My fourteen best posts of the year!

Whew!  Lots of writing lately!  I finished my doctoral thesis, took oral exams, then prettied the whole the thing up , last year.  Faith Seeking Understanding went to press in fall, which involved prior work -- writing, interviewing, editing, even translating -- on every page.  Touchstone Magazine published my articles on Lin Yutang, and another comparing the faith of the Stoic Epictetus in God, to that of Zhuang Zi, the great Chinese humorist and philosopher.  (A third article, on John Loftus and the "Outsider Test for Faith," is due out next month in that same magazine.)  Dr. Tim McGrew kindly cowite (and vastly improved) a new chapter with me for a forthcoming volume, True Reason (due in print from Kregel early next year).  I also edited two previously-written chapters for that book, and helped with chapters by other contributors, as well.  And yes, I'm also working on new book projects!   

Also, over the past 13 months, I wrote almost 200 blog posts here -- some of them rather long! 

"I can't read all those!  Don't ask me!"  You protest in horror. 

I thought as much.  Make me do all the work!  You know writing these things hurts me more than it does you! 

But all right, here are thirteen (check: make that fourteen) I think especially worth reading.  I have chosen one (at least) from each of the past thirteen months.

Why thirteen months? 

Well, today is Easter.  So I thought we should begin with a piece I wrote for last Easter.  This article was a sleeper for a full year, then has come roaring "back to life" over the past month, with hourly visitors from higher and yon.  So it seems right to start with that. 

March, 2012  How likely is it that a certain rabbi will come back to life -- even before we find compelling evidence that he has done just that?  Read "Prior Probability of the Resurrection."  (That having set the stage, you may also enjoy Tim and Lydia McGrew's fabulous "The Cumulative Case for the Resurrection.")

April, 2012  Is Richard Carrier a myth?  A whimsical debate in heaven between great philosophers of the past, over sunflower seeds and tea.

May, 2012  A challenge to PZ Myers, to debate whether Christianity helps or hurts women.  If you're interested in this important issue, you may like to read my full series on the subject, beginning with this post. 

June, 2012  Here are my answers to a long series of challenges Jay Lowder, one of the more thoughtful atheists on the Internet, throws out to Christians.  (Lowder and others respond briefly in the comments section.)

July, 2012  A personal interlude, from a "lion's den" in Oxford, England: I go for my Viva.   

August, 2012  Is God univeral?  A Stoic and a Taoist limp into the Church. (This is one of the Touchstone articles.) 

September, 2012  I disrespect Islam, Brian McLaren, and politically-correct cant, all in one happy post.

October, 2012  More off-beat musings, this time on a very different kind of religious leader, the Chinese philosopher Lao Zi. 

November, 2012  This piece is hard-hitting and not maybe as diplomatic as it should be, but one from the heart: America's War on Children.

(Note: Let me add another article from that month which is one of the most important of the year:"How Christ Liberates Humanity," a bibliography of about 130 books (mostly) that show how the Gospel has transformed the world for the better.) 

December, 2012  I take a break from bashing the secularists  here to critique Alvin Plantinga's argument from evolution, against naturalism.  This piece provoked a lot of interesting discussion, from both skeptics and Christians with some strange bedfellows, including from professional philosophers and others who evidently knew more about the subject that I did.  (But I still think I'm right!)    

January, 2013  Here's my list of the 100 Greatest Brits, ever.  Would you like to add (or subtract) anyone?  Some interesting suggestions are made in the comments section.   

February, 2013  Canadian philosopher Randal Rauser interviews me on our new book, Faith Seeking Understanding. 

March, 2012  Are you still in the mood for more debate?  Read the second part (at least) of my detailed analysis of Richard Carrier's opening statement in our debate in February.  Or would you rather go cross-country skiing in the North Cascades with my son, John and I?  Pick up some skis, and join us.