I’ve just become aware that Michael Heiser has finally responded to an old piece of mine, in which I critique his reading of Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 82. In his response, Heiser has tried to display...

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Believe in me 'Cause I don't believe in anything -Counting Crows I like to think of myself as a fun guy. I crack jokes, I'm easygoing. And I'm not just fun, but funny as well: I go for laughs and...

"At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. -- Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. -- Five of ...

"So, forgive me for not remembering this," Ruthie said to me -- my friends Ben and Ruthie live in Cincinnati and I had a chance to visit recently -- "but you teach...?" "Yes," I said, "I teach --" ...

A hard-working, anonymous person has gone to the enormous trouble necessary to convert a PDF file of a review I wrote of one of Paul Copan's books into a .mobi file for use with Kindles (and I guess o...

Well, the fundraiser for Note to Self is now successful, but it's not over. You can still contribute for seven more days. Go ahead and pre-order your DVD for $15 and get a copy of the screenplay as a ...

If you like James McGrath, you'll love Note to Self. There are probably hundreds of reasons why that's true, but here's two: (1) James McGrath is a sci-fi fanatic, and Note to Self is a sci-fi film...

  Jesus was not an innocent man. As a matter of fact, the Son of God was profoundly guilty of the crimes for which the Romans executed him. He consistently appropriated titles of divin...

Here's an excerpt from a great article by Timothy Beal: We don't know, and will never know, many details about the history of the development of biblical literature. No doubt there have been countles...

Two men were executed last night by the state. And no one said a word about one of them. Because it wasn't about Troy Davis. Because witnesses didn't recant. Because the evidence was clear. Beca...

I've decided to move the fundraiser over to Kickstarter. Here is the link to our Kickstarter page: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thomstark/note-to-self.  Also, thanks to generous donations, the...

By now I'm sure you've heard that U.S. President Barack Obama has officially announced his resignation from office effective immediately after widespread reports of scandal were confirmed today by Wik...

Well, today I'm launching a campaign to raise funds for the production of a short film, Note to Self. I need to raise $6,000, and every little bit helps. To read about the project, go to the website: ...

This Sunday, churches across America will memorialize, mourn and remember the almost 4,000 people who died tragically in the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. But as these congregations unders...

This week I listened to an excellent discussion between Sheikh Dr. Muhammad Al-Hussaini and Patrick Sookhdeo, a former Muslim. I came away with immense respect for both men. The Sheikh made some ...

In my blog and previous book I’ve written about the problems of pain and suffering. They are major stumbling blocks to belief and have caused many earnest souls to question their faith or shed Chris...

[Cross-posted at Irritable Reaching] An old boss of mine was fond of saying that he was busier than a one-legged man in an ass-kicking contest, a metaphor that was never entirely satisfying to me. ...

In light of yesterday's post, Paul Copan came out of the woodwork and commented here, attempting to show that I misunderstood him and bring some "clarification." Here's exactly what he wrote: Hello, ...

[Update: Paul Copan Speaks Out ... To Vindicate Me] So, in the first edition of my review of Copan’s book (the second edition is here), I said that I would eat my shoe if Copan could produce a ...

While Denny Burk bemoans the fact that by making Batwoman a lesbian, DC is helping to make more culturally acceptable something that the Bible clearly calls "evil," he forgets to mention that in their...

The consensus of biblical scholars maintains that belief in a literal life-after-death for individuals developed very late in Judean religion, appearing first most definitely in Daniel 12, a text from...

The guys over at Reasonable Doubts have begun what they're calling their "Summer Genocide Series," in which they're reviewing and critiquing Paul Copan's white-washing of the Canaanite conquest narrat...

Help us accept each other as Christ accepted us; teach us as sister, brother, each person to embrace. Be present, Lord, among us, and bring us to believe we are ourselves accepted and meant to love...

You've read the proof-texts. You've seen how violent and intolerant the Qur'an can seem, when choice words are lifted off the page by atheists, Christians and Jews who wish to paint Islam as inherentl...

According to the standard interpretation of surah 4:157-159 of the Qur’an, Jesus was not actually crucified and killed. One major interpretation says that another person was substituted for Jesus on...

A commenter on Michael Heiser's blog asked him what he thought of my critique of his essay on Psalm 82 and Deuteronomy 32. Here is Heiser's response, from last night: What do I think? Honestly, not m...

A reader has asked that I respond to this blog post and to this article by Michael Heiser on whether Yahweh and Elyon are distinct deities in Deuteronomy 32 and Psalm 82. In this post I will do so. Al...

Well, here is the "nicer" version of my review of Paul Copan's book. Hopefully this should be enough to prevent the apologists from focusing their responses on my "tone" rather than my substantive cri...

Here's a bumper sticker I dreamed up, designed and had printed a few years ago: ....

Dr. Richard Hess and I have been disputing the interpretation of 2 Kings 3:27. I read it as an episode in which the king of Moab, besieged by Israel and their allies, in an act of desperation sacrific...

In this post I will concede a correction offered by Richard Hess on the translation of lines 11-12 of the Mesha Stele. In Hess’s first response to my review of Copan’s book, he argued that line 17...

This is the first of two posts in which I will engage further comments offered by Richard Hess within our ongoing debate. In my next post I will (gratefully) concede a correction Hess offered on the r...

Over the past few days, I have been engaging Dr. Richard Hess in a dispute over the interpretation of 2 Kings 3:27. This is now my fourth post on this subject. The first three may be found (1) here, (...

Richard Hess responded again to an email asking him to respond to my arguments on Mesha's sacrifice. Before I quote Hess's responses and my rebuttals, I'd like to address something Steve said about my...

Due to the substantive and substantial criticisms that have been made recently of my review of Paul Copan's Is God a Moral Monster?, criticisms both of its content and its tone, I have been hard at wo...

In my review of Paul Copan's book, I critiqued Richard Hess for offering a tendentious presentation of the textual data on Deut 32:8-9. He responded saying that I misrepresented him from his book Isra...

Further reflection on Hess's reading of 2 Kings 3:27 leads me to some questions. Given that Hess argues that early Israelite cosmologies prior to the seventh century BCE consisted of belief in other g...

My post on Denver Seminary's doctrinal statement was picked up by vorjack over at Unreasonable Faith and the ensuing comments by (whom I assume are mostly) non-Christians and atheists took the discuss...

In his most recent response to me, Richard Hess made the statement that I misrepresented him from his book Israelite Religions, p. 103, stating that I failed to mention that he agreed with Mark S. Sm...

Well, I've been eagerly awaiting Paul Copan's response to my review of his book, and as I expected, he brought in reinforcements. I am glad he did so. I am glad to have the further opportunity to resp...

Read Matt's Response Here First. Well, just when I thought Matt and I were about to hit it off. Oh well, maybe next week. I don’t have much to say in response to Matt’s narrative. I’ll jus...

Paul Copan writes:   Thom Stark has offered a lengthy response to my book Is God a Moral Monster? His online book is entitled:  Is God a Moral Compromiser? When a book is laden with sarcas...

In his first criticism of me, Mr. Stark quotes my reference to herem in the Mesha stele on p. 25 of my “War in the Hebrew Bible: An Overview.” He goes on to critique me as follows: �...

[Cross-posted from Exploring Our Matrix] The title of this post is not a complaint; it is merely an observation. No one confronts the representatives of another tradition with a contest to see whic...

In my last post I responded to one of Dr. Richard Hess's less-than-satisfactory attempts to defend the Bible against itself, in this case 2 Kings 3:27, which has the Moabite god Kemosh responding posi...

Over on Triablogue, Steve Hays posted an email exchange he had with Dr. Richard Hess on my critique of Copan's reading of 2 Kings 3. I'll quote Hess's response in its entirety before responding: I wo...

Most Americans believe they have a material body and an immaterial spirit. (According to a 2009 Harris Poll, 82% of American adults believe in God, 75% believe in heaven and 71% believe in the su...

So, the rapture is coming this Saturday, at 6 p.m., in time zones, of course. It's awfully kind of God to give us an early-warning system just in case we turn out to be the crazy people. But since ...

I was re-reading Joseph Blenkinsopp's The Pentateuch: An Introduction to the First Five Books of the Bible, and I found a passage in his conclusion which nicely highlights and expands upon an argument...