As an atheist I believed in what I could see, not in what I could not see. The “natural” was something I could see – the “supernatural” was not. So, the archaeological finds that supported various aspects of the historicity of the Old Testament impressed me. Even though most of the ancient discoveries were located in museums around the world, being able to see photos of the … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 4
As any good atheist would have done more than 40 years ago, I ridiculed the history of Israel as recorded in the Old Testament of the Bible. How could anyone believe what the Jews wrote about their national history when they were just trying to promote their own brand of ”religion?” Why should I believe them? The problem with that line of thinking, I discovered, was what to … [Read more...]
Archaeological Confirmations of Scripture
[This post is a work in progress as part of the CAA Catechism.] [Add the title only in the title field, not in the body of the post.] Summary in 400 words or less: Archaeology is a special branch of historical investigation and anthropology that tries to trace evidence of the lives of past societies and civilizations by material remains left behind by them. Modern … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 3
For those of you who have studied Biblical archaeology, you'll recognize that I am not mentioning the greatest discoveries of the last 40 years during this series. That's because I'm limiting my comments to those discoveries available for me to consider during the early part of 1971. These findings, and others too many to mention in a limited series, were part of my journey … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology 2
Solid evidence. Something an investigative journalist can sink his teeth into. That’s what I needed to see in 1971. Christians I had invited on my radio talk show to intimidate and make fun of were turning the tables on me. Me! A well-known, hard-core atheist talk show commentator, I was actually listening to Christians talk about why they believed in the existence of God. … [Read more...]
Convince Me There’s A God – Archaeology
Journalists deal in facts – lots of them. We eat them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We snack on them at midnight. Facts, facts, and more facts! So, what can possibly convince an atheist journalist about the existence of God? Facts – and lots of them. I found discussions with Christians about science interesting, but those about morality were a bit disturbing. I couldn’t … [Read more...]
When was Jesus born?
The question of Jesus’ birth date has long been scrutinized in relation to Herod’s death and Luke’s census. This article draws heavily on the research done by Andrew E. Steinmann as it relates to Herod’s death, and the governor of Syria, which coincides with the astrological phenomenon seen by the Wise Men, as well as the in-depth study by Glen Miller of A Christian Thinktank … [Read more...]
Did the concept of monotheism socially evolve?
This post gives a glimpse of “Eternity in Their Hearts” by Don Richardson, who is recognized for his anthropological and linguistic work among the Sawi people of Irian Jaya. Edward B. Tyler’s theory that monotheism evolved has been refuted for a long time. The theory goes like this: Belief in the soul emerged from pondering dreams, etc.; spiritism/animism emerged when they … [Read more...]
Stephen Law on the Non-existence of Jesus of Nazareth
Reprinted with the gracious permission of William Lane Craig. In his blog, atheist philosopher Stephen Law formulated the following skeptical argument against Jesus' existence: 1. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. In the absence of extraordinary evidence there's excellent reason to be skeptical about the claims. 2. There is not extraordinary evidence for … [Read more...]