The Secular Frontier

PHILOSOPHY (INDEX) How Johann Christian Friedrich Hölderlin Helped Us Rethink Ancient Thought RELIGION “The Next Quest for the Historical Jesus (2024)” Anthology by James Crossley (Editor), Chris Keith (Editor) – FINAL Updated Blogging Index Remember to refresh the page before reading a blog post as there may be new content! ... Read Article

PREVIOUSLY: (Part 1) Martin Heidegger’s “Contributions to Philosophy (Of the Event)” As we continue with Heidegger's Contributions book, we note it is not a linear development of an argument. Heidegger never intended it for publication. What I'm trying to show is his philosophy is not superstitious even though it uses theological language strategically. The later Heidegger clearly says, "Faith has no place in thought (Anaximander's Saying, 280, 1946)."  Heidegger didn't leave treatises, he left puzzles. For example, he will use a term without explaining it until a hundred pages later or even in a different book. The lesson is to feel the "nothing" of the book so we can attend to our not knowing, pay attention to where we are failing to make sense/meaning, and so practice distinguishing the essential from the trivial - which is a core trait of thoughtful thinking and so reading/writing/speaking. Heidegger asks regarding what the Greeks understood as non-being: It could be argued ... Read Article

SCORE 5/5 My thanks to Cambridge for providing me with a review copy of this book. Two Short Background Videos On The Book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4zDfTawiCQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3zIpgYNmkY&t=6s SUMMARY The modern use of the Pauline letters to establish historical information about Paul or Jesus (like the James the brother of the lord passage or the seed of David passage used contra Jesus mythicism) with issues such as authenticity of the letters was not the original way the letters were interpreted. They were understood as authoritative and scripture like.  Whether their writer was pseudonymous or didn’t exist or if they were genuine correspondence were not issues. “Later in the enlightenment period questions of the authenticity of Pauline authorship came into view.  The Enlightenment scholar de Wette’s concerns differed radically from the older readers… While scholars such as Evanson and de Wette represent a shift in the under ... Read Article

The Christian apologist William Craig has made two different cases against the Swoon Theory (the skeptical theory that Jesus survived his crucifixion and later appeared to some of his disciples).  Craig made a 20th-century case against the Swoon Theory in his book The Son Rises (and also in Reasonable Faith, revised edition).  In my upcoming book Thinking Critically about the Resurrection of Jesus, Volume 1: The Resuscitation of the Swoon Theory (hereafter: TCAR1), I show that all three objections that constitute Craig's 20th-century case against the Swoon Theory fail.  Thus, Craig's 20th-century case against the Swoon Theory fails. In the last decade of the 20th century, Craig revised his case for the resurrection of Jesus and also revised his cases against various skeptical theories, including his case against the Swoon Theory. Craig's 21st-century case against the Swoon Theory can be found in the ... Read Article

CRITICAL EVALUATION OF THE KEY PREMISE (3a) Here, again, is the sub-argument given to support the key premise (3a): 4a. It is contrary to 1st-century Jewish thought to believe that Jesus had died on the cross (around 30 CE) and then to believe that Jesus had gloriously risen from the dead (less than 48 hours later). B. The primary influence on the religious beliefs of the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus was 1st-century Jewish thought. THEREFORE: 3a. Seeing Jesus alive after his crucifixion (around 30 CE) would lead the eleven remaining disciples of Jesus to believe that Jesus had not died on the cross, not that Jesus was gloriously risen from the dead. The above sub-argument for the key premise (3a) is crucial to Craig's Contrary to Jewish Thought Objection (hereafter: Craig's CJT Objection). There is good reason to doubt that premise (3a) is true, so if Craig fails to provide a solid argument for the key premise (3a), then we may reasonably conclude that (3a) is probably false and ... Read Article

WHERE WE ARE In a previous post, I pointed out that William Craig had a 20th-century case against the Swoon Theory and that he modified that case sometime in the last decade of the 20th century so that he now has a 21st-century case against the Swoon Theory: https://secularfrontier.infidels.org/2025/03/william-craigs-21st-century-case-against-the-swoon-theory/ Craig's 20th-century case against the Swoon Theory consisted of three objections (for example in his book The Son Rises, hereafter: TSR): CRAIG'S OBJECTION #1: Jesus' Physical Injuries CRAIG'S OBJECTION #2: The Sickly Jesus Objection CRAIG'S OBJECTION #3: The Deceptive Jesus Objection In my upcoming book Thinking Critically about the Resurrection of Jesus, Volume 1: The Resuscitation of the Swoon Theory (hereafter: TCAR1, I show that all three of these objections fail, and thus that Craig's 20th-century case against the Swoon Theory fails. Craig's 21st-century case against the Swoon Theory (for example in the 3rd edition of ... Read Article

Given that we are coming to the Season of Passover, it is appropriate to meditate on how the story of Jesus was formed to reflect Jewish scripture and tradition, and so is often unhistorical, e.g., Mathew invents stories about Jesus to portray him as the New and greater Moses. Moreover, Jesus is linked to the image of the Passover lamb, which does not serve an atoning function. The Feast of Unleavened Bread is a seven-day Jewish festival that begins on the 15th of Nisan, immediately following the Passover, which starts on the 14th of Nisan. In the Jewish lunar calendar, Nisan typically falls in March or April on the Gregorian calendar. The feast commemorates the Israelites' hasty exodus from Egypt, when they didn’t have time to let their bread rise (Exodus 12:15-20).For 2025, based on the Jewish calendar: Passover begins at sundown on April 12 (14 Nisan). The Feast of Unleavened Bread then runs from sundown on April 13 (15 Nisan) through sundown on April 20 (21 Nisan). During this week, Jewish ... Read Article

It might seem that the religion industry in its many brands continues to be a powerful force in human societies. And of course in some regards it remains so here and abroad, what with most Americans being divinity worshippers, and the religious right enjoying oversized political power despite its minority status, to the degree it may be establishing a right wing Christian nationalist autocracy. But at the same time theism is in grave crisis as it suffers enormous losses in popularity in much of the world as explained in the late Ronald Inglehart’s Religion’s Sudden Decline (and https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/03/26/around-the-world-many-people-are-leaving-their-childhood-religion). Most of the first world has been highly secularized for decades. Even the United States, long thought the last bastion of popular western religion Christianity especially, is seeing the churches losing ground like a downhill ski racer, with membership down forty percent since the turn of the century to unde ... Read Article

CRAIG'S 20TH-CENTURY CASE AGAINST THE SWOON THEORY In the 20th Century, the Christian apologist William Craig made a case against the Swoon Theory (which he refers to as the "Apparent Death Theory") in these books: The Son Rises (1981) Apologetics: An Introduction (1984) Reasonable Faith, Revised Edition (1994) This case consisted of three objections: Craig's Objection #1: Jesus' Physical Injuries Craig's Objection #2: The Sickly Jesus Objection Craig's Objection #3: The Deceptive Jesus Objection Craig's Objection #2, the Sickly Jesus Objection, is the same as Objection #5 against the Swoon Theory presented by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA). In Chapter 3 of my upcoming book Thinking Critically about the Resurrection of Jesus, Volume 1: The Resuscitation of the Swoon Theory (hereafter: TCAR1), I show that HCA Objection #5 fails, so there is no need to do a careful analysis and evaluation of Craig's Objection #2 bec ... Read Article

Martin Heidegger's Contributions to Philosophy reflects his famous philosophical "turning." In this work, Heidegger returns to the question of being from its inception in Being and Time to a new questioning of being as event. Heidegger opens up the essential dimensions of his thinking on the historicality of being that underlies all of his later writings. Contributions was composed as a series of private ponderings that were not originally intended for publication. They are nonlinear and radically at odds with the traditional understanding of thinking. In the previous posts on Holderlin I talked about the importance of the “between,” how for example in the appearing of a mansion as housness incarnate (Now that’s a house!), Beauty is the medium through which houseness appears / various degrees of Beauty (Mansion vs average house vs dilapidated shack) – the Parousia of houseness in the various kinds of houses.  So, this “between” is important and Heidegger describes it in this way: The ... Read Article

Do you think religion is in decline around much of the globe because of the advances of science and prosperity? True. But there is another factor that is being ignored. Ancient Aliens. Specifically the now wide spread belief in the ETs of olden days that folks mistook for gods. If you believe the first is true, then you won't believe the second are real deities to be worshipped. ... Read Article

CRAIG'S CASE AGAINST THE SWOON THEORY IN THE SON RISES In my upcoming book Thinking Critically about the Resurrection of Jesus, Volume 1: The Resuscitation of the Swoon Theory (hereafter: TCAR1), I critically examine cases against the Swoon Theory presented by different Christian Apologists. In Chapter 6 of my book, I show that William Craig's case against the Swoon Theory in his book The Son Rises (hereafter: TSR) FAILS. Craig presents three objections to the Swoon Theory in TSR: CRAIG'S OBJECTION #1: Jesus' Physical Injuries CRAIG'S OBJECTION #2: The Sickly Jesus Objection CRAIG'S OBJECTION #3: The Deceptive Jesus Objection His second objection, the Sickly Jesus Objection is the same as Objection #5 against the Swoon Theory by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli in their Handbook of Christian Apologetics (hereafter: HCA). In Chapter 3 of my book TCAR1, I show that HCA Objection #5 FAILS, so there is no need to do a careful analysis and evaluation of Craig's Objection #2 because it has prev ... Read Article

Bradley BowenCritical Thinker & SkepticKirkland, WA 98034March 23, 2024 Brian CornellChair & Chief Executive OfficerTarget Corporation1000 Nicollet Mall, TPS-2670Minneapolis, Minnesota 55403 Dear Brian Cornell, I have been a Target customer for at least three decades.  I have shopped at the Target store in Redmond, Washington many many times.  I also own stock in Target.  However, for the rest of my life, I will not shop at Target ever again, and I have requested my financial advisor to sell all of my stock in Target.  I thought you might like to know why I am making these changes in my life. Our federal government and the Republican party are now controlled by racist, sexist, bigoted fascists.  I see that Target has decided to take sides with the new regime currently in power by eliminating DEI.  Diversity means embracing a variety of people with different colors of skin, different ethnicities, different cultures, different religions, different genders an ... Read Article

THE CASE AGAINST THE SWOON THEORY IN THE RESURRECTION FACTOR In Chapter 6 of The Resurrection Factor (hereafter: TRF), published in 1981, Josh McDowell makes a case against the Swoon Theory, a case that draws on historical claims made in Chapter 3 of TRF. McDowell’s case against the Swoon Theory in TRF can be understood in terms of four general objections, each of which focuses on an alleged implication of the Swoon Theory and constitutes a reduction-to-absurdity argument: TRF OBJECTION #1: IMPROBABLE SURVIVAL OF CRUCIFIXIONThe Swoon Theory implies that Jesus was still alive when he wastaken down from the cross on Friday afternoon. TRF OBJECTION #2: IMPROBABLE SURVIVAL OF ENTOMBMENTThe Swoon Theory implies that Jesus survived in his tomb from his burial onFriday evening (the day he was crucified) until around sunrise Sundaymorning, about 36 hours after he was buried in that tomb. TRF OBJECTION #3: IMPROBABLE DEPARTURE FROM TOMBThe Swoon Theory implies that Jesus walked away from his tombaroun ... Read Article

There is a helpful post by Daniel Mocsny on the Evil God Challenge over on the Debunking Christianity website: https://www.debunking-christianity.com/2025/03/the-evil-god-challenge-part-one.html The post includes a link to this interesting video of Stephen Law discussing the Evil God Challenge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR1Lh0FcVeM The post by Mocsny also includes a number of other helpful links to more articles on the Evil God Challenge. ... Read Article