NOE on DVD

Breaking News: The Nature of Existence is now available on DVD. In fact, there is an affordable two-disc set available that has 80 minutes of additional material (which possibly includes more footage of Roger's interview with me), and a seven-disc companion set that does what I had hoped for (and asked for in my review of the film in The Skeptical Inquirer): explore all the questions that the film by itself didn't get to (like "Why do you believe that!?"). I haven't seen those companion discs yet, but I'll blog about them if and when I do. I'm sure there is more footage of me in there (as I'll be the one stumping for naturalism).

If you want to buy any of these editions and finally see this interesting movie (or stock it in your library, or give it to religious friends, or what have you), just visit NOE's official website. Oh, and if you forgot what this film is about, take a look back at my past blogs on it (June 2010 and October 2009 and February 2009).

Essentials in Politics

I have added a new section to my Richard Carrier Recommends Amazon storefront. For those who might not remember (see earlier blog about this) my Amazon Storefront is a place where you can buy books from Amazon and I get a cut of Amazon's profits. It's a nice way to help support me, and get some great books that have been influential on me, and that I think are essential reading these days. I already had essentials in philosophy, ancient science, and origins of Christianity, plus my favorite fiction and films and TV, and those lists are still there, and updated.

Well, I've just added an Essentials in Politics. It's superb and important stuff, IMO. Check it out. Read them all if you can. They are all entertaining or engaging in one way or another, so they won't make dull reading. And you'll know so much more after having read each one than you ever thought possible. I've also added a new page with just my own books (since there are getting to be quite a lot of them).

Just FYI, I'll be blogging on politics in a few days, but forgot this post has been sitting in the queue for a month now. I wrote it before I even knew I was going to start the next one. So it will soon be accidentally relevant!

Skepticon Selling Out

Just a quick heads up: Skepticon 3 is on the verge of selling out. Only a few hundred seats left (out of some 1500 or so). So if you want in, now's the time...

Agora Review

This is an update to a series of blogs I've run on the film Agora, about the murder of the scientist Hypatia in the 5th century A.D. (see Killings Hypatia and Weisz Is Hypatia). Until now I was responding to what other people said who saw it. But then I discovered Agora was playing at a theater in Berkeley, so Jen and I went to see it. I can now give it my own first-person review...

Killings Hypatia

A while ago I blogged about a coming film on Hypatia of Alexandria (Weisz Is Hypatia). I've heard reviews from people who've seen it (still hasn't come to where I am, and might never), and they've reassured me it isn't as loose with historical facts as it at first sounded. It does engage in fictional "what ifs" apparently, but that's fine.

One review of note is by a medievalist who posted at the website of Skeptic magazine (Was Hypatia of Alexandria a Scientist? by S. James Killings). His area of expertise is not Late Antiquity, or ancient science, so he gets a lot wrong. Nevertheless, he's right about a lot, so in case you'd like to benefit from reading his brief commentary but not get misled by the errors in it, I've composed the following corrective, which is also informative and educational in its own right. You won't likely have known a lot of this stuff.

This blog entry adds to the running series I've had going for a while now addressing misrepresentations of ancient science in the media (the latest being Flynn's Pile of Boners). An extensive bibliography of references are already provided in my chapter on ancient science in The Christian Delusion (TCD). I'll start with the minor errors (in Killings' blog, not the movie) and progress to the more serious.

Book Updates

I've been very busy of late, almost underground working furiously away, but I finally found a hiatus to blog some news. I have a hodgepodge of things to mention. Two items today...

-:-

First big news is that Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism is now available as an eBook. You can buy it in various places, but most obviously on Amazon.com (click for Kindle edition). Not the Impossible Faith has always been available as a PDF download and now is available in other formats, too (click for Lulu edition as a PDF download; and click here for Kindle edition). And The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails is also now available in e-format (click for Kindle edition), as is The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond The Grave (click for Kindle edition).

-:-

And second is a status update on my book On the Historicity of Jesus Christ. Donors to the project have already received a full report, but for the general public the latest news is that I've solved the problem of cutting material down by seeking publication as two volumes, the first on method and the second on results, though the first volume includes one major section of results. That volume is completed. I am seeking a private peer review from a number of respected scholars, and shopping for a publisher. Meanwhile, I'm hard at work on volume two, some of which donors have already seen, but there's even better stuff to come.

The first volume has the current working title Bayes' Theorem and Historical Method: The Invalidity of Current Historicity Criteria in the Study of Jesus and Their Replacement. The subtitle actually isn't the controversial bit. I discuss all the leading scholarship on those criteria, and all of it comes to the same conclusion I do. The main title will actually be the controversial part, and the bulk of the book is devoted to answering all the arguments against applying Bayes' Theorem to history, while explaining in easy-to-understand terms what that theorem is, how it works, and how we can employ it as historians. Donors and scholars who have been reviewing the work up to this point have given me very valuable criticisms and advice that has made this volume into something I'm quite proud of. It rocks now. I'm confident the second volume will be as good.

NOE Premieres!

Quick notable note. Last year I blogged about the advance premiere of the odd doco The Nature of Existence by Roger Nygard. Revisit my remarks there to see what I knew about it then. I was interviewed extensively for it, and I have a two second appearance in the film.

I've since received a reviewer's copy and seen it. I gave it a qualified review for The Skeptical Inquirer (which I believe will appear in their next issue, July/August 2010). The movie has its flaws and will not please everyone. But it's amusing, informative, and well worth seeing. I recommend you go support Roger's effort (and it was a Herculean effort indeed--he literally trekked the whole world for this) and then discuss it with others who saw it, even if to bitch about it. It makes particularly good material for an atheist community group to go see and praise or critique it. But even by yourself, it will teach, entertain, and provoke thought. It might even be more enjoyed by believers. Could be a good chance to take a believing friend or relative to the movies. It's not an f-you kind of film. Just a "this is what people say" kind of film. And everyone gets their say. Which makes it more subversive.

The Nature of Existence formally premieres in theaters this Friday (June 18) in New York city and a few other cities, and then premieres in others in following weeks. To find out when and where it will be coming to a theater near you, check out the official website, which has premier dates and an email list signup for notification when it will arrive near your town.

For my full review, I'll have to direct you to the next issue of the Skeptical Inquirer. They got an exclusive from me. I'll just say that if you go, be prepared for a loosely disorganized stream of amusing, frustrating, and bizarre (and often amusingly bizarre) clips of people the world over (atheists included) telling you what they believe. Don't expect a tidy answer or resolution. It's a tour of the diverse. But you'll see and hear things you never knew before. Or imagined. And if you're attentive, you'll get the jokes. Think Religulous except more ambitious and less mean. And no final thought (which many will actually be relieved to hear).
 

Appearing in Springfield

The date has been finalized for the MSU event. I'll be appearing on the Springfield campus of Missouri State University on Saturday, October 11 (2008). The event is a double-header, myself and PZ Myers (some details here). It's scheduled to run from 1pm to 4pm with informal meetups afterward. Sponsoring the event is the MSU chapter of the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (see flyer, and for more on the CFSM see wiki, and there is also a good news article about the campus group, with associated video).

The event will be held in the Plaster Student Union Theater (901 S. National, 2nd floor, southwest corner) on the MSU campus in Springfield, Missouri. Contact man for further info is J.T. Eberhard (417-234-1399). If you use FaceBook, you can help the organizers plan for how many will attend by informing them here.

Dr. Myers will talk on his field (biology and creationism and why science indicates naturalism). I'll talk on the history of science and religion between antiquity and the present and "Why Science Is Better than Religion and Always Has Been." I've tentatively abstracted my talk as:

Scientific values have been in conflict with religion for thousands of years. So have the findings of science. Using the ancient Roman debate between science and religion as a starting point and model, Dr. Carrier will show how science has actually won the debate, in both facts and morals, then goes on to prove it shouldn't matter what the Bible says: if there is moral truth it should be evident and demonstrable from the natural facts of the universe and the human mind and body, without any appeal to god or religion. And once we know the truth, we don't need anything else.

Though just so you know, I will be distinguishing scientific religion (which is compatible with scientific values and even promotes them) with nonscientific religion, and it's only the latter that I will argue is and always has been in conflict. Although I should warn the pious: there will be some irreverent humor.

I will be signing and selling copies of my book Sense and Goodness without God at the event.

Update: video of my talk at this event has subsequently become available online (see Hambone Videos). A link is also available there to view the accompanying slideshow.

Important News

A brief report on four developments of note for all my fans and friends:

1. Blogger now lets me add a widget for Followers (a new feature explained here). I've added it down the right margin, just below the Subject Index. It will show the avatar and link to the profiles of anyone on Blogger who joins my "followers" list (which means people who follow my blog, not my international coven of cultists). Just click "Follow this blog" to join.

2. Since I have now graduated, my Columbia University home page will eventually cease to exist (as will my old CU email address). So I have bought my own domain and set up a permanent official website at www.richardcarrier.info. Some Canadian businessman owns the .com domain even though he isn't doing anything with it (at least not yet), and he never replied to my request to buy it from him (and I have no international coven of cultists to cast dark magicks on him). But no matter. The new .info domain is fine. With a simple redesign, the new site is much updated from my old "Office" pages at CU. So go explore a bit if your keen. If you have any links to any of my personal pages, just replace the old domain www.columbia.edu/~rcc20 in the URL with www.richardcarrier.info, and leave any file names and subdirectories the same.

3. About a year ago I agreed to begin a formal online debate with theology scholar Jake O'Connell this very month. I'm behind in my other work so ordinarily I wouldn't undertake this or any other task, but this was a prior obligation that's been planned for some time (complete with genuine Ph.D.'s as official judges). In any event it should prove interesting. The topic is whether Paul believed Jesus rose from the dead by swapping bodies rather than rising in the same body he was buried in (the thesis of my most detailed chapter in The Empty Tomb). This debate repeats the format of my Carrier-Wanchick Debate (on naturalism vs. theism). Our joint statements are now up, along with our bios and those of the judges. Our opening statements will go up in a couple of weeks, then it will be 2-3 weeks between entries until we're done, then the judges will weigh in. I'll announce this debate on my blog again when the whole thing is completed. But you can take a look now at: On Paul's Theory of Resurrection: The Carrier-O'Connell Debate (2008).

4. My book On the Historicity of Jesus Christ is making exciting progress (I'm very happy with it so far--it will be unlike any book you've read on the subject before), but taking longer than I predicted. I will produce a formal progress report for all donors who asked to receive a pre-publication draft (which they will also get later) and email that before the end of this month, so you can see what I've done so far and what's ahead. This will be for your eyes only, a privilege for donating to the work. But I'll also blog some highlights for everyone around the same time, even if only to share my grief. New Testament studies is in a worse state than I thought, a fact that standard references often whitewash (out of their own desperation, I suspect), and trying to untangle that mess is what's slowed me down.

Ironically, though, I already have too much and not enough--I've accumulated these past months more material than I can use for the book, yet important gaps remain in specific places where further fact-checking is needed, so I have to accumulate yet more, while cutting the fat from the rest. It's that fact-checking, though, that's uncovered some messy skeletons in the closet of New Testament studies, and I'm buried in skeletons enough as it is. But I'll say more in my next report.

Appearing in Indianapolis II

The date has been finalized for Indiana. I'll be appearing in Indianapolis on Sunday, October 26 (2008), at 2pm, in the IUPUI Student Center CE Room A (4th floor), 420 University Boulevard (Indianapolis, Indiana). My talk will be on "Why Naturalism? Six Reasons We Need a Well-Thought Worldview," which will be based on a talk I gave for Atheists and Other Freethinkers in Sacramento that went over really well many years ago. The gist of it is that all the questions that (when answered) comprise a worldview, directly matter to everyone in ways they might not have realized (especially in politics, but even in everyday life), and once we understand why naturalism is the most probable worldview (given current evidence), consequences follow in every area of our life (even in how we vote). Though this draws on my book Sense and Goodness without God, the material is new. I will be selling and signing copies of the book as well.

NOTE: Entry to the event will cost $10.00 per person (or $15 per family), although Friends of the Center get in free (show membership card), as do all Students (show valid student ID). A reception will also be held after the event at the Center for Inquiry Indiana (350 Canal Walk, Suite A, Indianapolis), but reservations for the reception must be made a week in advance with a payment of $10.00 per person ($5.00 for children 5-12, younger children free). There will be enough food for a light evening meal.

P.S. I'll give similar details for the MSU event when I know them, but I can say this much: I will be appearing on the MSU campus in Springfield, Missouri, on the weekend of October 11 & 12 (the exact day is not finalized yet).
 

Davis and the FAQs

I will "officially" begin work on my sponsored book On the Historicity of Jesus Christ next Monday (May 26). I've already begun writing and spent a few related days at the library, but the big push starts next week.

This will put on hold a revision of the FAQs for my chapters in The Empty Tomb: Jesus Beyond the Grave. These have been up for years now, though not many people know they exist, since they haven't been catalogued anywhere but at the very bottom of my Naturalism as a Worldview page (and more recently in the margins of this blog), and on the official website for the book set up by Jeff Lowder--though not many people even know that exists, either (see: The Empty Tomb Official Companion Website).

As of last week I was half-way through an update of these FAQs. So I have posted the updated pages now (see Richard Carrier's FAQs). There are many additions planned, but you can at least benefit from those completed so far. The most notable update is a reference and link to my response to renowned Christian scholar Steven T. Davis, who published a respectable critique of The Empty Tomb in the journal of the Evangelical Philosophical Society, Philosophia Christi, two years ago (so far the only critique in print worthy of a reply). I've had my response to this up now for nearly two years, but since it isn't catalogued anywhere (not even on my FAQs--until now), very likely few even knew of it.

Since this may be news to many of you, I invite everyone who is interested to read it, especially if you've read The Empty Tomb and are wondering about the Christian response (apart from the lambaste of hacks and demagogues), but even those who haven't read Empty Tomb might be able to follow along and gain something from my reply. See: Stephen Davis Gets It Wrong (2006).

Getting Well

I am getting well now. I feel like I've been through a war. Physically weak. A persistent cough. A little out of it. But all the other symptoms have diminished considerably. Now it feels more like a regular head cold. The worst of it was Monday night and Tuesday, then Wednesday night was almost as bad, but since then it's been growing milder. Now I'm just resting and trying to get my strength back. But no hospital needed and no funeral pending. I can't really shout. But imagine me shaking my balled hands back and forth and whispering "Yay!"
 

Severely Ill

I caught a severe case of the flu this week. It's getting progressively worse and has come near to hospitalizing me. This is the second worst illness I've ever had in my life (the first being botulism, so you might have some idea of what I mean). Unfortunately, as a result, there is no way I can make the Indianapolis event. My speech will be shown there as a video (no, it can't go online, due to issues of copyright law). My voice is recovering, so I'll be narrating.

Since this video-talk will contain material I probably won't speak on anywhere else (nor probably ever write about), fans might not want to miss it, even though I won't be in attendance to take questions or join the panel (or to sign books, though they should still be sold there, and cheaper than you'd get online). I know this is an inconvenience to many, and I apologize. But there will be the video, and two other excellent speakers, and a show of support would still be nice!

In fact, I am hoping fans will show their support for CFI's choice to have me as their keynote speaker by showing up. I'd rather see my reputation reflected by the number of fans who supported me and CFI by showing, than by the number who bowed out just because I was too sick to be there.

Atheist Blogroll

I have joined the Atheist Blogroll, which is like a webring where you can locate authentic blogs maintained by atheists the world over. From now on you can find the scrolling alphabetical list of blogs (with a link to the list homesite), down my blog's right margin, under the label "Other Godless Blogs," just beneath my subject index. But I'll also put it here so you can jump right into the pool and start swimming...

 

Bloglet Las Jesus

Just a quick update on three unrelated bits of news:

1. Yes, I know all about the "Lost Tomb of Jesus" fiasco. And yes, it's bogus. Its advocates have not only made factual errors and crucial omissions fatal to their case, but their statistical model is completely wrong. I'm writing a critique of their claims for print publication, so I'll announce that here when it's published. But to make a long story short, they have not found the tomb of Jesus.

2. I will be speaking in Las Vegas on Sunday this May 6. Topic and other details have not yet been decided, so I will put a formal announcement here when everything is settled. I just thought I'd send an early heads up, since the date is already a done deal.

3. Bloglet is dead. That means it's no longer possible to "subscribe" to my blog. Worse, if you registered at Bloglet to receive emails announcing updates to my blog, you will not be getting them anymore.

I upgraded my Blogger template, so if you are blog savvy, you can try an RSS feed (the link at bottom is supposed to help with that), but that's no good for most people. What I want is a way to automatically email everyone who's signed up, whenever I add a new post to my blog. I would like suggestions on how to do that, especially if there are any services like Bloglet that actually work. I might just resort to the old low-tech, cave-man method of simply manually managing my own email list. But if there are better solutions anyone knows of, please comment.

For now, if you want to be notified whenever I post, email me at rcarrier@infidels.org with "Bloglist" in the subject field.

RC out.