A summary of the fine-tuning argument and response to key objections — The standard models of particle physics and cosmology contain 31 fundamental constants. (1) Many scientists expected that life would be possible for a range of universes. It turns out this is not the case. For example, physicist Luke Barnes (1) points out: …if gravity were repulsive, matter wouldn’t clump into…

McLatchie vs Paulogia Resurrection Debate: Why Priors Matter — Jonathan McLatchie (a Christian apologist) and Paulogia (an ex-Christian YouTuber) debated the resurrection in February 2023. This post is not a review of their debate. Instead, I want to reflect on the role of priors in discussions between Christians and atheists on the resurrection. Both McLatchie and Paulogia claimed to…

What did Jewish tradition teach about interpretation of this verse from Hosea? — In Romans 9, Paul quoted the prophet Hosea to argue God’s mercy extends to the whole world. Jew and non-Jew (Gentile). What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory — even us…

Introduction to a series on the resurrection — For Christians, the resurrection is one of the best-attested events in history. Yet many of our atheist and non-religious friends wonder how we could believe something so irrational. Are we condemned to talk past each other? Mutual head shaking? Slogans abound on both sides. “The Bible’s the claim, not the…

Part II of a series on Jesus’ resurrection — I recently finished a series on whether Jesus was the Messiah. The intention of these articles was to inform the prior probability of Jesus’ resurrection. This next series moves on to the resurrection. …

A reply to Martin Hartke’s YouTube video and blog — This is a response to Matthew Hartke’s blog article (1) on how cognitive dissonance theory (CDT) explains Christianity. My PhD is in social psychology — so I always enjoy engaging with articles combining psychology and Biblical studies. Hartke’s article brought back memories. As a final-year psychology undergraduate, I agonised over…

This is a collection of articles I’ve written on passages in Isaiah commonly thought to be about Jesus. Isaiah 6: Isaiah saw Jesus’ glory What Does John Mean by “Isaiah Saw Jesus’ Glory”? John 12's quotes from Isaiah on Jesus’ Mission and Identitymedium.com Isaiah 7: Immanuel Is Isaiah 7:14 About Jesus or Someone Else? Responding to Rabbi Tovia Singer’s criticisms of Matthew 1:22–23medium.com Isaiah 9: Unto us a child is born

I’ve just finished a four-part series on the Messiah. This also informs the prior probability for the next series on the resurrection. Part 1 looks at passages in the Hebrew Bible about a divine Messiah. How Likely Is It That Jesus Is the Messiah? Part I Are there passages on the divinity of the Messiah in the Hebrew Bible?medium.com Part 2 is on passages about the suffering Messiah in the Hebrew Bible.

This is the fourth part of a series on the Messiah. This article looks at the development of a Bayesian model (using Genie software) to estimate the likelihood of Jesus being the Messiah based on the three previous articles in the series. The model looks at the following factors: the…