mind may change but for right now it makes sense to me. Many theists like to claim that God is our source of “objective” morality. They see God as a…More

Arguments From Ignorance

Arguments from ignorance are not always fallacious. Fallacious arguments from ignorance would go something like this: “There is no evidence for X, therefore, X does not exist.” If I had an alligator on my head, I would know if it was true simply by feeling around the top of my head. So, the fact that…More