Why are Christians afraid of biblical criticism?

Aractus 26, September, 2022

Download audio transcript Around a decade ago, one of my Christian friends put forward the view that the bible should not be subjected to academic enquiry. I had heard this view many times, including by the late minister at my (former) parish. Going back around 20 years now, another friend who was studying at Moore […]

Manly Sea Eagles Pride Drama Stokes Antireligious Hate Speech

Aractus 28, July, 2022

Wow what a past couple of days it’s been on this issue. The NRL’s Manly Sea Eagles unveiled a pride jersey for the Women in League Round with rainbow stripes as you see Mr Jackson modelling opposite. What does LGBTQ+ rights have to do with promoting Women in League? I have no idea, it’s not […]

Dobbs returns normality to US abortion laws?

Dobbs v Jackson overturned Roe v Wade, what now ...

Aractus 20, July, 2022

The Dobbs decision overturning Roe v Wade in the US is understandably shocking, and some of the consequences truly horrifying. But in truth the decision brings US law back into a field of normality though it may not seem like it at first. Terminations in Australia Yes here in ‘Straya we are more civilised than […]

Why I didn’t “lose” my religion

Aractus 01, July, 2019

Almost exactly a year ago I promised a new blog series on atheist biblical studies, and despite writing several drafts I haven’t yet began the series proper. I thought I would take this opportunity to talk about my own journey and why I reject the idea that I “lost” my faith or religion. Christians today […]

Paul and Luke

Aractus 03, November, 2010

To those who may not think there’s more to the last blog entry, you’re dead wrong. I’ve begun work on new research, and once that is complete I will do a blog entry on it. Today we’re going to talk about the reliability of the NT books, in particular those by the Apostle Paul, and […]

Challenging our methodologies

Aractus 28, August, 2010

In my last article I touched on a subject that transverses several of my interests; God, the Bible, Jewish history, Christian traditions, Jewish traditions, Christian history, the power of assumption and conjecture, the ignoring of evidence. Today we’re going to have a look at our methodology; something that transverses many of my other interests: Science, […]

The Name of God

Aractus 21, July, 2010

Many people know that I don’t consider Wikipeda to be of much use as an authoritative encyclopaedia. This is true of God’s Name. In fact, they have several pages – Tetragrammaton, Jehovah and Yahweh when they should only have one. I feel the need to explain this because I’m going to reveal what God’s name […]

The purpose-driven “greater good”.

Aractus 06, July, 2010

I’m not a fan of Rick Warren, never have been, never will be. I think he gives Christians a bad name, and that he’s a lukewarm Christian at best. Most of all though, I think he completely fails to preach the good news, and instead preaches a “feel good” gospel filled with practical advice. It […]

Hi, I’m an Islamophobic

Aractus 21, June, 2010

Okay, back to business. Let’s talk about organized religion. A topic for another day will be the theory of the big bang, which was adopted after the discovery that the universe is expanding. To say that the universe had an origin, supposes that it was indeed created; and to say that it was created infers […]