Shermer and Ehrman discuss: Ehrman’s religious journey • Who wrote the Bible and why? • how to read the Bible and the book of Revelation • Who wrote Revelation and why? • why Jesus spoke in parables • why worry about climate change if the world is going to end soon? • David Koresh and Waco • Reagan and end times politics • how Jesus became a capitalist and militarist • faith healers, televangelists, and other Christian con artists • Christian ethics and what Jesus really said about the poor…
Holy relics like the Ark of the Covenant, Moses’s Ten Commandment stone tablets, the Holy Grail, the chalice from which Jesus drank at the Last Supper, The Spear of Destiny, and the like, are the stuff of myth, legend, Hollywood movies, and even Nazi villains, but what is the real story behind the myths? In this insightful analysis Skeptic magazine religion editor Tim Callahan reveals what we know and don’t know about these legendary icons.
Was America founded on Judeo-Christian principles? Are the Ten Commandments the basis for American law? What, exactly, was the role of religion in America’s founding? Shermer speaks with constitutional attorney and scholar at the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) Andrew L. Seidel who argues that America was not built on the Bible and that Christian nationalism is, in fact, un-American.
Tim Callahan reviews The Exodus: How It Happened and Why it Matters, by Richard Elliott Friedman (2017. New York: Harper One ISBN: 978-0062565242).
Tim Callahan reviews The Exodus: How It Happened and Why it Matters, by Richard Elliott Friedman (2017. New York: Harper One ISBN: 978-0062565242).
How did a tiny sect of just 20 people at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion in 30 CE became 25 to 35 million Christians by 400 CE? In this remote Science Salon Dr. Shermer converses with the great bible scholar and historian Dr. Bart D. Ehrman, the Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Tim Callahan reviews the PBS documentary film ‘The Last Days of Jesus,’ which aired on PBS affiliates in the U.S. April 4, 2017.
In this week’s eSkeptic, Tim Callahan reviews the documentary film The Last Days of Jesus, produced by Blink Films, Associated Producers Ltd., PBS, Channel Five Television, LTD., SBS Television Australia and ZoomerMedia Limited. Aired on PBS affiliates in the U.S. April 4, 2017.
Just in time for Halloween, Blake Smith recommends some of the spookiest episodes of MonsterTalk, The Science Show About Monsters.
In this week’s eSkeptic, Tim Callahan reviews R. D. Gold’s book entitled Bondage of the Mind: How Old Testament Fundamentalism Shackles the Mind and Enslaves the Spirit.
In this week’s eSkeptic, Tom McIver discusses “the faith that dare not say its name” (a.k.a. Creationism) and suggests that although evolution can be accepted with or without belief in God or the Bible, teaching creationism, including ID creationism, requires the unnecessary entanglement of religion with science.
In this week’s eSkeptic, Paul R. Gross discusses: The Creationist Debate: The Encounter Between the Bible & the Historical Mind, by Arthur McCalla; Creatures of Accident: The Rise of the Animal Kingdom, by Wallace Arthur; and The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, by Francis S. Collins.
Before the sacred authors were declared sacred, they were fair game for attack or revision. If you open up the Bible and read it straight through, you will notice two things that should not be true if it had been written as a coherent whole and with a single purpose. First, the Bible is quite repetitious; second, the Bible frequently seems to contradict itself…
In this week’s eSkeptic, the Skeptics Society is pleased to announce its Spring 2007 season of the Skeptics Distinguished Lecture Series at Caltech.
In this week’s eSkeptic, the Skeptics Society announces a new publication: The Bible Against Itself, by Randel Helms. On Skepticality this week, David Federlein interviews the MythBusters (recorded at The Amazing Meeting 4).
The question of how and when the world will end has captivated thinkers for centuries. Wars, natural disasters, social upheaval and personal suffering often send believers back to the writings of their prophets and seers, whose gift is to bring satisfying answers to such questions. Kirsch takes us on a delightful 2,000-year journey and shows how churches, philosophers, clergy and armchair interpreters have promoted their political, social and religious agendas based on their belief that the end was imminent…
In this week’s eSkeptic, Tim Callahan reviews The Gospel of Judas, National Geographic Channel, Sunday, April 9, 2006; and The Gospel of Judas (National Geographic, 2006, ISBN 1426200420), by Bart Ehrman (Commentary), Rodolphe Kasser, Marvin Meyer, and Gregor Wurst (Eds).
In this week’s eSkeptic, Jeff Prewitt shares with us his report on the debate between William Dembski and Michael Shermer that took place on March 23rd at the Discovery Institute, University of Kentucky.
In this week’s eSkeptic, in a rebuff to UFO enthusiasts, Tim Callahan extrapolates the earthly origins of Ezekial’s visions.
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