Summary of Doubts – Doubting Christmas

In my book Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christmas faith, I dedicate a chapter to the doubts I had as a Christian about the Christmas story. In conclusion, here is a summary of why I had doubts:

• December 25^th used to fall on the Winter Solstice – the shortest day of the year.
• The Winter Solstice was considered, by pagan cultures, the birthday of the sun – and therefore the birthday of many pagan Sun gods.
• December 25^th was chosen by the Christian church to honor the birth of Jesus so that Jesus would supersede his pagan predecessors born on this day.
• No one knows when Jesus was actually born.
• Jesus shares many of the same attributes as his pagan predecessors – including being born of a virgin, being the divine made flesh, being a savior, being born before shepherds and more.
• The decoration of Christmas trees is originally a pagan custom.
• Not one word of the New Testament was written during Jesus’ lifetime.
• Jesus offended his hometown neighbors because they had no idea he was born divine.
• The Gospel of Mark is the oldest gospel – the authors of both Mathew and Luke utilized Mark in their own compositions.
• The Gospel of Mark, being the eldest, makes no mention of the virgin birth, the nativity scene, Jesus fleeing to Egypt, the murder of children by King Herod or anything else in relation to Jesus’ birth.
• Matthew’s chronological account of Jesus’ genealogy incorrectly states there were 14 generations from the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus, even though he only lists 13.
• The genealogy of Jesus listed by Matthew and Luke are different.
• While the characters and setting is the same, the remainders of Matthews and Luke’s accounts of the nativity scene are different.
• Claims that Jesus fulfilled prophecy point to passages in the Old Testament that are taken out of context or were not fulfilled by Jesus.
• To accept the philosophy that God speaks to us through prophecy, one would need to accept that God has dropped prophecies scattered throughout miscellaneous verses in at least eleven Hebrew-centric writings authored over more than a millennium of time.

For more information or to obtain a FREE CHAPTER visit http://www.DoubtAfterDoubt.com

Tis’ the Season – for the Annual War on Christmas!

The Christians are coming to defend Christmas!

“Happy Holidays” is no longer an acceptable salutation. It’s “Merry Christmas” or nothing! They’ll boycott you! They’ll condemn you!!! They’ll unlike you on Facebook!

Join the ranks – arm yourselves with my latest FREE CHAPTER – “Doubting Christmas!” from the controversial and provacative book Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith. Please visit http://www.doubtafterdoubt.com to request your FREE GIFT. This chapter will arm you with the tools, logic and arguments you need to win any War on Christmas debate – not that I encourage anyone to take this silly “war” seriously.

 The season of the Winter Solstice is for everyone and not to be monopolized by any faith, creed or religion! Happy Holidays to you and yours no matter how you choose to celebrate (or not)!

Here is an excerpt:

As Matthew documents the lineage of Jesus he is bringing forth his first set of evidence to support his claim that Jesus is indeed the messiah as prophesied by the Hebrew prophets. Lineage held substantial importance for the Jews, a fact that is clear from the great number of Old Testament verses where the lineage of individuals is documented. The listing of Jesus’ genealogy links him to the royal bloodline of King David.

Any student of Judaism, as the author of Matthew clearly was, understands that the prophesied messiah was to be born from King David’s royal line. This is supported by the Old Testament verse Micah 5:2, but further scrutiny of Matthew’s work reveals some controversial points.

The first question I ask is how anyone can declare Jesus descended from the royal line of King David through his father, Joseph, if the Holy Spirit conceived Jesus? If the conception of Jesus was truly divine, then Joseph was in essence a stepfather and we must trace Jesus’ lineage through the bloodline of his mother, Mary.

Next, it is clear by comparing the texts that Matthew drew from the genealogy listed in 1 Chronicles 3:10-12 to compile his list of generations. Curiously he omits a few generations in his account and changes some of the names. The theory behind why Matthew may have intentionally omitted a couple of generations is found in verse 3:11:

         Thus there were fourteen generations in all from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the exile to Babylon, and fourteen from the exile to the Christ.

Matthew was attempting to demonstrate the power of God’s divine plan by showing the precise way in which God intervened in the history of Israel through three successive groups comprised of fourteen generations each. Unfortunately, it appears that Matthew is manipulating the numbers. Another curious discrepancy in Matthew’s account is that the last group of fourteen generations contains only thirteen, from the end of the exile in Babylon to the birth of Jesus.

Luke also lists Jesus’ genealogy and makes a similar case that Jesus, through the line of his stepfather, is descended from King David. Curiously, he adds a disclaimer: “He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph.” Early literary support in favor of the theory that Matthew and Luke wrote independently and were unaware of the other’s work is revealed in the genealogy accounts, for Luke’s is remarkably different from Matthew’s.

Visit http://www.DoubtafterDoubt.com for more:

REJECTED! (But am I surprised?)

Back in October I set some lofty goals for getting publicity as an author and selling my two books, “Doubt after Doubt” and “Them Demons is Tricky.”

For about 2 years now I had been following the work of Steve Harrison. He often hosts free tele-seminars that provide tips, tricks and insider details on how to get publicity for your books or small business. He and his brother, Bill, also host the Quantum Leap Program. His site explains:

If you’re accepted into our program, we’ll work with you over the next year to help you get a lot more publicity, sell tons more books, brand yourself as THE expert in your field, become a highly-paid public speaker, sell your book/information over the Internet, create spin-off passive income streams, build your own mailing list and more!

I applied! In my application I provided details about my books and website and goals.

A few short days later I was accepted and was told to plan on being in Philadelphia in December for the program’s kick-off – 3 days of publicity seminars, meetings with literary publicists, TV and radio show producers, networking with others like myself and more. Within hours I booked my hotel room and flight.

I quickly sent off copies of my books to the Quantum Leap Program, including copies of press releases and book reviews. I was ready to take my Quantum Leap! I logged into their private web site, updated my profile and submitted my photograph and contact information for their directory.

Then I received the e-mail whereby my acceptance was rescinded. I was told, in part:

Steve recently had a chance to sit down and review your book and material; it appears that one of the things you are promoting is biblical doubt. While Steve wouldn’t classify himself as a fundamentalist, he is a devout Christian and feels there is an inherent conflict between your message and his personal beliefs.

Steve is insistent that all members of Quantum Leap receive their full money’s worth out of the program but he doesn’t feel he can offer you the full support you deserve. Steve feels it would be more beneficial for you to work with someone who would help deliver your message and who doesn’t have the same conflicts that he has.

I was rejected! My content is too conflicting!

Am I surprised?

I knew Steve Harrison was a church-goer as he’d mentioned this in his programs. I also knew Steve Harrison went to Davidson College just outside of Charlotte, NC – a school established by Presbyterians and which maintains close ties to the church. The odds of Steve being a Christian were strong – but were they strong enough to reject my application?

The thought of being rejected crossed through my mind when I submitted my application. The title of my first book is pretty straight forward, “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith,” so I thought this alone would’ve been enough to reject me upon receipt of my application. Instead, I was accepted until further review of my material.

The rejection assures me my work needs to gain the publicity it deserves. Someone like Steve Harrison is probably a prime candidate to read my books – so many put so much faith into their religions without “truly” investigating it for themselves.

My hope is not to necessarily deter others from Christianity as much as it is to share my own journey, to open the minds of more people to the myths of the Christian faith and to encourage others to be more critical of the religion they put their faith into – or anything else for that matter. In my book Them Demons is Tricky not one fundamentalist I confront stops being a Christian, but they all stop being “fundamentalists!”

In the United States today it’s almost taboo to question Christianity. Many people, including many family members, refuse to read my book simply because of its content – it questions the Christian faith. I’ve had people tell me I was “wrong” to question my religion, but I am forever thankful that I did!

I’ve also had friends “Unlike” my fan pages on Facebook because they were concerned it would draw concerns, ridicule or condemnation from fellow friends & family. It didn’t matter that they fully agreed with the work I was doing and the message I was promoting.

Christianity must be challenged precisely because people are afraid to challenge it, precisely because it has so much influence upon the people of our nation, precisely because so many people are ignorant of what is actually in the Bible, precisely because so many people know so little about other faiths and the truth of Christianity!

I cannot fully blame Steve Harrison for denying me from his program – after all, would I actively “promote” someone with an evangelical cause or anti-gay cause or anti-environmental cause? Of course not. I’m a Pagan, he’s a Christian – I get it. Unfortunately Steve doesn’t yet recognize we have far more in common that we have differences.

Sadly, it is clear Steve Harrison has not read my books. As one book reviewer put it, “This book is significant in that it illustrates several important points of the dangers of intolerance…Jacik’s message that love, tolerance, and enlightenment can and should replace fear and ignorance is extremely important not only in the context of religion, but in all aspects of life.” Sounds like Steve would be a prime candidate to read my book and see if it makes him “think” about what it is he has put some much faith into. It may change him and it may encourage him to encourage others to read it.

My work is having an impact. A recent text message from a friend conveyed that someone thought my book was “Incredible!” and that they were going to buy a copy for everyone they know!

While rejected from his program, I hold no ill will toward Steve or the Quantum Leap Program – I offer him only my best as I will seek publicity elsewhere, and hopefully someday our paths will cross another way. And I can only hope that he will not be too fearful to read my book.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and…all Hell broke loose! (Joshua 10)

Over the past few days I’ve been enjoying one of my birthday gifts from my wife, “The Grand Design” by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow.

In it they remind us of a passage in the Book of Joshua where the Lord stops the sun and the moon in their place so that Joshua may defeat the Amorites. The passage goes like this:

On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel: “O sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped  in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.  – Joshua 10:12-13

While I have always scoffed at this tale as pure legend, Hawking and Mlodinow remind us on page 87 that if this were to truly have happened the earth would have had to stop moving – because it is the earth that revolves around the sun and not vice versa. While the authors of Joshua were respectfully clueless about the laws of motion and gravity, we now know from Newton’s laws that “anything not tied down would have remained in motion at the earth’s original speed (1,100 miles per hour at the equator).”

Can you imagine the chaos, death and destruction such an event would have caused not only to the enemies of the Israel, but to every living thing on the planet when the earth stopped short? And consider what effect would it have had on oceans? Tsunamis would’ve certainly ensued!

I encourage you all to read the Bible with a closer eye – check out my website http://www.DoubtafterDoubt.com

God made him have red skin to make us know he was to burn forever

 Here is a portion of an exchange between Fundamentalist Hank and myself from Them Demons is Tricky.

From Fundamentalist Hank:

I am glad that you have many Bibles and that you have read them. But you are not reading them with the Lord. You must open your heart to the Lord and he will enter and give you understanding. You are confused by what you read and see trouble where it does not exist.

You said that for God to be a man it would make him human; but that is not right. For God to look like a man makes us more like Him. And being God he is able to look like what he wants to. He could look like a rock or a tree or a frog or a man. He chose to look like a man because he knew that would be the best way for us to look and he wanted us to not be afraid of his image. That is why we are afraid of Satan. God made him have red skin to make us know he was to burn forever and he gave him horns and a tail to make him and us know that he was now a beast. That is why he is called The Beast – because of his horns and tail.

A portion of my response:

Let me begin by saying that I find it a shame that a pagan such as myself is far more familiar with the Bible and your religion than someone who professes the Christian faith as strongly as you do. If you are going to defend your faith, you’re going to have to do a better job than tell me what your reverend has spouted off to you.

It is obvious from your previous e-mails that you take his words in higher regard than your own Bible. If indeed you want to believe in Christianity, please profess its faith properly.

In future dealings with me I do ask that you turn to the Bible, the Good Book you hold so sacredly, and the power of the mind the Goddess gave you, rather than to your reverend who is filling you with lies and deception while you simultaneously fill his pockets. It is clear that you do not know the Bible even a quarter as well as I do.

Want to read more? Check out Them Demons is Tricky.

Doubting the Creation Story

A new FREE CHAPTER from “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith” is now available for your amusement! It’s “Chapter 4: Doubting the Creation Story.”

In this chapter, author Rob Jacik begins by asking “Where in the universe is there the instantaneous creation of anything?” Jacik turns to the Bible to read its opening passages and the tale of how the earth and life were created in practically an instant. While it is an entertaining story, the evidence for it as fact is simply non-existant.

The discrepancies of Genesis are revealed and the attempts by popular Christian authors to substantiate these issues are successfully debunked. The chapter progresses to investigate how other popular Christian authors, such as Lee Stroebel and Hank Hanegraaff attempt to dismiss evolution in favor of creationism – Jacik successfully exposes the flaws and failings of their arguments.

Can evolution and God co-exist? Jacik provides the answer. Learn more by visiting  http://www.doubtafterdoubt.com to obtain your FREE CHAPTER.

Doubt after Doubt – reader compliments

I received some very nice compliments recently from someone who read “Doubt After Doubt” – so I thought I’d share a portion. This reader was formerly a Fundamentalist Christian.

A portion of what he shared included:

 ”I just wanted to say what a wonderful book “Doubt after Doubt” is! I was intrigued from cover to cover, and some of the questions I have had about my previous Christian faith were answered as well. I’ve read some of the books out there like “The Jesus Mysteries,” “Jesus and the Lost Goddess,” “Who Wrote the New Testament,” “A Case Against the Case for Christ,” etc., but this book puts the concepts in clear layman’s terms that are easy to read and understand and also cites its sources, which is very commendable.”

I want to thank you for sharing your experiences and for helping me in my process of freeing my mind from the shackles of fundamentalist Christianity.

I am blessed to be able to share my experiences and I am thrilled they have had a positive impact on my readers!

Them Demons is Tricky – Book Review *****

UPDATE: October 27th: The review is now published and can be found here: http://www.theusreview.com/reviews/Them-Jacik.html

I recently received a  book review of Them Demons is Tricky!

The review was done by The US Review of Books and will soon be published on their site. The reviewer was Carolyn Davis.

Enjoy!

“After e-mail conversations with me, all of them, without exception, ended up leaving their church and leaving their Fundamentalist group. Each… walked away with a greater appreciation for other faiths.”

Written mostly in e-mail format, with some narrative and explanations included, Jacik’s opus documents his correspondence with five members of a Fundamentalist church. The members’ inspiration to contact the author (who was raised in the Catholic faith, later joined Wicca, and now is practicing modern Paganism), was to attempt to convince him that their church’s way was the true one. Through multiple messages that detail patience, lessons in history and theology, and assurances that there is more to life than the fear of punishment for sin, Jacik convinces these men, as well as several other people, to leave their rigid pastor and church for others that emphasize love and acceptance.

The men with whom the author corresponds reveal themselves to be searching for more meaning and joy in their spiritual lives. All of the members were expected to contribute considerable amounts of money to their Fundamentalist church, and to follow the dictates of its pastor, who is portrayed as an angry, controlling, frightened, and frightening person.

This book is significant in that it illustrates several important points of the dangers of intolerance and “blind faith”–that those who seek to guide others spiritually need to be grounded not only in Biblical and many other texts, but in their own and others’ motivations to lead others in religious beliefs and practices. Jacik’s message that love, tolerance, and enlightenment can and should replace fear and ignorance is extremely important not only in the context of religion, but in all aspects of life.

 I’ll be sure to post a link to the review once it’s officially published!

10 Reasons I am No Longer a Christian – EXPLAINED

Yesterday I posted 10 reasons why I am no longer a Christian. From some of the comments I received apparently there was some confusion — doesn’t god love everyone unconditionally? And God doesn’t hate! Well…allow me to explain:

First, the number one answer I provided for not being a Christian is “Because I’ve read the Bible.”

Allow me to provide just a thimble of information to demonstrate my points – details can be found in my book: Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.

1. I’ve read the Bible and researched the faith

I encourage everyone to read the Bible, cover-to-cover, and ask themselves as they read if the God portrayed in the Bible is truly the God they believe in. I especially encourage readers to read the Book of Joshua which is loaded with the anger and vengeance of a violent, prejudiced and hateful God. And don’t skip Lamentations — once finished with that book ask yourself if it describes the God you believe in or the afterlife you believe in.

2. I believe God unconditionally loves everyone

The love of God comes with conditions. God is presented in Christianity as an all-forgiving, all-loving God. But this isn’t Biblically accurate. It is not true love when the God of the Bible says, I will love you unconditionally and for all eternity if you have no other gods before me, I will love you if you do not make any graven images, I will love you if you do not use my name in vain, I will love you if you honor the Sabbath day, I will love you if you honor your mother and father, I will love you if you do not murder or commit adultery or steal or lie or covet, and I will love you if you accept my son as your personal Lord and savior.

3. I believe God will not punish anyone

I do not believe God sends anyone to hell. The concept of a God that will punish people for essentially being human and using their free will is perposterous. Why would God create a universe in which his very creation could offend him, could disobey him or could betray him in some way? How is this even possible?

4. I believe God has no adversaries

I do not believe in the devil or Satan (or that the serpent was an adversary to God). A close look at these characters in the Bible and you will see that the serpent never deceived Eve (read his words carefully and what happened to Eve), that Satan is a servant and aide to God and the the devil (with his supposed acts of atrocity) pales in comparison to the malevolent nature of God himself who is accredited with all sorts of wicked things like sending plagues and famine, murdering men, women and children in countless ways and commanding stonings, genocide and other wicked acts.

5. I believe God has no favorites

The Bible states countless times that the Hebrews are God’s “chosen” people — his favorites. I do not believe in a God that favors any culture or religion or race or way-of-life over any other.

6. I beleive in a God who does not require a book to convey eternal messages to us

Why would God use a book to convey his eternal message? For thousands of years there was no printing press and the populace was largely illiterate. Only the wealthy and the priestly classes were literate for centuries upon centuries. If God had a message for us all — one that our eternal soul would depend upon –then I must say utilizing a book to convey that message was a very poor choice for the omnipotent creator of the entire universe.

7. I believe that God does not hate

I’ve been told by Christians that God hates the devil, God hates homosexuals, God hates pagans, God hates those who behave immorally etc., etc., etc. The Bible also documents several things that “God hates.” I do not believe in a God capable of hating anything.

8. I recognize evolution as a fact

Christians who take the Bible literally see evolution as an enemy that must be defeated. They will pose it this way — “You cannot beleive in God and believe in evolution.” These concepts are presented as though they are diametrically opposed. They are presented this way because accepting evolution demonstrates that the Creation Story in Genesis is just a myth. If the story in Genesis is just a myth then the Bible must not be the word of god.

I believe in God and I believe in evolution (I just don’t believe in the Christian conception of God)

9. I recognize Jesus as one of many gods/goddesses who conform to the archeytpe of the “dying-god.”

The archetype of the dying god is the god who is typically born at Christmas time, has deciples, is worshipped as the “son of god,” dies or is crucified, resurrects from the grave and judges the dead in the afterlife. Dionysus, Osiris, Mithras and many others all fufill this archetype. Jesus was not unique.

10. I believe that God fears nothing

Jealousy, hatred, apprehension and other negative emotions are founded in insecurity and fear. God demonstrates all of these attributes in the Bible. For jealousy simply read the 10 Commandments. For apprehension read the Tower of Babel, for hatred just open the Old Testament and start reading.

The God I believe in fears nothing.

For more details please see my intriguing and controversial book: Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.

Did anybody see Jesus die?

Allow me to paint the scene…three men are being crucified in the ancient city of Jerusalem, which is controlled by the Romans. These men are criminals, their crimes described on small wooded plaques above their heads. Nailed to crosses made of wood they hang from their arms in agony, blood trickles from the wounds in their hands and feet. A crowd has gathered to witness their suffering.

The man they call Jesus is being persecuted for treason, his charges read “This is Jesus, King of the Jews” (or any of the three other variations of this charge described in the gospels). With nails driven through his hands and feet, blood and sweat pour down his face blurring his eyesight. As his strength weakens he shouts out in defeat, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Soon later, with a final cry of agony, he dies.

At that moment, as if by magic, the curtain in the Temple in Jerusalem was torn in two! Then an earthquake strikes the city splitting earth and rock. Meanwhile tombs break open and the deceased rose from the dead and wandered throughout the city.

Did anybody notice?

Not one word of this was written down by anyone – not for 20-30 years at least (and quite possibly longer). In a day and age when historians and scribes kept records of daily events there is not a single extra-Biblical reference to a man being crucified whose death miraculously coincided with earthquakes. Nor is their any mention of the dead rising and walking through the streets of Jerusalem.

Wouldn’t one think to write this event down?

To make matters more interesting, the scene described above with the curtain splitting, the earthquake and the dead rising from the grave only seemed important enough to one gospel writer – Matthew – for only in Matthew are these event described. It appears nowhere else in the Bible.

History has shown Jesus inspired no one during his lifetime to write down a single word he said, action he performed or event he attended. His death was equally uninspiring — for not a word about it was documented by a anyone who witnessed it or even by anyone alive at the time who may have heard about it secondhand, third-hand or otherwise.

For more information see the intriguing and controversial book “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.“

Free Excerpt: The Historical Jesus – from “Doubt after Doubt”

Here is another FREE excerpt from my book, “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.”

 

In Chapter 3, “Doubting the Ressurection,” I explore my doubts about the resurrection of Jesus. I explore the origins of the word “easter,” I explore the archetype of the dying-god and I question the historicity of Jesus the man. This excerpt is my exploration into the historical Jesus. This text is copyrighted.  

 

The Historical Jesus

The parallels between ancient pagan customs and Christianity’s celebrations of the birth and resurrection of Jesus are too obvious to ignore. Picking away at those flakes of cracked paint on the wall, it was not long before I learned that Jesus maps directly to the archetype of the savior god who is crucified, dies for the sins of the world and is resurrected in the fulfillment of prophecy. As I would discover, this archetype reveals itself in more than a dozen mythologies older than that of Jesus, including Dionysus, Osiris, Mithras, Krishna, Quetzalcoatl, Sakia, Tammuz and Prometheus.

My Catholic upbringing taught me that Jesus was and is the only Son of God, and that Jesus was god made flesh so that he could take part in the human experience. As I began to explore the death and resurrection of Jesus, I turned my attention to the historical Jesus because though there are many myths about a dying god that was resurrected, Christians dismiss this “archetype” argument by claiming that Jesus stands above the others because he was “real.”

So how “real” was Jesus? How much evidence do we have for the existence of Jesus as a historical figure, the man described in the gospels, the god made flesh, the miracle worker, the great teacher? Bart Ehrman, the Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor of Religious Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with degrees from Wheaton College (B.A.) and Princeton Theological Seminary (M. Div and Ph D.), addressed this topic in a lecture on the New Testament. He said, “Given the effect that Jesus has had on history ever since his death, one might expect that his life made an enormous impact on the society of his day – like a comet striking the earth. But if the historical record is any indication, Jesus scarcely made any impact at all – less like a comet striking the earth than a stone being tossed into the ocean” (56).

Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy in their work The Jesus Mysteries draw similar conclusions, noting that looking for the historical Jesus was “futile.” They are astonished at the complete lack of evidence for the man who is reputed as the one and only incarnation of God (157).

As I’ve stated several times, not a word of the New Testament was recorded while Jesus was alive, not a word was recorded for decades after his death. The words finally written down were not written by eyewitnesses (as some would like me to believe) nor were they written by Jesus’ disciples. They were not even written in Jesus’ native Aramaic – they were written in Greek. Jesus inspired no one during his lifetime to document his life, his works or his words.

Outside of the New Testament, accounts written in the first century of a man named Jesus are essentially non-existent. Hundreds of non-Christian texts or letters survive from the first century, yet not one philosopher, poet, historian or scientist in public or private documentation mentioned Jesus. There are no birth or death certificates, no trial records – no reference of any kind to Jesus.

Within the first one hundred years after his death, Jesus is mentioned only twice in all the pagan sources and even these references are insignificant. One is by the Roman governor, Pliny the Younger in 112 CE, who in a letter mentions a group of Christians who are followers of Christ. That’s it, that’s all he mentions.

The second is by the Roman historian Tacitus, who in his work The Annals, written in 115 CE, mentions the Christians who are followers of “Christ,” who, he notes, was crucified under Pontius Pilate (Ehrman 56-57).

There is only one instance of an account from the first century that is written by someone other than a follower of Jesus that says something similar to what the followers said. This is the highly disputed passage found in the work of Jewish historian Josephus in The Antiquities of the Jews. 

At about this time lived Jesus, a wise man, if indeed one might call him a man. For he was one who accomplished surprising feats and was a teacher of such people as are eager for novelties. He won over many of the Jews and many of the Greeks. He was the Messiah. When Pilate, upon an indictment brought by the principal men among us, condemned him to the cross, those who had loved him from the very first did not cease to be attached to him. On the third day he appeared to them restored to life, for the holy prophets had foretold this and myriads of other marvels concerning him. And the tribe of the Christians, so called after him, has to this day still not disappeared.

 

Christians to this day continue to point to this passage as all the verification needed for proof of Jesus’ existence and the credibility of the stories told in the gospels. These Christians should be aware that the majority of scholars, Jewish and Christian alike, are in agreement that parts if not all of this passage were not written by Josephus but were added centuries later by Christian scribes. Critical study of this passage reveals the following: 

·         The writing style is not consistent with the rest of Josephus’ work.

·         If removed, Josephus’ original argument runs on its proper sequence.

·         Origen, one of the most conscientious scholars of the ancient church tells us in the beginning of the third century that there is no mention of Jesus in Josephus’s work.

·         Early Christians do not mention anything written by Josephus until the beginning of the fourth century, when Roman Church propagandist Bishop Eusebius suddenly produced a version which contained these passages.

·         The passage is in direct contrast with Josephus’s own philosophical beliefs and his political pragmatism (Freke 137).

 From here I returned to Lee Strobel’s work, The Case for Christ, to see how the Christians reconcile these apparently insurmountable problems. In his chapter called “The Corroborating Evidence: Is There Credible Evidence for Jesus outside His Biographies,” Strobel interviews Edwin M. Yamauchi, Ph.D. at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

They begin with the passage from Josephus and Yamauchi acknowledges the controversy regarding the text. Yamauchi asserts that the early Christian copyists merely “inserted some phrases” that Josephus would not have written, but he concludes that ultimately the text is genuine. As an example, he notes the opening line, “About this time there lived a man named Jesus, a wise man, if indeed he was a man.” He states that the beginning of the sentence noting Jesus as a wise man was likely authentic, but the end of the sentence which questions whether he was a man “appears to be an interpolation.” He also notes two other occurrences of interpolation: that Jesus is the “Christ” and that he rose from the dead on the third day. The remainder of the work, Yamauchi informs us, is authentic. He also notes that the works of Josephus are considered very accurate, that his mention of Jesus is “highly significant” and considered “extremely important” (78-80).

Notice that neither Yamauchi nor Strobel addresses the controversies noted above: that the entire paragraph could be removed without affecting the continuity of Josephus’ argument, that in the third century Origen declared that no such reference to Jesus existed in Josephus’s work, and that Christians did not lay claim to this passage as evidence for the historical Jesus until the fourth century CE.

David Klinghoffer, author of Why the Jews Rejected Jesus, says, “I’m not aware of any scholar, however, who has pointed out a curious and pregnant parallel between the story of Jesus of Nazareth and another tale that Josephus chooses to tell in the Antiquities immediately after the paragraph about Jesus: the story of Decius Mundus. The juxtaposition is worth contemplating,” Klinghoffer adds, because “the way the Jewish mind worked, at least the mind of a Jew steeped in rabbinic tradition as Josephus described himself, was to think of strangely juxtaposed stories as commenting upon one another” (40-41).

Decius Mundus was a Roman knight, and Jospehus explains that he wished to seduce a married woman. He achieves success by getting priests to assist him in convincing the woman that he is the incarnation of the Egyptian god Anubis. His trickery succeeds and after spending the night in the woman’s chamber his disguise is revealed and everyone, except Mundus who is exonerated because he acted out of passion, is convicted by the Roman authorities and crucified, including the woman herself (40-41).

After placing the reference to Jesus in the Antiquities in context, Klinghoffer questions whether Mundus is the Jewish historian’s comment on Jews. Perhaps Mundus represents Jesus and Israel represents the lusted wife of God. Jesus succeeds in his seduction of some Jews by putting on the guise of a deity through the help of others (priests and disciples). If the tale is implied juxtaposition, then Josephus is suggesting that Jesus and his followers are heretical and that they are fools for seducing Jews toward a new faith. In the end it is Jesus who is crucified as punishment by God for deceiving his people (41-42).

In my opinion, this case for juxtaposition is missing too many pieces to be used as evidence. It does, though, add to the argument that the entire passage was added later, since Josephus’s argument runs its proper sequence when we remove the section about Jesus.

Let’s return now to the interview that Strobel conducted with Yamauchi to build a case for “Credible Evidence for Jesus Outside His Biographies.” They turn to a discussion of the works of Tacitus and Pliny the Younger. (These works appeared approximately 80-85 years after the death of Jesus and are the only mention of Jesus or Christianity within a hundred years of the death of Jesus with the possible exception of Josephus). Yamauchi’s conclusion on each of these writings is essentially the same: They prove that there were Christians and that the Christian movement must have been strong (82-84).

Neither Strobel nor Yamauchi extend a claim that these passages prove the existence of a historical Jesus. Instead, Yamauchi deduces that the events of Jesus’ life must have happened in order for him to have such a devout following almost a century after his death: “And it’s significant that Tacitus reported that an ‘immense multitude[1]’ held so strongly to their beliefs that they were willing to die for their beliefs” (83).

It appears a convincing tale. Why would anyone put such faith in a man who hadn’t truly existed or hadn’t performed the deeds attributed to him? Putting this into context, however, I remember that the Christians at the time of Tacitus and Pliny the Younger had not witnessed Jesus’ acts. If there were people still alive that had been alive at the time of Jesus’ crucifixion they would be in their nineties – and would have been only ten years old at the time of the crucifixion.

The followers Tacitus and Pliny the Younger mention were adhering to a faith that had been passed to them through oral tradition, as were the followers of Osiris and Dionysus. I ponder their dedication. Why would they hold so strongly to their belief, to the point of death? Their belief had a profound affect on them.

Sounds as if the proof is in the pudding. The evidence for Jesus can be found in the profound dedication of his believers.

I remember the more than 80 followers of David Koresh who went to the grave with him in 1993 in Waco, Texas. And I wonder again about the time in Jonestown, Guyana, when 913 of 1100 people did as Jim Jones did – “drink the Kool-Aid” laced with potassium cyanide. And why do Neo-Nazis continue to follow the racist dogma of Adolf Hitler?

I can find multitudes of examples where people have followed something or someone blindly without any tangible evidence to substantiate the claims. Consider the one billion Christians and the one billion Muslims in the world today. Can the “truth” on both sides be right?

When I reflect on these facts, I cannot accept Strobel’s and Yamauchi’s claim. The fact that there were some people decades after Jesus’ death who were willing to die for their belief in Jesus does not convince me of the truth of the story of the resurrection.   

---

[1] No definition of “immense multitude’ is given. Was it 30, 300 or 3000 people? We do not know. 

 

Works Cited:

 

 

Ehrman, Bart D., The Great Courses: The New Testament, The Teaching Company Limited Partnership, Chantilly, CA, 2000

Freke, Timothy & Peter Gandy, The Jesus Mysteries; Three Rivers Press, New York, New York, 1999

Klinghoffer, David, Why the Jews Rejected Jesus: the Turning Point in Western History, Three Leaves Press, New York, 2006

Strobel, Lee, The Case for Christ: A Journalist’s Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1998

© Robert Jacik 2008

 

 

 

 

For more information please see my intriguing and controversial book Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.

Ghosts are real! The Bible says so!

Are ghosts real?

At this time of year, near the eve of Halloween, ghost stories become the norm. We question the reality of ghosts and spirits.

Throughout my life I’ve witnessed the church deny the existence of ghosts — and if they really do exist, they must be the works of the devil.

The concept of ghosts is contrary to Christian doctrine. Christian doctrine states when we die we’re going to await the return of Christ. When Christ returns the righteous will convene with Jesus in heaven and have everlasting life, while the non-believers and the sinners will be subjugated to an eternity in hell.

This view of the afterlife leaves no place for ghosts or spirits of any kind.

But what does the Bible say?

I turn to 1 Samuel chapter 28. In this tale Saul is King and his prophet and adviser Samuel has recently been killed. His enemy, the Philistines, were gathering to do battle with him. Saul was terrified. Out of fear, Saul turned to the Lord for answers and insight…but the Lord did not appear. In desperation, Saul seeks out a spiritist (a medium) so that he may inquire with the spirit of his recently deceases adviser Samuel.

This was an act of utter hypocrisy, since Saul had banned all mediums from the land — however, one was found in Endor.

Saul disguised himself and visited the woman known as the Witch of Endor. At first, she was reluctant to heed his request to bring up a spirit because of the decree against such practices — but Saul assured her she would not be punished.

The medium then proceeded to bring forth the spirit of Samuel. Not only is she successful in speaking to the ghost of Samuel, but Samuel explains to Saul why the Lord is angry with him, plus he predicts his defeat to the Philistines and the death of his sons on the battlefield. Each of Samuel’s predictions come to fruition.

So according to the Bible: ghosts are real, we can communicate with them and they can predict the future. Nice!

Divination is Real! The Bible says So!

With Halloween on the horizon many people turn to Tarot readers, psychics and other mediums to get their cards read or to perform some other form of divination.

What does the Bible have to say about this ancient practice?

The Bible is full of divination techniques used by the Israelites and their neighbors to predict the future. In fact, there are so many references to divination that I will not provide them here.

The most proficient user of divination is probably Joseph, in Genesis. He has the ability to interpret the future by reading dreams. Check out the later chapters of Genesis for details on his abilities.

Another method of determining information was to cast lots or draw straws. The book of Jonah provides a great example of this.

Attempting to flee the fate the Lord has set before him, Jonah boards a ship. While out at sea the vessel faces calamity as the weather bears down upon them, tossing and turning the ship. The crew suspect they have someone on board who has angered the gods in some way. To determine who the culprit is they cast lots to determine who is responsible (Jnh 1:7). The lot fell on Jonah.

So here, the Bible tells us we can perform divination and that casting of lots is a great way to determine the thoughts of God.

What happens when we die?

Do bad people go to hell?

Do we all go to heaven?

Are the righteous granted the kingdom of God?

Do you have to believe in Jesus to get into heaven?

All of these questions and more are answered in this FREE CHAPTER from the new and controversial book, Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith – Chapter 6 “Doubting the Christian Afterlife.” Check it out!

But was King Solomon devoted to the God of the Bible?

A recent archaeological find is suggesting they may have found King Solomon’s mines. However, how many people know that this wise figure of the Bible was not devoted to God?

King Solomon turned to paganism later in his life and worshipped many Gods, in addition to Yahweh (the God of the Bible).

While he is credited with building the Temple in Jerusalem, he also built high places in honor of the god Chemoshof Moab and one in honor of Molech the god of the Amorites. He also worshipped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians. In fact, it is likely, as a result of the influence of his 700 pagan wives, Solomon worshipped even more gods!

It is likely he burned incense and offered sacrifices to these pagan gods along with his wives (1 Ki 11:8)!

From 1 Kings Chapter 11:

King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been.

 

Got doubts about Christianity? Visit http://www.DoubtAfterDoubt.com

Political Abstinence (as heard on WFAE)

WFAE in Charlotte, NC aired my commentary “Political Abstinence” on Thursday October 30th.

Link to audio: listen now

Link to WFAE: here

Here is the transcript:

Six weeks ago, I was so consumed by this election that, I’ll be honest; I couldn’t imagine going even a few hours without an update.   

I spent all day on my computer hopping from web site to web site and blog to blog looking for the latest news.  I was just as interested in the scandalous gossip about lipstick and pigs as I was about the latest reform proposals from either campaign. 

     Then everything changed.

I went on a business trip and was so busy with meetings, presentations and working dinners that I had no time for my usual websites or talk radio shows.

     That made me realize how consuming all this mental chatter was and I started to wonder if I even needed it. I mean, really, at this point I’ve already made up my mind about who I’m going to vote for and there’s probably nothing that’s going to change that.

     So I went cold turkey on all politics until Election Day.

     The first week of my political abstinence was easier than I expected. Headlines grabbed my attention, but I resisted reading further. Turning off talk shows wasn’t as easy, but I found alternatives and to avoid the temptation I changed all my radio presets to music stations and sports talk shows.

I made an exception with the debates. I watched the first Presidential debate and I learned nothing new.

     But what really got to me was the second debate between Obama and McCain. All the venom they were spitting back and forth in their Town Hall left me with a sour taste. I felt like the smoker who quit and now finds the smell of cigarettes nauseating. I turned it off after 20 minutes.

I’ve discovered that without pundits pumping their poison into my veins everyday, the chatter in my mind has cooled off, and I’m able to focus more on the things that matter.

My friends and family keep asking, “Aren’t you afraid you’ll miss something important?” I tell them, “If something comes along big enough to change my vote I won’t be able to avoid it.”  And from what I’ve heard, the only big thing I’ve seemed to miss is Tina Fey’s impersonation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.

I’ve got to say, I’m still tempted to listen to my talk radio shows, but the interesting thing is the other night I got into a political discussion with a friend and we went back and forth on the same old issues. When I walked away I couldn’t turn it off, I was still arguing with him in my head and it didn’t feel good.

I’m actually not sure at this point if I’ll ever go back to my old political habits after Election Day. But if I do, I’ll certainly approach them in a brand new way.

 

Would you like to know the Truth? (Part I)

A piece of Christian paraphernalia was left on my door this past week entitled, “Would You Like to Know the Truth?”

I said, “Yes, please enlighten me!”

And then I read, “Does God really care about us?” And the response was:

WHAT THE BIBLE TEACHES: God never causes what is wicked. “Far be it from the true God to act wickedly, and the Almighty to act unjustly!” says Job 34:10

Wow! And this came from the book of Job. The same book where God permits Satan to go to earth and take everything Job has just to test Job’s devotion to God. Job loses all of his livestock and all of his servants, then all of his sons and daughters were crushed to death, and then he was inflicted with painful sores — all in an effort to prove to God that he was a righteous man.

Far be it from the true God to act wickedly?

Deuteronomy 28:61 “The LORD will also bring on you every kind of sickness and disaster not recorded in this Book of the Law, until you are destroyed.”

Want more?

Here:

God murders almost every living creature on the planet: Genesis 7:21-23

God destroys the entire populations of Sodom and Gomorrah: Genesis 19:24

God wipes out the Egyptians: Exodus 14:26-28

God encourages murder and plundering of men, women and children: Deuteronomy 20:13-14

God commands murder and the display of their slain bodies in public: Numbers 25:4

God commands stoning: Leviticus 24:23, Numbers 15:32-36

God buries men, women and children alive: Numbers 16:27-34

God destroys men with fire: Numbers 16:35

God puts a man to death: 2 Samuel 6:6-7

God puts a child to death: 2 Samuel 12:15, 12:18, 1 Chronicles 2:3

God puts 70 men to death: 1 Samuel 6:19

God sends hornets: Exodus 23:28

God brings disaster 1 Kings 14:10-11

I could go on for hours. Want to know the Truth — read the Bible! You’ll be amazed at the wickedness of the God of the Israelites!

For even more, check out my book Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.

 

And lead us not into temptation?

 Are you familiar with the Lord’s Prayer?

 Ever pay particular attention to the line – “..and lead us not into temptation.”

 In the Lord’s prayer one is praying that the Lord not lead us into temptation – suggesting that it is God himself that leads us into the temptation that is sin.

 Do you doubt the word of God too?

 If you’d like to learn more about my books visit http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1749311 or follow Doubt after Doubt on Facebook.

Did the Serpent Deceive Eve?

The serpent did not lie or deceive anyone!

GENESIS 3:1-5

He [the serpent] said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”

The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

“You will not surely die,” the serpent said to the woman. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:1-5).

Read carefully and you will see that the serpent did not lie.

When Eve eats the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, two things happen, and both exemplify that the serpent was telling the truth!

First, Eve’s eyes are opened and she becomes like God knowing good and evil.

Second, she does not die after touching or eating the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge – as God had said she would. What the serpent has done is to expose God as the crafty one.

If you’d like to learn more about my books “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith” and “Them Demons is Tricky” visit http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1749311.

Do you hate the Hittites too?

How could God, the divine architect of life, ever narrow his blessings down to one group of people?

In a universe composed of billions of galaxies, how can earth even be a favorite among all the other heavenly bodies?

In a world with countless nations, clans, tribes and people, how could God favor any one over the others?

Could Americans – in the eyes of God – be superior to Indonesians?

Could Brazilians be counted superior to Koreans?

How could one land be rated above all others? Is the Grand Canyon superior to Mount Everest? Does New York rate higher in God’s eyes than Tokyo?

When an ego is attached to God, then he has desires to feel superior, to justify his existence just as egocentric humans do. Joshua even pleads to God’s egocentricity when he asks “What then will you do for your own great name?” 

Christianity teaches that God loves Israel and the Israelites more than anyone else.

THE BOOK OF GENESIS

When Esau was forty years old, he married Judith daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and also Basemath daughter of Elon the Hittite.

They were a source of grief to Isaac and Rebekah…

Then Rebekah said to Isaac, “I’m disgusted with living because of these Hittite women. If Jacob takes a wife from among the women of this land, from Hittite women like these, my life will not be worth living (Rebekah is speaking of the Hittite wives her son Esau married in Genesis 26:24). – Genesis 26:34-27:46

If you’d like to learn more about my books “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith” and “Them Demons is Tricky” visit http://stores.lulu.com/rob_jacik.

Does God Speak Through Prophecy?

Did you know that Genesis was authored around 1400 BCE?

Did you know that Malachi was authored around 400 BCE?

Why do I mention this?

In my research I learned that Christian doctrine teaches that the Jesus fulfills prophecies left by several authors of the Old Testament – including Genesis and Malachi.

Unfortunately these prophecies aren’t clear and in some cases the author didn’t even know he was writing a prophecy.

Do you have a hard time – like I do – imagining that God would drop little breadcrumbs of prophecy scattered throughout miscellaneous verses in at least eleven Hebrew-centric writings authored over more than a millennium of time?

It took 1,000 years for God to author the Old Testament in such a way that prophecies or clues about Jesus coming could be provided.

This is to say that God is the Great Riddler – and we are left to put the pieces together.

But let’s add to our timeline the fact that centuries elapsed between the writing of the last book of the Old Testament and the first gospels.

One must realize that the puzzle God creates for us took over 1500 years to complete. And in order to decipher it one must have a rare and incredibly extensive knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures.

The puzzle also required literacy at a time when illiteracy was the rule. In fact, illiteracy has remained the rule on this planet for thousands of years up until recent history.

If you’d like to learn more about my books  “Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith” and its prequel “Them Demons is Tricky” visit http://stores.lulu.com/rob_jacik

What do Athiests know that you don’t know?

Did you see the recent poll where it was determined that Athiests know more about religion than any other demographic?

A new survey of Americans’ knowledge of religion found that atheists, agnostics, Jews and Mormons outperformed Protestants and Roman Catholics in answering questions about major religions, while many respondents could not correctly give the most basic tenets of their own faiths — from the Associated Press

What do Athiests know that many other people don’t know?

While I am not an Athiest or an Agnostic, I’m certain much of what has pursuaded Athiests and Agnostics to turn away from the faith of their youth could be found in:

Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith

“Doubt after Doubt” is a book people are afraid to read! I was once afraid too!

When I began questioning my faith I looked upon that crucifix on my wall with trepidation knowing that questioning my religion would be wrong. Others who have pondered reading this book have also turned away for fear of the challenges they may face. Through will-power and courage I pushed aside my fears and investigated every doubt I ever had about Christianity to author the book. I challenge Christmas, Easter, the devil, the creation story, hell, the word of God, sex, homosexuality and more often using the Bible to support my case. “Doubt after Doubt” is informative and inspirational providing a new way of looking at the faith that many people call their own.

Shop at Lulu: http://stores.lulu.com/rob_jacik

Them Demons is Tricky!

I’ve entered a contest on Lulu.com and now Lulu is offering my customers 10% OFF their next purchase of “Them Demons is Tricky” or “Doubt after Doubt” through October 31st, 2010!

Take advantage of this offer by visiting my storefront at Lulu: http://stores.lulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1749311 and entering promo code “HARVEST” …at check out! Thank you Lulu!

You will love this book! Them Demons is Tricky is now available!

Some people like me think you should be careful. You might have a demon in you. Demons is very tricky and you won’t know what they is doing. They can make you do things and think it is right. I bet you are a good person and that is why they are trying to make you believe in witches and magic. Ask your self if you have ever REALLY seen a witch and the answer will be no - from Them Demons is Tricky.

When several devout Fundamentalist Christians find out about my religious beliefs they seek to save my soul and turn me to the light of Christ.

Via e-mail we debate over the core Christian tenets. Is the earth only six thousand years old? Is Satan running amok upon the planet foiling God’s heavenly plans? Does God hate homosexuals? Are women inferior to men? Is God a male? And many more.

I surgically dissect each of their arguments using the Bible as one of my strongest allies. In response, the opinions and beliefs of the Fundamentalists run from surprising to frightening to downright hysterical.

In the end I reveal to them the reality of the Bible as each one of them ends up leaving their church. Losing church  members by the score the Reverend himself intercedes. I refuse to hold back and goe toe-to-toe with the pastor which eventually leads to a startling conclusion that abruptly ends my interactions with the Christians.

Learn more here: Them Demons is Tricky or become a fan on Facebook.



I’m sure that you’re doing Satan’s work

Here is an exchange between me and Fundamentalist Josh from Them Demons is Tricky .

I hope that you’re very happy with yourself you damn witchman! We had a good group of people that wanted to spread the word of God and you had to come along and make several of my friends leave our group. I don’t know what kind of spell you put on them, but I’m sure that you’re doing Satan’s work. So is our preacher. He has told us all to never talk to you again, but I have God on my side and I sure don’t fear the devil or his little helpers like you.

Why don’t you try and have a little love for your fellow man and try and convert people to the Baptist religion so that they can be saved. Your Wyker is a false religion setup by Satan and the damned demons of hell.

You probably think it is real funny to make people turn from God. Hank was a friend and I liked him. Now, because of you, I’m not supposed to talk or associate with him because my pastor said that he now has a demon. I have some justice in knowing that you will burn in hell. Go ahead and try one of your demon spells on me and I’ll throw it back at you because I have the Lord with me.  

In response:

You strike me as a very bitter and angry person. Your words are filled with hatred, outrage and frustration. Is this the sort of person you would like me to become in going to your church? If so, no thank you!

My world is filled with love and joy. I see God and Goddess everywhere and life is beautiful. I shall continue to enjoy my life and reap the blessings it bestows upon me each day, without your church, your reverend, or your savior.

Both Lee and Hank are very happy and thankful they met me! In fact, I continue to get “thank you’s” from both of them. I will not apologize to them or to anyone else for turning their lives around and allowing them to find the happiness that resides within.

Perhaps you have been misinformed about my doings and intentions. I have never once asked either one of them to change their faith. Indeed, both continue to be Christians…which is fine by me. The difference is they are now “better” Christians for they are out of the spiritually damaging grips of Reverend Hollows.

Want to read more? Check out Them Demons is Tricky or check it out on Facebook.

Modern science is the work of Satan!

Here is a portion of an exchange between Funadamentalist Hank and myself from Them Demons is Tricky:

From Fundamentalist Hank:

Modern science is the work of Satan. He gives us all this stuff that we shouldn’t know. He can then make us believe what he wants to. He gives us the art of changing our bodies in ways that God didn’t want. Messing with the DNA and stuff like that. We don’t have any business doing that. If we want something changed we should ask the Lord and not science. Even this computer that we are using is made by Satan. It lets him get his word out to people that are confused by him like you are. You hear about witches and demons and pagan and untrue gods on the Internet and you think it would be fun to have magic and make things happen that shouldn’t. Satan will still be using the Internet right up until the Lord comes back and gets rid of all the evil people and the devil. God has only us; his loyal worshipers to spread his message of love against all that have been tricked by Satan.

In response:

You cry “Satan” every time modern science proves that your Holy Book is simply a book of stories, no more the word of God than any other mythological collection of tales. Science proclaims without doubt that the universe is over 15 billion years old, and you cry Satan! Science proclaims that Dinosaurs roamed the earth for millions of years before the first humans and you cry Satan! Science proclaims that microorganisms most likely were found on Mars and {YAWN} you cry Satan!

Fact is, you cannot deny that with each modern claim your faith loses its clout and your pastors and reverends preach using ancient fear-of-God tactics so that you will continue to put money into their basket every Sunday.

Want to read more? Check out Them Demons is Tricky.

Druidry officially recognized as religion in the U.K.

Really – it took this long? The modern druids have been practicing their religion in the UK for decades! And the religion of the ancient Celts is ancient – what was there not to recognize?

Check it out: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39472198/ns/world_news-europe/

Chimney Rock and the Little People

Granite cliffs and bald mountains stared down at me from either side as we drove through Hickory Nut Gorge, home of the village of Chimney Rock. Travelling north the east is guarded by a steep mountain adorned with sheer rocky cliffs and crowned with trees. The west is fortified by an equally steep mountain topped with smooth-faced granite and also crowned with trees. Jutting straight up, high beside the mountain to the west is the rather phallic Chimney Rock.

This gorge was carved out by the Rocky Broad River over eons of time. The width of this valley at the Village of Chimney Rock is no wider than a quarter of a mile. Deep within a foreboding gorge I wondered what our pagan ancestors, the Cherokee, thought of this place.

In my research I’ve yet to find anything on Chimney Rock itself. However, according to James Mooney, author of History, Myths and Sacred Formulas of the Cherokee, this valley was considered mystical and austere – it was here that the mischievous Little People dwelt. According to Cherokee legend the Hickory Nut Gorge served as the gateway to the country where tobacco could be obtained. However, passing through the gorge was no easy feat as one would have to befriend, defeat or outwit the Little People in order to pass to the east and obtain for the tribe the sacred herb of tobacco.

First a young hero steps up to the task – but he never returns.

Next, a magician takes on the quest. He begins by turning himself into a mole – and while successful in passing through the valley the spirits pursued him and he returned empty-handed.

On his second attempt the magician turns himself into a hummingbird and experiences limited success. A small amount of tobacco was returned. When he returns to his homeland he discovers a number of his friends to the point of death in need of tobacco – so he decides to avenge the death of the young warrior whose went missing in the valley and take sole possession of the tobacco once and for all.

On this final trip through Hickory Nut Gorge he turns himself into a whirlwind, stripping the mountains of their vegetation and turning over boulders which he scattered throughout the narrow valley. This was enough to frighten the Little People who fled the valley. Passing through the valley today one sees the walls of the mountainsides bare of vegetation and rocks strewn throughout the valley as the Rocky Broad River winds its way through the land. I’m not too sure, however, that the Little People were fully dispersed.

My quest for more information about this valley continues…the book, In the Shadows of Chimney Rock may contain more.

The Satan myth continues to infiltrate our world

I’m on YouTube now (just getting started with a Channel thats under construction). Here is the link to the video about this blog post.

On XM NPR (the XM Satellite version of National Public Radio) today I heard a caller actually say that Satan can manipulate our reasoning skills! On NPR!

The myth of Satan has perpetuated itself through the millenia into the minds of modern day man – yet the attributes of this angelic being are not founded in the Bible.

Now I’m not a Christian – but I would really like all those Christians out there to understand who Satan is from a Biblical standpoint. Satan is the adversary to mankind, not to God. He is part of God’s own angelic court. Satan serves as the tool of Yahweh to guide the unrighteous onto a righteous path. It was never Satan’s role Biblically to guide people into unrighteousness so that they may never return. Satan helps God, not hinders him.

I ask everyone who is interested in this character, from a Biblical point of view, to read the Book of Job.

I cover this topic extensively in Them Demons is Tricky and in my chapter “Doubting God’s Adversaries” in Doubt after Doubt: Doubting the Christian Faith.

Abolish Dept of Education, Commerce and Whoops – Why, Then What and WTF?

In Rick Perry’s gaffe during the Republican Presidential Candidate Debate (11/9/11) he noted that he would abolish the Dept of Education, the Dept of Commerce and couldn’t recall the third department he would abolish…Dept of Energy.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION – Why?
Why shut down the Dept of Education. The mission is to “establish policy for, administer and coordinate most federal assistance to education, collect data on US schools, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights.”

It is also the smallest department in the cabinet. With the exception of “No Child Left Behind” – which should be abolished – the department doesn’t set school policies, they do not set education standards. Please tell me why abolishing this department is a good idea. Should we stop providing federal assistance to our education systems? Should we stop collecting data on our schools? Should we not enforce educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights? Is there another cabinet-level department that would absorb these duties?

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE – Then What?
The mission of the Department of Commerce is to “promote job creation and improved living standards for all Americans by creating an infrastructure that promotes economic growth, technological competitiveness, and sustainable development.”

While I would agree they aren’t accomplishing their mission, this is no reason to abolish the department outright. According to Wikipedia, “Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for business and government decision-making, issuing patents and trademarks, and helping to set industrial standards.”

Is Rick Perry saying we do not need the issuing of patents and trademarks? Is he saying the government shouldn’t be involved in gathering economic and demographic data? Without the department of Commerce which department would take on these duties?

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – WTF?
The world has witnessed the disaster of the Tsunami in Japan on 3/11/11 and the subsequent meltdown of the nuclear reactor at Fukushima. The importance of an incredibly detailed and thought through plan for how to manage nuclear regulations, waste and emergency situations with potential for disasterous consequences came to the surface of the worlds nuclear states. Germany went so far as to declare that all nuclear power plants be phased out by 2022. Belgium followed suit declaring it would be nuclear power free by 2025.

With this said, the Department of Energy’s responsibilities include “the nation’s nuclear weapons program, nuclear reactor production for the United States Navy, energy conservation, energy-related research, radioactive waste disposal, and domestic energy production” (quote from Wikipedia article on United States Department of Energy). So why the f*&k would Rick Perry – or any candidate – want to abolish this department? What is his plan to manage radioactive waste disposal? What about the safety and security of our nuclear weapons program?

AMAZING
When I visited Rick Perry’s website to find the answers (www.rickperry.org) I am immediately greeted with the banner “Which part of Federal Government would you like to forget about most?” – and I’m given the opportunity to vote. What incredible disdain for our United States government. Brilliant idea – elect a man to a government office who has no respect government offices in the first place. Yes – rather than try to fix a problem, he’s apparently prefer to take a sledgehammer and destroy the problem – yes lets take the BAM! BAM! approach to our nations problems.

Please explain – Why get rid of the Dept of Education? What will you do after you get rid of Dept of Commerce? And WTF are you thinking regarding getting rid of the Dept of Energy. Oh – and let me guess – these were the Top 3 voted for on your web site – I couldn’t find out on my own because to vote requires providing personal information.

I love this time of year!!