I have been considering the hypothesis that the star referred to in Matthew’s Gospel was a comet recorded by Han-dynasty astronomers in 5 BC. In a previous post, I examined an objection to this view that rested on two claims: First, that in the late first century BC comets were universally interpreted as negative omens. […]
Entries Tagged as 'Christian History'
Star of Wonder: Matthew’s Nativity Narrative and it’s Critics, Part three
February 5th, 2026 No Comments
Tags: Christian History · Star of Bethlehem
Star of Wonder: Matthew’s Nativity Narrative and its Critics, part two
January 2nd, 2026 No Comments
In a previous post, I addressed the claim that no star could exist that moves or behaves in the way described in Matthew’s Gospel. I argued that Matthew’s Gospel uses language found in Greco-Roman writings to describe comets, and that a comet could act in the way Matthew described. I also argued that we have good […]
Tags: Christian History · Christmas · Matthew's Gospel · Nativity · Star of Bethlehem
Abortion: the Other side of the Argument
August 5th, 2022 Comments Off on Abortion: the Other side of the Argument
Several years ago, I gave a talk on the morality of abortion at New Hope Community Church in East Auckland. This talk was based on my Ph.D. research at Otago University. Apparently, in the wake of recent supreme court decisions in America, some interest has been expressed in this talk. So, I attach it here.
Tags: Abortion · Backstreet Abortion · Christian History · Ethics
FETICIDE IN CHRISTIAN MORAL THOUGHT Part two : Feticide in Patristic Thought
February 16th, 2019 Comments Off on FETICIDE IN CHRISTIAN MORAL THOUGHT Part two : Feticide in Patristic Thought
I teach NCEA Religious Studies, at level three, one standard is to “Analyse the response of a religious tradition to a contemporary ethical issue”. Officially students have to describe the response a religious tradition has made to a moral issue. Our school like a lot of schools looks at Christian responses to abortion. Because I […]
Tags: Abortion · Christian History · NCEA · Tertullian
On alleged Victim’s of Church abuse… “Can you blame them?”…. “Yes I can”
April 18th, 2018 Comments Off on On alleged Victim’s of Church abuse… “Can you blame them?”…. “Yes I can”
Can you blame them? This was the rhetorical question I heard recently, posed by a speaker at a Conference of religious studies teachers that I attended. The answer to the question was supposed to be No, and most of the audience seemed to take this to be the correct answer. Nor is this atypical It’s […]
Divine Command Theory and Utilitarianism forgotten bedfellows? Paley’s Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy (part two)
January 18th, 2018 1 Comment
In my last post, I explained the position of Theological Utilitarianism as expounded in William Paley’s The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy. I pointed out The Principles was first published in 1785, four years before Jeremy Bentham published An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation. In this post, I want to look at the influence Theological Utilitarianism had […]
Tags: Abraham Tucker · Christian History · Divine Command Theory · God and Morality · Jeremy Bentham · John Brown · John Gay · John Locke · John Stuart Mill · Utilitarianism · William Paley
A common objection to belief in the God of the Bible is that a good, kind, and loving deity would never command the wholesale slaughter of nations. In the tradition of his popular Is God a Moral Monster?, Paul Copan teams up with Matthew Flannagan to tackle some of the most confusing and uncomfortable passages of Scripture. Together they help the Christian and nonbeliever alike understand the biblical, theological, philosophical, and ethical implications of Old Testament warfare passages.
An Interesting Comparison
February 4th, 2016 5 Comments
This from Occupy Democrats: This from the Unites States Founding Fathers: When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature […]
Tags: Bad Reasoning · Christian History · Declaration of Independence