This guest post was submitted by Dr James Hannam. Dr Hannam is a UK based historian with degrees in physics and history from the Universities of Oxford and London and a PhD in the history of science from the University of Cambridge. He blogs at Quodlibeta.
The film adaptation of [...]
Tags: Christian History · Dan Brown · Faith and Reason · Guest Post · James Hannam · Religious History · Science and Religion
We’ve all heard the slogan that atheism is superior to theism because of all the atrocities committed in the name of religion. If you flick through the pages of the new-atheist publications by the likes of Dawkins, Hitchens, Loftus, Harris, et al you’ll probably find some version of this assertion in each.
Setting aside the dubious [...]
Tags: Atheism · Christian History · Religious History · Thinking Matters
A few days ago I posted, Sunday Study: Slavery, John Locke and the Bible; in this post I defended an argument proposed by John Locke that the Bible does not support slavery. In that article I quoted from John Loftus’ book “Why I Became an Atheist” as an example of what is typically meant by [...]
Tags: Atheism · Christian History · Ethics · John Loftus · Religious History · Theology
Today is St Patrick’s day. Despite it being a Tuesday, many tonight who do not have something better to do, such as attend the Thinking Matters Seminar, will find themselves dressed in green, possibly slurring slightly, with a handle of green Guinness in one hand.
Now one wonders why so many people who are not Catholic [...]
Tags: Religious History
Christopher Hitchens’ critiques of religion get a thorough rebuttal here.
My favourite paragraph is this expose,
The effectiveness of Hitchens’ book is also undermined by the large number of errors it contains, many so glaring that they will be picked up by even a casual reader with some knowledge of history and theology. The Gnostic gospels are [...]
Tags: Atheism · Christopher Hitchens · Religious History
A few days ago I got sent the following message from a high-school student in the US.
I’ve been studying Christopher Columbus in my history class and my history books say that prior to Columbus everyone did think the world was flat……..I don’t know if it was a mistake in the history book or your mistake…..but [...]
Tags: Dark Ages · flat earth · Religious History · Urban Myths
Christmas was never about religion til recently….
December 30th, 2006 No Comments
I thought it was one of those urban legends, you know when you keep hearing something that sounds so ridiculous it can’t possibly be true.
I am speaking of the reports I have heard about people phoning into talkback shows or strangers overheard making comments to the effect that religious people are trying to take over [...]
Tags: Christmas · Historical Ignorance · Religion and Public Life · Religious History