Argument from Silence I titled this section “Argument from Silence” because I am well aware that these are arguments from silence. Whenever an argument from silence is made, the objection invariably comes “that is just an argument from silence,” perhaps accompanied by the dictum, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I am recognizing […]

The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus The essay quoted is by William Lane Craig, originally published “The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus.” New Testament Studies 31 (1985): 39-67. It was accessed December 14, 2000 (URL:http://www.origins.org/offices/billcraig/docs/tomb2.html). Until recently the empty tomb has been widely regarded as both an offense to modern intelligence […]

Rebuttal to Tomb Burial by Joseph of Arimathea In order to present the arguments for the empty tomb in a fair way and in order to comment on these arguments in full detail, I have chosen to quote and to respond to an essay by Craig in a manner made popular through Usenet and e-mail […]

Testimony of Paul In the previous section, it was argued that the silence of several writers to mention the empty tomb constitutes an inductive argument against the historicity of the empty tomb. The absence of evidence for tomb veneration was also taken as evidence against the empty tomb. In this section, the evidence of Paul’s […]

Introduction to the Issue There is a longstanding debate over the historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus. Because many competent critics do not think that the historical evidence justifies belief in the empty tomb, it is fair to say that scholarship is divided on this point.[1] At the same time, many critics do accept […]

Improbabilities in Mark I will start with those objections to the plausibility of the story that have little merit and proceed to those that are more serious. As always, I am not declaring any of these to be insuperable, but I do think that some provide a degree of evidence against the story. It is […]

Fictional Characteristics in Mark With the previous section, this section aims to provide a likely explanation for how the empty tomb story came to be without a historical basis. This section does more to discredit the story because indications in Mark will be used to suggest the fictional, legendary, or redactional character of the first […]

Dependence on Mark   We have seen that there is no mention of the empty tomb story in early Christian writings outside of the four gospels. This situation is made worse if the evangelists do not demonstrate any independence in reporting this story. This would be somewhat strange because, were the story historical, it would […]

Burial Traditions So we have established as our best historical reconstruction that the burial of Jesus was carried out by those opposed to Jesus (responsible for his crucifixion) and that they would have given him a dishonorable burial. This stands in distinction to the idea in the four gospels that Jesus was given a proper […]

Assessment of the Evidence   As the postmodernists would urge us all to do, I will begin with a confession of my interest in this matter, of biases that operate on levels seen and unseen, from the motivation to make my efforts in writing appear worthwhile to my general disbelief in the Christian religion. There […]

Appearance Traditions The first appearances were to Peter and his associates. The first appearance recounted in the formula found in 1 Corinthians 15 is the one to Kephas. This is widely acknowledged to be the earliest and best evidence that is available. The Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the four, alludes to the appearance […]

The Historicity of the Empty Tomb Evaluated (2001) Peter Kirby   Introduction to the Issue The Case Against the Empty Tomb Argument from Silence Testimony of Paul Dependence on Mark Fictional Characteristics in Mark Improbabilities in Mark Roman Crucifixion and Jewish Burial Burial Traditions Appearance Traditions The Case For the Empty Tomb The Tomb Burial […]

Naturalistic Inquiry This essay is written in response to those who have questioned me about ‘naturalism’, what it means to me, and why I am a naturalist. It is the product of several informal exchanges. First off, I would note that ‘naturalist’ is a title that I adopt with some hesitancy. It is amazing how […]

Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution Michael J. Behe The Free Press, New York ISBN 0-684-82754-9 xii + 307 pp Reviewed by Peter Atkins, University of Oxford For those who have not already encountered this book or one of its numerous reviews, let me simply say that the author sets out to argue […]

As I proceed to bury myself further into controversial theological issues, the issue of hell is something to be considered as well. Heaven provides some assurance that there will be life after death, and it also assures us that a heavenly life will be a fantastic one. But what about hell? I was concerned about […]

Let me assess James’ conclusion about theism and elaborate upon which points we disagree upon. I want to show why some atheists, like me, might see Godlessness as preferable to theism under the light of serious doubts and criticisms. I will find faults with theism, but they are not conclusive or irreparably damaging. They are […]

I am going to invite into our investigation a wise and gentle man named William James. Although he lived a century before us, through his works and the power of his ideas, he will join us to help bring this issue to fruition. James hit upon a new chord in the way people ought to […]

We must not ignore atheism at this time, especially at this time. It is easy to become overwhelmed by God and questions about his existence when you’re tackling this issue, because there’s so much more literature, history, and living human beings walking around on this Earth with God on their minds rather than Godlessness. Now […]

Considering these arguments, assessments, and refutations, do they really play a crucial role in the acceptance or rejection of the belief in God? I do not think they do. One of the things I hope you take away from these arguments is a feeling that somehow they are all missing the point. Doesn’t it seem […]

It seems only fair to flesh out a few of the more traditional arguments against the existence of God. Once again, I will not dwell very long on any one of them, and I will add my personal assessments to each of them in turn. Contrary to what some might think, I find disastrous flaws […]

Thomas Aquinas made this argument famous in the 13th century, though Aristotle had his own version of it centuries earlier. This argument appeals to such notions as cause and effect, and it addresses that which can be as confounding as a Zen koan. It seems certain that the world exists and we exist in the […]

The simple definition for a theist is someone who believes that God exists. Put the letter "a" before it to denote "not," and you get an atheist: someone who does not believe in the existence of God. If atheism were that simple, there might be a lot less confusion, but alas, that is far from […]

The concern I have about the preceding discussion is that it makes the nonrational aspects of our religious beliefs sound like these ideas that we just "shop" for or choose easily, as if beliefs automatically obeyed the will. But oftentimes it is not at all clear that we can just pick and choose certain beliefs; […]

The last main need for a world view, as I see it, is a conception of good and evil. Evil is an especially challenging concept, one that theists often use more than atheists. But perhaps it can be broken down into more commonly understood terms as wrongness, badness, negativity, or perhaps even as the more […]

I want to discuss some emotional issues that religious beliefs serve to address and accommodate. Although it seems obvious that a belief should be concerned with the truth, it is less obvious to some that a belief’s implications help determine its worth. It is even less obvious that a belief needs to conform to one’s […]

I want to discuss some emotional issues that religious beliefs serve to address and accommodate. Although it seems obvious that a belief should be concerned with the truth, it is less obvious to some that a belief’s implications help determine its worth. It is even less obvious that a belief needs to conform to one’s […]

An important distinction that must now be made is the difference between an agnostic and an atheist. The atheist asserts a belief that God does not exist, and the agnostic asserts that it is not known (perhaps not even knowable) whether God exists or not. A criticism I frequently hear against atheism comes from agnostics. […]

Now I will address a very sensitive point in this book, but one I feel very heartfelt about. I am going to make a bold, arguably arrogant assertion: Atheism better reflects the world we live in than theism. Now let me explain. Let me illustrate what I mean through the use of a potent example. […]

Now we should assess atheism pragmatically. Theism has proven to be a fairly good pragmatic theory, but maybe not quite as attractive as it would superficially seem. Still, it survives despite its harshest criticisms and remains resilient to this day. I want to briefly mention some views typically held about atheists and the atheistic lifestyle. […]

Introduction Living without a god isn’t easy. But living in general, with or without a god, is an undertaking that challenges and frustrates the best of us. As humans, we are special in that we lead our lives and treat our lives in a relatively cognizant, rational manner. We are naturally reflective creatures. We have […]