By Robert Conner ~ T he gospel of John describes what happened immediately after Jesus’ death on the cross: “Later, Joseph of Arimathea, who was a secret disciple of Jesus for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate if he might take Jesus’ body and Pilate consented, so he came and took his body. Nicodemus, who earlier had come to see Jesus by night, brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, around seventy- five pounds. Then they took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in linen cloth together with the spices, as is the Jewish burial custom. In the place he was crucified there was a garden and in the garden a new tomb in which no one had ever been laid. Because it was the Jewish Preparation Day, and because the tomb was nearby, they laid Jesus there.” (John 19:38- 42) About a half dozen features of this brief account are either improbable, flatly contradict the version of events in the other gospels, or raise even more questions. We might as well start with Joseph of Arimathea, who Mark describes as...

By Emily Camera ~ T he words on the white church billboard are striking on this dreary Sunday morning. COME FIND JESUS. IT’S HELL WITHOUT HIM. I click on my turn signal and make a sharp left into the parking lot. My usual spt is available, the one I’ve used ever since I first started driving at sixteen. I turn off the ignition to my car and throw the keys on the passenger’s seat beside me, then pull down the sun visor to take a look at myself in the mirror. Repining a few rogue curls in my up-do, I notice every blemish and pore pocking my skin. I can’t help but think the difference a layer of foundation would make for my complexion. Not to mention a little mascara for my board-straight eyelashes. I snap the mirror back in place after applying a quick smear of Blistex to my lips. I’ve learned not to spend too much time with these thoughts. A slow groan escapes my lips and I slam the door to my silver Honda, tugging at my skirt to make sure it’s sufficiently below my knees. Th...

By Michael Runyan ~ T he following lists beliefs that most Christians hold, with a commentary on how to view them more objectively: God’s nature is triune. This is sometimes expressed as the doctrine of the Trinity or “three persons in one God”. These are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. No, it is three gods and Christianity is polytheistic. They might all have the same purpose and can telepathically communicate with each other, but they are three separate beings as described. The Trinity was invented out of necessity after Jesus was made into a god in order to prevent Christianity from being tainted by the specter of polytheism that was the main criticism of the pagan traditions. There exists a spirit world – angels and demons – that was created by God. This includes the devil (also known as Satan or Lucifer). No, there is no evidence of any spirit beings whether they be angels or demons. Based on our current understanding of the mind/body relationship, a massless ...

By Robert Conner ~ T o hear Paul tell it, the resurrection isn’t just a big deal, it’s The Big Deal: “But if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching has no purpose and your faith is foolishness.” (1 Corinthians 15:14) Given the essential importance of Jesus’ resurrection, at the very least one would expect plenty of witnesses to the Most Important Miracle of all time—at least as many as witnessed the raising of Lazarus—as well as a coherent narrative of the events leading up to it. If you’re at all surprised to learn the New Testament includes neither, then obviously you haven’t been keeping up. First, there’s bad news and there’s even worse news. Let’s start with the worse news: according to the canonical gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John— no one actually sees Jesus rise from the dead. Cook on that for a minute. Despite repeated predictions that Jesus will rise from the dead after three days (Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:32-34), not a single one of his apostles shows up to see...

By Robert Conner ~ A ccording to Mark, generally regarded as the earliest surviving gospel, Jesus repeatedly foretells his humiliation, crucifixion, and resurrection. “He began to teach them that it was necessary for the son of man to suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the high priests and the experts in the law and be killed and rise [from the dead] after three days.” (Mark 8:31) “He taught his disciples, telling them, ‘The son of man is to be delivered into men’s hands and they will kill him and three days after being killed, he will rise.’” (Mark 9:31) “He again began to say to the Twelve, ‘The son of man will be handed over to the chief priests and the experts in the law and they will condemn him to death and hand him over to the Romans. They will ridicule him and spit on him and flog and kill him and after three days he will rise.’” (Mark 10:32b-34) According to the gospels, the apostles witness the very public resurrection of the son of the widow of Nain ...

By Tina Rae Collins ~ Y es, you read the title correctly. And this shouldn't shock anyone who has read the Bible. I could give many reasons for my refusal to behave the way the god of the Bible behaves, but five should be enough. (1) God promotes lying, and lies himself. Ezekiel 14:9 states that if a prophet is deceived, God is the one who has deceived the prophet. In 2 Chronicles 18:21 we find an example of this. God sent a lying spirit into the mouths of all of King Ahab's prophets. God deliberately lied to his own prophets--because Ahab was king of Israel. (2) God encourages theft by his followers. In Exodus 3:22 God told his people to borrow silver, gold, and clothes from their Egyptian neighbors among whom they lived. Of course, there was never any intention of returning the items thus "borrowed." It was all an evil plot since the Israelites intended to run away with the expensive items. (3) God murders and sanctions murder by his people. Not havi...

By Carl S ~ P eople tell you there's a life after death, though no one knows what happens after they die. But “they” know for sure because other people do. Besides, “Someone” promised them an eternal life after death, and “that person” couldn't possibly lie because other people know he couldn't. Another reason they know this is because “that person” assured them in an ancient book, a collection of tales written by unknown men. That reference book tells them: “Whatever is in this book is absolutely true.” And, though they'll admit human beings lie, they know these men never lied. They've never met “that person” who promised them an eternal life, but they know he's real because they feel his presence in their hearts. They know he knows their most intimate thoughts and desires. In their same hearts also reside all those they've loved and trusted, who they knew in their hearts loved them, but in the end betrayed, divorced, or disappointed them. Still other...

By Gary T. McDonald, author of The Gospel of Thomas (the Younger) W hy do Fundamentalists hate James? I don’t have a lot of conversations with them, but not too long ago my mother’s caregiver tried to engage me on the subject. She had come for her shift on a Sunday directly from church where some guy there had opined that James’ Epistle should be kicked out of the Bible. The caretaker wanted my opinion, but obviously sympathized with her church friend. Now, I tended to avoid all discussion of politics and religion with this woman. She cared well for my mom and I wanted to keep things on an even keel. So I just said, “Interesting,” and left the room. I didn’t tell her that many scholars doubt that James even wrote the Epistle and I didn’t ask for her friend’s arguments. I suspected she would tell me that the James letter’s statement (in Chapter 2: 17) that “faith without works is dead” (meaning you can’t be saved by faith alone) clashes directly with Paul (and Luther’s) teachings....

By Andrew Jasko ~ W estern religions have made narcissism a virtue through the worship of God, who bears all the markers of a Narcissistic Personality Disorder. Narcissism is a painful condition of low self-esteem masked by a shallow presentation of grandiose confidence. Through their imitation of the Divine Narcissist, the religious suffer, alternating between the crushing narcissistic wounds of superiority in salvation and inferiority in sin. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) , “the essential feature of Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and lack of empathy” (DSM-IV-TR, 714). Narcissists form a grandiose self-image as a compensatory defense in order to protect themselves from facing the pain of an actual self-image of inadequacy, which is kept out of awareness in the unconscious mind. There is no one more grandiose or egotistical (or insecure) than the biblical God. In his mind...

By Valerie Tarico ~ I was Born Again until nearly the end of graduate school, a sincere Evangelical who went to church on Sunday and Wednesday with my family and to Thursday Bible study on my own. I dialed for converts during the “I Found It” evangelism campaign, served as a counselor at Camp Good News, and graduated from Wheaton College, Billy Graham’s alma mater. I know what it is to be an earnest believer among believers. I also know what it is to experience those same dynamics from the outside. Since my fall from grace, I’ve written a book, Trusting Doubt , and several hundred articles exposing harms from Evangelicalism—not just the content of beliefs but also how they spread and shape the psychology of individuals and behavior of communities, doing damage in particular to women, children , and religious minorities. It occurred to me recently that my time in Evangelicalism and subsequent journey out have a lot to do with why I find myself reactive to the spread of Woke cu...