After hearing for years that the key to understanding what the New Testament really means is reading it in the "original Greek," I enrolled in Western Kentucky University and spent 1975 through 1977 studying Greek,, Hebrew, a bit of Aramaic, and reading biblical criticism. I soon discovered that biblical Greek is a language much like any other, not a magical incantation that opens a portal to another dimension any more than words in Latin can turn crackers into the "body and blood, soul and divinity" of Jesus.
In 1978, I changed majors to health science and graduated in 1980. In 1991, pursuing an interest in the humanities, I graduated with honors from the University of Texas with a degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies. I also completed course work at Barry University (1983), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México in San Antonio, Texas (1985), and the University of California, Los Angeles (1992).
I began writing in 1983, initially publishing in journals such as Heart & Lung: The Journal of Critical Care, and beginning in 1989, I co-authored three textbooks on electrocardiography; the 2nd edition of ECG Interpretation: The Self-Assessment Approach appeared in 2008. My latest contribution to the topic, "Atrial flutter with multilevel atrioventricular block and cyclical occurrence of varying QRS morphologies," was published in the Journal of Arrhythmia in November, 2022.
Although I deconverted, I retained an interest in Christian origins and humanities generally; in 2006, Jesus the Sorcerer: Exorcist and Prophet of the Apocalypse was published in the UK, followed by two additional books on magic in Christianity, and in 2015, interest in the implications of the "Secret" Mark controversy led to the expansion of an essay into a book on the Secret Gospel of Mark. In 2018, Apparitions of Jesus: The Resurrection as Ghost Story was released by a publisher in the U.S. In 2019, I contributed several chapters to The Case Against Miracles, followed by The Jesus Cult: 2000 Years of the Last Days (2022) and The Death of Christian Belief (2023).
Christian belief is plummeting across the developed world. Mainline denominations appear in crisis and their congregations are bitterly divided over social issues and politics. Churches are embroiled in endless sexual and financial scandals.
Written in conversational style, The Death of Christian Belief questions the intellectual basis of belief, the effects of the Seven Deadly Gospels, the implications of Christianity's movement into the global South, and Christianity as a political identity.
Christian apologists work hard to defend the resurrection of Jesus, despite the woefully poor descriptions of the supposed event in the New Testament. I suspect they could also rise to the challenge of proving that the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella really did transform a pumpkin into a carriage. It's no surprise that the apologetic literature defending the resurrection is enormous, but there has been considerable pushback from secular writers-as well as from religious scholars who can live with a metaphorical understanding of the resurrection. But the task for the curious reader-trying to cut through all this clutter-has been made easy by Robert Conner's The Jesus Cult: 2000 Years of the Last Days. As this title suggests, Conner incisively demonstrates that a crucial element in early Christian belief-the arrival of Jesus on the clouds any day now-is just plain wrong. He also pulls together the New Testament texts that show just how incoherent the resurrection stories are: no wonder the apologists have to work so hard. In his engaging conversational writing style, Conner also shows the on-going damage-into our own times-that the Jesus Cult causes. This book is a must-read, especially for Christians who may be curious enough about their faith to do at least a little due diligence.
David Madison, Ph.D. in Biblical Studies
Could the folklore of ancient ghost stories be the basis for the resurrection accounts of the New Testament? Recent scholarship surveyed in APPARITIONS OF JESUS suggests that early Christians poured their heady new wine--a man saved the world by rising from the dead--into the old wineskins of familiar legend. Combining his own research with the insights of publications past and present, Conner leads us down haunted hallways of Greco-Roman ghost lore to illuminate neglected corners of the gospels. Along the way, finding yet another human side to the beloved old tales, we understand how ghostly apparitions were spoken about for much the same reason modern-day people still see them: a psychological response vividly experienced by those suffering great loss.
While cataloging material in the library of the monastery of Mar Saba in 1958, Morton Smith discovered a quotation from a letter of Clement of Alexandria copied in the end pages of a 17th century collection of the letters of Ignatius. After more than a decade of collaborative analysis of the find, Smith published his conclusions in 1973, setting off a firestorm of controversy in the New Testament studies guild.
In 1975, a Jesuit scholar, Quentin Quesnell, claimed the letter had been forged and implied that Smith was the forger, moving the focus of debate off the text itself and onto Smith. Since then the pages containing the letter have been removed from the book and possibly destroyed, while Catholic and evangelical writers, none of whom have ever seen the pages in question, continue to claim that Smith forged the letter.
Following his death in 1991, accusations against Smith took on a considerably more personal tone, highlighting his alleged homosexuality and by implication his dishonesty and moral perversity. Although the question of authenticity remains unresolved, the controversy has opened a window on the intellectually corrupt nature of apologetic New Testament studies, a subject of greater importance than the authenticity of early Christian texts.
The world of Jesus and the early Christians swarmed with prophets and exorcists, holy men and healers, who invoked angels and demons, gods and ghosts. Magic in Christianity: From Jesus to the Gnostics explores that world through the surviving texts of the first Christians and their pagan and Jewish contemporaries. Ecstatic spirit possession, handing opponents over to Satan, sending demons into swine, striking others dead on the spot by pronouncing curses, using articles of clothing and parts of corpses to perform magical healing and exorcism, invoking ghosts and angels for protection-these are all ancient Christian practices described in the New Testament, explained in detail by early Christian writers, and preserved by Christian amulets. Pagans and Jews accused Jesus and his followers of practicing magic and Christians accused one another of sorcery. Both pagan and early orthodox writers describe the rituals of the Gnostic sects in detail, including the magical passwords required to cross through the gates of the lower heavens. Magic in Christianity: From Jesus to the Gnostics examines evidence from the New Testament, the first Christian apologists, early apocryphal works, curse tablets and amulets to reconstruct the apocalyptic magical world of Jesus and the first Christians.
The most complete summation to date of the New Testament evidence for magical practice by Jesus and the early Christians. The very notion of Jesus being a sorcerer runs so against the grain of the Western cultural myth that even non-Christians are likely to find it far-fetched or even vaguely disturbing. Nevertheless, scholars steadily accumulated evidence for magical practices in the New Testament throughout much of the 20th century. It is that ever expanding body of knowledge that has made this book possible. This book examines the following: The nature of the earliest Christian documents, the defects of their trans-mission, and the evidence for the suppression of descriptions of magical acts. The closely related problem of the New Testament accounts as historical sources. The radically apocalyptic nature of Jesus' message and the expectations of the early church. The failure of the apocalypse to occur and the theological reaction to that failure. The role of magic and mystery religion in early Christianity. A revisiting of the story of the "beloved disciple" and what it may tell us about Jesus and suppression of evidence about his life. Contents: Documentary Evidence / Infancy Narratives / Confrontation / Resurrection as Ghost Story /Apocalyptic Prophet / Apocalypse Postponed, / Magic and Mystery, / Jesus the Magician / Spirit Versus Spirit, / Ecstatic Inner Circle, / Christian Mysteries, / Secret Gospel of Mark, / Beloved Disciple, / On the Use of Boys in Magic, / Apocalypse, Magic, and Christianity, / "Son of David." / Mary Magdalene
For as long as the idea of “miracles” has been in the public sphere, the conversation about them has been shaped exclusively by religious apologists and Christian leaders. The definitions for what a miracles are have been forged by the same men who fought hard to promote their own beliefs as fitting under that umbrella. It’s time for a change.
Enter John W. Loftus, an atheist author who has earned three master’s degrees from Lincoln Christian Seminary and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. Loftus, a former student of noted Christian apologist William Lane Craig, got some of the biggest names in the field to contribute to this book, which represents a critical analysis of the very idea of miracles.
Incorporating his own thoughts along with those of noted academics, philosophers, and theologians, Loftus is able to properly define “miracle” and then show why there’s no reason to believe such a thing even exists.
Addressing every single issue that touches on miracles in a thorough and academic manner, this compilation represents the most extensive look at the phenomenon ever displayed through the lens of an ardent non-believer.
If you’ve ever wondered exactly what a miracle is, or doubted whether they exist, then this book is for you.
Join us live with 3 well known Christian debunkers, John Loftus, Dr. David Madison & Robert Conner. All of these men have written extensively about Christianity and how it isn't true. Be sure to join us live for this discussion.
Christian apologists work hard to defend the resurrection of Jesus, despite the woefully poor descriptions of the supposed event in the New Testament. I suspect they could also rise to the challenge of proving that the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella really did transform a pumpkin into a carriage. It's no surprise that the apologetic literature defending the resurrection is enormous, but there has been considerable pushback from secular writers-as well as from religious scholars who can live with a metaphorical understanding of the resurrection. But the task for the curious reader-trying to cut through all this clutter-has been made easy by Robert Conner's The Jesus Cult: 2000 Years of the Last Days. As this title suggests, Conner incisively demonstrates that a crucial element in early Christian belief-the arrival of Jesus on the clouds any day now-is just plain wrong. He also pulls together the New Testament texts that show just how incoherent the resurrection stories are: no wonder the apologists have to work so hard. In his engaging conversational writing style, Conner also shows the on-going damage-into our own times-that the Jesus Cult causes. This book is a must-read, especially for Christians who may be curious enough about their faith to do at least a little due diligence.
Could the folklore of ancient ghost stories be the basis for the resurrection accounts of the New Testament? Recent scholarship surveyed in Apparitions of Jesus suggests that early Christians poured their heady new wine--a man saved the world by rising from the dead--into the old wineskins of familiar legend. Combining his own research with the insights of publications past and present, Conner leads us down haunted hallways of Greco-Roman ghost lore to illuminate neglected corners of the gospels. Along the way, finding yet another human side to the beloved old tales, we understand how ghostly apparitions were spoken about for much the same reason modern-day people still see them: a psychological response vividly experienced by those suffering great loss.
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