Category Archives: Philosophy

Review of the Anti-Abortion Movie “Unplanned” (2019)

Posted on September 11, 2019 by Celsus

About a week ago I had a chance to watch the recent anti-abortion movie Unplanned. Admittedly, since I cannot (in good conscience) financially support the producers of the film, I resorted to downloading a pirated copy online. Nonetheless, I did … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Miscellaneous, Musings, Philosophy, Reviews | Leave a comment

Bayesian Analysis of Craig Keener, “Otho: A Targeted Comparison”

Posted on September 22, 2017 by Celsus

Recently I received feedback from ancient historian Richard Carrier about my previous review of Craig Keener’s article–“Otho: A Targeted Comparison of Suetonius’ Biography and Tacitus’ History, with Implications for the Gospels’ Historical Reliability”–which is chapter 6 of Biographies and Jesus: What Does … Continue reading →

Posted in Ancient Biography, Ancient Novel, Apologists, Classics, Guest Blogs, Historical Jesus, History, Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Dialogue with Vincent Torley over the Probability of Jesus’ Resurrection

Posted on April 12, 2017 by Celsus

Yesterday I wrote an extended response to apologist Vincent Torley’s OP–“Evidence for the Resurrection”–which was discussed recently in a post on John Loftus’ blog. In his OP, Torley argues that there is about a 60-65% subjective probability that Jesus rose … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologists, Historical Jesus, Historical Paul, History, Philosophy, Replies to Critics, Resurrection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Mind and Cosmos

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Celsus

Originally posted on A Measure of Faith:
Thomas Nagel’s “Mind & Cosmos”, published in 2012, is almost certainly the book that has garnered the most attention over the last couple years in the God debate; and it has thus become…

Posted in Philosophy, Reviews, Science | 2 Comments

Missing Religious Ontologies in Ancient Polytheism

Posted on June 24, 2015 by Celsus

Below is a brief paper that I wrote for my “Greek Religion” seminar last quarter, where I address some of the ontologies of religion (e.g. sacred texts, church, dogma) that appear to be absent from ancient Greek polytheism. I discussed … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Philosophy, Religious Studies | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Pot Calling the Kettle Black: David Hart’s Rant against Atheism and Naturalism in “The Experience of God”

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Celsus

Theologian and philosopher David Hart’s The Experience of God: Being, Consciousness, Bliss has made something of a ripple since being published about a year ago in 2013. Shortly after its publication, columnist Oliver Burkeman wrote a review for The Guardian, … Continue reading →

Posted in Apologists, Philosophy, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 13 Comments

Griffin Beak, Mermaid Fin, and Dragon Blood Soup

Posted on October 11, 2013 by Celsus

[This article has been revised and published on the Secular Web, and can be accessed here. Since this is an earlier version, please consult the published version first if you wish to provide any feedback about this article.] Occasionally apologists … Continue reading →

Posted in History, Philosophy, Resurrection | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 22 Comments