UFOs have been attracting much attention over the past eighty years, according to numerous polls and websites. According to a Huffington Post poll conducted in 2013, 48 percent of United States adults were open to the idea that alien spacecraft may be visiting our planet, while 35 percent flat out rejected the idea (Spiegel, 2013). …
Did Judas Hang Himself or Did He Fall?
According to the New Testament, after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus, leading to Jesus’ crucifixion, he felt remorse so he killed himself. We have two accounts of this action, which were written by (or attributed to) Matthew and Luke. Skeptics often point to the two accounts of Judas’ death to claim the New Testament contains conflicting …
Religiosity, Health, Well-being and Cherry-Picking
I recently debated Nick Soutter on the Modern-Day Debate channel, where he compiled articles from a blog I wrote in 2017 to refute my claims in that blog. He identified random quotes from within the studies to make the claim that I intentionally quote mined and misrepresented the studies. He further appeared in the comments …
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Abstracts from Meta-Analytic Studies on the Health Benefits of Religiosity
I recently debated an atheist on the merits of religion and whether it is needed in modern society. The debate can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZ4FL-9Z3x8 I had researched findings from a variety of studies, including meta-analytic studies. Meta-analytic studies are studies that analyze the empirical results from other studies on the same variables to determine …
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The (Frightening) Moral Implications of a World without Christianity
Some may be cheering as they witness the rising wave of Euro-secularization, where many in western societies have become increasingly atheistic, post-material, and secular. Ron Inglehart of the University of Michigan’s World Values Surveys has distinguished these “secular/rational and self-expressive” countries from the “traditional/religious and survival” countries in other poorer parts of the world (Inglehart, …
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Do We Have Enough Evidence to Support Jesus’ Divinity Today?
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” – St. Paul in Romans 12:2 One of the most well-attested and undisputed facts of Christianity is the fact the early Christian martyrs …
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How Did Herod the Great Know the Timing of the Messiah’s Birth?
When Herod the Great became aware of the birth of the Messiah, he ordered the slaughter of all children under the age of two in Bethlehem. But how did he know the Messiah was to be born at that particular time? Which prophecies in the Old Testament or other sources supported this claim? Jesus’ birth …
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10 Tips from St. Paul for Christian Debates with Nonbelievers
Prior to his decades-long ministry, Luke reports in the book of Acts that St. Paul (who was then called Saul) hunted and persecuted people of “the Way,” which he considered to be a false and blasphemous movement against the God of the Jewish people, whom he dutifully worshipped. He stood at the feet of St. …
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Is Our Conscience Evidence of a Benevolent God?
In his letter to the Romans (2:15), Paul wrote: “They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them.” Thankfully, we all have a conscience that can help us distinguish what is right from what is wrong …
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Did Moses Exist?
God disrupts lives to build heroes. Modern skeptics sometimes question whether Moses really existed. They cite a lack of much archaeological evidence for the Exodus and disputes among scholars on its timing and which Pharaoh was in power. The oldest piece of extra-Biblical evidence we have is the Merenptah Stele, which places Israel in Canaan …
