Writings

When I first started investigating the reliability of the New Testament Gospels, I was fascinated by the ancient non-Canonical stories and legends related to Jesus. While they were written too late to be legitimate eyewitness accounts, they were built on the core truths of Gospels (albeit altered and embellished by …

As an early investigator of Christianity, I was interested in everything ever written in antiquity about Jesus. One day, while searching the religion section of a local bookstore, I discovered a book entitled, The Lost Books of the Bible. I purchased it immediately, expecting to find evidence our current understanding …

Two years ago, the University of Miami established the Appignani Foundation Chair for the Study of Atheism, Humanism, and Secular Ethics. It is the first of its kind, filled this year by a former “professor of metaphysics and the philosophy of science at the University of Notre Dame.” Louis J. …

As an atheist, I considered myself a committed philosophical naturalist, and I rejected supernatural explanations related to scientific or historical inquiry. If I encountered an ancient account describing a supernatural event, I immediately rejected it as “history” and assigned it to the category of “mythology.” True history, after all, cannot …

Not long ago, I had the honor of speaking to the congregation of North Metro Church in Marietta, Georgia. This thriving, growing church is located near Atlanta, and is shepherded by Pastor Rob McDowell. There’s something special about North Metro, and I knew it three minutes into the first service. …

Unsurprisingly, our national conversation about gun violence intensifies following any well-publicized shooting or murder, especially if it occurs in a school or public setting. The recent massacre in Parkland, Florida, for example, leaves many of us searching for answers. As a Christian who happens to be a homicide detective, I’ve …

Police officers are required to qualify with their service weapons on a regular basis. At our agency, we qualify every month, shooting a standard qualification course in our range. This qualification includes what we call a “failure drill”, testing our accuracy under stressful conditions. When officers use their weapons in …

Many years ago, as an undergraduate student, my astronomy teacher used an illustration with our class to demonstrate the importance of specificity when asking a question. He cleverly told us about a dispute he had been called to settle between a professor colleague and a student (in fact, he was …

The New York Times reported on Yale’s most popular class: Psyc 157 – “Psychology and the Good Life.” The course, taught by Dr. Laurie Santos, “tries to teach students how to lead a happier, more satisfying life.” It “focuses both on positive psychology — the characteristics that allow humans to …

If you listen carefully to our increasingly secular culture, you might think science and reason are completely incompatible with Christian belief. Several notable scientists and thinkers in the past two hundred years have been atheists, and their ranks seem to have grown in direct proportion with our increase in scientific …