A Few More Attempts to Rescue Jesus
A while ago I composed Historicity Big and Small: How Historians Try to Rescue Jesus, summarizing and categorizing the main arguments pushed in a kind of phylogeny. Here I will expand on that by adding a few more arguments, within the same scheme I constructed there....Some Problems with Modern Kemetic Mythology
There is a sub-category of Neopaganism today called Kemetism, or Egyptian Neopaganism. It is often heavily wrapped up in Black Supremacist or Afrocentrism movements. By analogy to Wicca, the most well-known variety of Neopaganism, which is based on a European pagan...The Original Scriptural Concept of ‘The Lord’ Jesus
I recently realized a minor underlying fact in the background knowledge I laid out in my peer-reviewed book On the Historicity of Jesus has gone unnoticed. It seems trivial to me, but too many things do. I realize this stuff I take for granted is really shocking or...Diarmaid MacCulloch’s Christianity: The First Three Hundred Years
This is part two of my series on Diarmaid MacCulloch’s book and BBC series A History of Christianity, or as the book is sometimes titled, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, referring to the fact that Christianity evolved out of trends that began a...Diarmaid MacCulloch’s BBC Series on the History of Christianity
I’ve been asked a lot about Diarmaid MacCulloch’s book and BBC series A History of Christianity, or as the book is sometimes titled, Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years, referring to the fact that Christianity evolved out of trends that began a...Crucifixion Quake! An Unusual Movie about an Unusual Passion
Years ago I sat for a day of interviews for a film by Marco Bazzi about a geologist obsessed with the alleged earthquake at the time of Christ’s death. The resulting movie is now available (you can find it in most of the usual places, including Amazon Prime or...A Vital Primer on Media Literacy
I am getting asked the same question far too much lately: “What is your take on [x]; it seems pretty convincing; how do we know it’s not reliable?” Where [x] will be some crank on the internet, some ridiculous news headline, some random article...There Is No Logically Sound Case Against Interpolation in 1 Thessalonians 2
In the extant text of 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul is made to say: For you, brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Judea, which are in Christ Jesus: you suffered from your own people the same things those churches suffered from the Jews, who killed the...The Bogus Idea of the Bogus Mysteries of Consciousness
I’ve been asked to comment on Peter Hacker’s bizarre claim that qualia don’t exist in his arrogantly braggish essay “The Bogus Mysteries of Consciousness.” So here goes. Say What Now? First, what are qualia? If you’re new to the...Ancient Theories of Gravity: What Was Lost?
Everyone rags on Aristotle for totally phoning in his theory of gravity. But in perspective, (a) Aristotle was a biologist, not a physicist, so his not being the best at physics should not be held to any more account than when a modern biologist goofs some esoteric...The Principle of Indifference
The Principle of Indifference is important for Bayesian reasoning, and hence for Bayesian epistemology—and hence for epistemology, full stop. Yet it has many critics. The common mistake they all make, is similar to the mistake all philosophers make when they...“What Did Josephus Mean by That?” A Case Study in the Relationship between Evidence and Probability
I recently engaged a friendly debate with Dennis MacDonald on the MythVision podcast regarding the historicity of Jesus. Much of which was the usual stuff expected of a serious, expert, secular discussion of that question (follow the link to watch). I might blog about...All I Want for My Birthday Are More Patreon Patrons!
Today is December 1 and I’m 51. Impossible I know but alas! This year I moved back to California to be closer to my disabled parents so I can more regularly help them out. But California is expensive. Much more than Ohio! I’m also coming up on some...The Incompetent Crankery of the Israel Only Movement
There is a strange little fringe movement, including in its ranks even atheists and other nonbelievers, that attempts to make the bizarre argument that Christians should abandon their religion because “the Bible” says the entire Christian gospel concluded...All Ten of My Online Courses Are Available Any Month of the Year!
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About the Author
Richard Carrier is the author of many books and numerous articles online and in print. His avid readers span the world from Hong Kong to Poland. With a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University, he specializes in the modern philosophy of naturalism and humanism, and the origins of Christianity and the intellectual history of Greece and Rome, with particular expertise in ancient philosophy, science and technology. He is also a noted defender of scientific and moral realism, Bayesian reasoning, and historical methods.
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