Myths & Legends of the Christian Catacombs

While working on other projects, it came to my attention that there are still a lot of myths and legends circulating about the so-called “Christian catacombs” under the city of Rome (or rather, under its suburbs, as cemeteries within the proper city walls...

Debunking John Davidson’s “Pagan” America

Did you know we’re all pagans? That’s right. America is majority pagan. We worship Ishtar and the Onion God and have cool-ass pagan festivals featuring palm fronds and sacred orgies. Public feasts in every town distribute meat and mead, blessed by pagan...

Did Paul Write Philemon?

The mainstream consensus is that only seven letters of the thirteen attributed to Paul in the New Testament are authentic: 1 and 2 Corinthians, 1 Thessalonians, Romans, Philippians, Galatians…and Philemon; while the rest are either forgeries (Ephesians,...

Was Daniel Dennett Wrong in Creative Ways?

The great cognitive scientist and philosopher Daniel Dennett passed away this year. And shortly after, Cameron Bertuzzi interviewed a Christian apologist, Bob Stewart, on his channel Capturing Christianity, regarding “Daniel Dennett’s Philosophical...

The Chavez Review of Jesus from Outer Space

The Review of Biblical Literature recently published a brief “review” of Jesus from Outer Space by William Chavez (RBL 03/2024). It is quite useless as a review, because it merely complains about aesthetics, ignores the academic study the book summarizes,...

Allen’s New and Illogical Theory of the Testimonium Flavianum

I recently read a new article by David Allen, “A Model Reconstruction of What Josephus Would Have Realistically Written about Jesus,” in the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism 18 (2022), which tries to argue that Josephus really did write...

Jesus from Outer Space Now Available in Greek and Polish!

My popular market summary of my academic study of Jesus, Jesus from Outer Space, is now available in Greek and Polish translations. Follow the links for details and to buy one. These are not available in the Americas by normal channels, but special ordering at a brick...

Quantum Consciousness Is Bullshit (But Quantum Cognition Is Not)

You may have heard a lot about a thing called “quantum consciousness.” Most of what you’ve heard is bullshit. The Not Bullshit First let’s discuss the bit that isn’t bullshit. Many papers in various sciences that have words in their...

I’ll Virtually Be in Bangor, Maine!

This April 27 (2024), a Saturday, I’ll be appearing in Bangor, Maine (video now available, which requires a correction, noted below). This was via Zoom to discuss the historicity of Jesus (including my new book on it which I just completed and sent to the...

Dispelling the “Anonymous Sources Are Kosher” Argument

I’ve been getting the same question a lot lately, which suggests an old Christian apologetic trend has risen from the dead and is making its rounds, zombie-like, across the internet: “I’m being told it was normal in the ancient world to publish...

Simone’s Series on How to Read the Talmud: On Jewish Diversity

My attention has been brought to a long series on my treatment of Jewish sources in On the Historicity of Jesus by a certain Simone (actual name unknown). The series is extraordinarily long-winded, almost entirely impertinent, and makes strange errors in vocabulary or...