The single most infamous song of the backward masking craze of the 1980s was surely Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” A message from the devil or a trick of the imagination? I’ll say the latter. But when we were kids, playing “Stairway to Heaven” backward on the record player was still a memorable way to […]
fundamentalism
A Wide-Ranging Interview with the Non-Alchemist
Five Signs that You Were Raised Fundagelical
Is Progressive Christianity Worse Than Atheism? My Response to Alisa Childers
In this video, I offer a response to Christian apologist Alisa Childers’ article “5 Signs Your Church Might be Heading Toward Progressive Christianity.”
On the Fallacies of the Theological Conservative
In this video, I critique Baptist theologian Russell Moore’s treatment of universalism. Unfortunately, the sound level is low but I’m not inclined to re-record it so it is what it is.
On the Pseudo-Piety of Shutting Down Questioning By Asking Who Are You, O Man?
This morning, I tweeted my old (2012) review of David Lamb’s book God Behaving Badly. The review includes an extensive critique of Lamb’s attempt to rationalize and baptize biblical violence. Not surprisingly, I received a pseudo-pious reply from some self-righteous fellow who actually had the temerity to begin with “Who are you, o man?”. Who are you, […]
My Monday Morning Rant Against Evangelicals Who Undermine the Bible
This morning, a tweet from Fuz Rana got under my skin. I should begin by saying that he seems like a nice chap and Reasons to Believe is less bad than Answers in Genesis. However, being nice and less-bad cannot save one from the fundamental error of treating the Bible as a confirmatory textbook for […]
Creating People and Universes: On reading premodern theologians in light of modern science
If conservative Christian theologians think it makes sense to cite premodern theologians on the scientific creation of the universe, they should also cite premodern theologians on the scientific creation of the human fetus. So you better revise your “life begins at conception” nonsense. Rather, the male body is ensouled forty days after conception, the female […]
Should Conservatives Protest LGBT Hallmark Movies?
The Hallmark Channel has a reputation for producing movies that social conservatives find wholesome. Not surprisingly, these movies get satirized by cynical Hollywood. Consider, for example, this 2017 satire courtesy of Saturday Night Live: (Yes, it is true that SNL is in New York while the Hallmark Channel is actually headquartered in, ahem, Studio City, California. […]
Rethinking Origins: The Evolution of a Young Earth Creationist
In this article, I share a dialogue with David MacMillan, a former young earth creationist who has since come to a very different opinion. MacMillan currently lives in Washington DC with his wife and their children, where he works as a paralegal while studying for his J.D. at Columbus School of Law. He is featured […]
How (Not) to Read Like a Christian Fundamentalist
What is Atheistic Indoctrination? A Short Lecture
Fundamentalist Biblical Interpretation: A Critique
Millions of conservative Protestant Christians (fundamentalists and evangelicals) believe that the Bible should be interpreted “literally where possible”. But is this a defensible interpretive principle? Does it even make sense? In this short lecture, I offer four objections to the Literal Where Possible Principle.
When conservative Christians confuse their interpretation of the Bible with the Bible
Yesterday, I tweeted the following observation: Many Christian conservatives profess to defend the inerrancy of Scripture when, in fact, they are defending the inerrancy of their interpretation of Scripture. In order to appreciate the reasoning of the conservative Christian, we should begin by unpacking the assumption that there is a commonsense way to interpret a […]
