Circular arguments: a vicious cycle of faulty logic
A circular argument is an argument forming part of a thesis which has not been established, but still needs to be argued for.
Mary Dyer
That fateful day of June 1st, 1660, was not the first time Mary Dyer wound up at the gallows. The previous time, with her hands tied and her face covered by the handkerchief of her former pastor, Reverend John Wilson, she had escaped death by the skin of her teeth, after a death sentence that had already killed two of her dear friends...
What the Christian mission gains and loses in the age of AI
Christianity has never missed an opportunity to engage with major communication technologies. In fact, it has always found ways to transform them into vehicles for its mission. However, this adaptation has always come at a price. Today, in the midst of the artificial intelligence revolution, what will the Christian mission gain and lose?
A single stomach—and plenty of reasons not to stuff it
What would it be like to eat 8,6 kilograms of food in a single meal? Although it seems absurd to try and fit so much food into one’s stomach, a 23-year old model from London conducted just such an experiment in 1981.
The last days of Jesus in Bible prophecy
The story of Jesus's first coming to earth is remarkable, not only because it was foretold thousands of years in advance, but also because the prophesied details of His passion and death were exactly fulfilled.
The most arrogant of all sophisms: the false accusation of logical error
In practice, people often accuse each other of making logical errors, but sometimes the accusation is false. Such an accusation is made by someone who does not understand what logical fallacies are and how they work, or by a manipulative person who takes advantage of the ignorance of those in the first category.
The lesser-known story of fats
For decades, fats have been considered unhealthy and have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, recent research has revealed a more nuanced picture.
Staring death in the eye
"In films you often get dying words – someone gasping out things like 'Please tell Jim I love him', which sort of makes me laugh. I've never seen that happen," says psychologist Lesley Fallowfield, highlighting the discrepancy between how people usually die and our misperception of how life ends. Not only is the transition from life to death usually slow, involving a period...
Chrislam: The syncretism between faith and fake news
A significant number of Christians of various denominations, both traditional and Protestant, are concerned by the online materials announcing the establishment of a one-world religion: Chrislam. The news is that this is just the first step, which will be followed by a one-world currency, and a one-world government that is up to no good.
What did Jesus believe about hell?
In Dante Aligheri's Divine Comedy, written in the early 14th century, hell is described as a "city of woe" and a place of "eternal pain"—metaphors of endless suffering.
The questionable cause fallacy: Correlation does not equal causation
The questionable cause fallacy, described by the Latin phrase cum hoc ergo propter hoc, is an error of thought which leads us to believe that one event causes another event simply because the two events occur simultaneously. This error can easily be reinforced if the simultaneity of the two events is often repeated.
What is the Church?
What do you think of when you hear the word church? Perhaps your mind conjures up images of ancient cathedrals, resplendent with gothic spires, stained glass windows, and vaulted ceilings.
Good luck, bad luck…and cancer
Many had not yet finished clearing away the leftovers from the New Year's Eve table, almost no one had returned to work, politics was still numb and journalists yawned with boredom because almost nothing of interest had happened on 2 January 2015.
The tower dedicated to pride
Jeddah is different, at least according to its city motto. This Saudi Arabian port city on the Red Sea is home to more than 4 million people and is a gateway to Mecca: the holiest city in Islam. Millions of pilgrims come through Jeddah to visit Mecca, some 65 kilometres to the east, and Medina, Islam’s second holiest city, 360km to the north.


























