We now arrive at Alpha Course #5, which concerns prayer in Christianity. Here, we see Christian dishonesty at its fullest flowering. The Christians responsible for this mess desperately want to promise potential recruits that prayer results in miracles. Oh, yes, they do desperately want to promise that. But they know Read more
On August 11, an evangelical crusade took place in Portland, Oregon—and it reveals some breathtaking arrogance on the part of its creators. It attracted decent numbers who came to hear preachers lament how much “darkness” the city contained and how sad its creators were that the city’s residents had “pushed Read more
For most of us, leprosy—better known as Hansen’s Disease—is a horrific illness that belongs in the Middle Ages. But it’s much older than that. It’s also one of the reasons why nobody should take Jesus or Christianity seriously. Today, let me show you some of the newest research about this Read more
Another day, another sexual predator in evangelicalism: Michael Tait has become the face of the newest scandal in evangelicalism. He’s not just any evangelical, though. He’s the former frontman for the long-running, super-popular evangelical singing group the Newsboys! Not only that, but one evangelical watchdog site calls this revelation “Nashville’s Read more
When I review Alpha Course evangelism videos, I double-check my ideas by consulting a printed manual for the entire course. This time around, when I reviewed its fourth video, the manual contained an interesting discrepancy between its syllabus and the video’s actual contents. Today, let’s dive into this very telling Read more
In the fourth Alpha Series video, Christians try very poorly to explain how religious faith works and how someone acquires faith in their religion. Unfortunately, they don’t understand what faith is themselves, nor how faith sparks to life in the first place. Today, we’ll review this video and explore what Read more
In recent days, a strange new ChatGPT trend has been sweeping TikTok. Right-wing Christians perform an ecstatic devotion they call speaking in tongues, and then try to get ChatGPT to guess the language they used. Some claim ChatGPT has told them they spoke in exotic Ancient Near Eastern and Mesopotamian Read more
For years after my deconversion, I found myself at loose ends about how to view the universe and my place within it. Christianity had given me a simple cosmology, but Christianity’s claims had turned out to be false. After deconverting, I wanted to build my worldview on claims that were Read more
In recent years, more Christians are facing doubt than ever before. But their communities and leaders still haven’t learned how to respond to it. They’re still largely using the same toolbox they had in decades past. Let’s explore that toolbox—and see where it fails to fit into real-world doubters’ experiences. Read more
Throughout the first two episodes of Alpha Course, we watched its creators do everything except provide tangible evidence that could spark belief in their claims. The third video is no different. This time around, we watch Christians do everything except explain in concrete terms why Jesus just had to die. Read more