What I Do and Do Not Believe

I seem to be getting a lot of queries lately about who I am and what I believe.  So here it is in a nutshell.

My “religious” affiliation: Possibilian.

• I am not an atheist.  I am also not a Christian (that is, I do not affirm a belief that Jesus Christ is my lord and savior), nor am I a Muslim or a Jew.  I ascribe to no particular faith, but I do see the value in it even if I choose a secular path.  No, you cannot ‘save’ me.  If you are the generous sort, however, you might tolerate me.  Since I tolerate you, I don’t think that is too much to ask.
• I don’t try to define ‘god’ (nor do I necessarily see the value in substituting a ‘g’ for a ‘G’–’G’ should only stand for one thing, Geometry.  That, as they say, is that).  So my deism is refined enough, and just enough, to know that I imagine there being some being out there that might be defined as ‘divine’ or ‘supreme’.  Beyond that, I don’t have a clarification beyond a simple generalization.

My perspectives on the Bible and religion: Read the following blog posts…

• On Labels and Scholarship: Secularism and Faith in L’Accademia (Important Read!)
• Can the Bible be Trusted?
• Minimalism and Ancient Historiography
• Between History and Apologetics
• Religion Created Civilization?
• Noah and the Flood: The Historical Impossibility
• Monotheism in 1 Cor. 8:6
• The Implications of Historicizing a Theological Sacrifice

My perspective on the historical figure of Jesus: I’m agnostic about the historicity of the figure of Jesus.

• I have co-edited an academic book on the subject
• You can find the introduction to this book (before the ‘final manuscript review’) here
• See these blog posts (and read them carefully):
• James McGrath is Right: Why Creationists and Zeitgeist Mythicists are Comparable
• Staks Rosch on the Historicity of Jesus
• Is Mythicism Close to its End?
• Blogging About Blogging Through Doherty’s Book
• Historicized Scripture: A Response to James McGrath on Neil Godfrey
• My Struggle With the Question of the Historicity of the Figure of Jesus
• Debunking ‘Zeitgeist’ Resource Page
• Jesus the Buddhist?

My political perspectives: Vote, because it is your right to do so, but most likely you’re electing in the same type of person, that is to say, a politician.  But for additional details about my stance on certain political perspectives, see these blog posts:

• Historical Ownership and Identity of Cultures, People, and Tradition (Important Read!)
• Pericles’ Remarks on Politics
• Richard Carrier: Is Obama a War Criminal?
• What We Want to Believe
• Global Warming: The [Overwhelming] Evidence
• In God We Trust: But Which God?
• Evangelicals Hate Jesus?
• Abortion: Taking the Plunge Into the Discussion

I hope this has answered your questions.

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