Atheists’ Myths: Part 3 Richard Deem

For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Timothy 4:3-4)

Atheist Myth #3: Christianity Was Invented by Paul, Not Founded by Jesus of Nazareth

Paul Invented Christianity? Atheists claim that Paul invented the majority of Christian doctrines Jesus did not teach the majority of doctrines taught by Paul Paul did not know anything about the Jesus of the gospels, but just knew the “Cosmic Christ”

Paul Meets Jesus "But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' And I answered, 'Who are You, Lord?' And He said to me, 'I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.' "(Acts 22:6-8)

Did Paul Invent the Christian Doctrines?

Basic Doctrines Taught Throughout the Bible Doctrine First Taught Taught by JesusPaulOthers Atonement by death on a cross Isaiah 53:5- 12, Zechariah 12:10, Psalm 22:16 Matthew 10:38, 16:24, 26:28, Mark 8:34, 14:24, Luke 9:23, 14:27, 22:20, John 12: Corinthians 1:18, 11:25, Ephesians 2:8, 16, Colossians 1:20, 2:14 John 1:29, 36, Acts 8:32, 1 Peter 1:18-19, 2:24, Revelation 5:12-14, 7:14 Believe in Jesus for eternal life Job 19: Matthew 19:29, Mark 10:29-30, Luke 9:24, John 3:16 Romans 5:21, 6:23, 1 Timothy 1:16, Jude 1:21 Acts 11:17-18, 1 John 5:11

Basic Doctrines Taught Throughout the Bible Doctrine First Taught Taught by JesusPaulOthers Righteousness comes by faith Genesis 15:6, Habakkuk 2:4 Mark 11:22, Luke 7:50 Romans 1:17, 3:22, 3:25-26, 4:3, 9, 11, 13, 5:17, 9:30, 10:4, 10, Galatians 3:6, 11, Philippians 3:9 Hebrews 11:4, 7, 2 Peter 1:1 Justification by faith Isaiah 53:11 Luke 7:50, 8:12 Mark 16:16, John 3:18, 5:24 Romans 3:28, 30, 5:1, 18, Galatians 2:16, 3:8, 24 James 2:23

Basic Doctrines Taught Throughout the Bible Doctrine First Taught Taught by JesusPaulOthers Forgiveness of sin through faith 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 86:5, Jeremiah 31:33-34 Matthew 9:2, 6, 26:27-28, Mark 2:5, , Luke 5:20, 24, Acts 26:18 Ephesians 1:7, 4:32, Colossians 1:13-14, 2:13, 3:13 Luke 1:76-77, Acts 2:38, 5:31, 10:43, 13:38, Hebrews 10:18- 20, James 5:15, 1 John 1:7-9, 2:12 RepentanceIsaiah 1:27, 30:15, Ezekiel 18:32 Matthew 4:17, Mark 1:15, Luke 5:32, 13:3, 24:46-47 Romans 2:4, 2 Corinthians 7:9-10 Matthew 3:2, Mark 1:4, Luke 3:3, Acts 2:38, 17:30, 20:21, 2 Peter 3:9

Paul Knew Jesus’ Teachings TeachingPaulJesus Parable of sower1 Corinthians 3:6-10Matthew 13:1-23 Stumbling stoneRomans 9:33Matthew 18:7 Ruling against divorce1 Corinthians 7:10Mark 10:11 Support for apostles1 Corinthians 9:14Luke 10:7 Institution of Lord's supper1 Corinthians 11:23-26Matthew 26:26-28 Command concerning prophets1 Corinthians 14:37Matthew 23:34 Lord's return1 Thessalonians 4:15Matthew 24:1-51 Blessing of the persecutedRomans 12:14Luke 6:27 Don't repay evil with evil Romans 12:17 and 1 Thessalonians 5:15 Mark 12:12-17 Pay taxes to authoritiesRomans 13:7Mark 9:42 No stumbling blockRomans 14:13Mark 9:42 Nothing is uncleanRomans 14:14Mark 7:15 Thief in the night1 Thessalonians 5:2Luke 12:39 Peace among yourselves1 Thessalonians 5:13Mark 9:50 Peace with everyoneRomans 12:18Mark 9:50 Do not judgeRomans 13:10Luke 6:37

Did Paul Know the Real Jesus?

Paul: The Man Jesus Physical AttributeVerses Jesus came into the world1 Timothy 1:15, Philippians 2:5-8 Jesus was seen by Paul1 Corinthians 9:1 Jesus was a manRomans 5:15, 1 Timothy 2:5, Philippians 2:5-8 Jesus was flesh Romans 1:3, 8:3, 9:5, 2 Corinthians 5:16, Ephesians 2:14- 15, 1 Timothy 3:16 Jesus ate and drank1 Corinthians 11:23-25 Jesus bled Romans 3:24-25, 5:9, 1 Corinthians 10:16, 11:25, 27 Ephesians 1:7, 2:13, Colossians 1:20 Jesus was crucified 1 Corinthians 1:13, 23, 2:2, 8, 2 Corinthians 13:4, Galatians 3:1, Philippians 2:8 Jesus died Romans 5:6, 8, 10 6:3, 5, 9-10, 8:34, 14:9, 15, 1 Corinthians 8:11, 11:26 15:3, 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, Galatians 2:21, Philippians 2:8, 3:10, Colossians 1:22, 1 Thessalonians 4:14, 5:10 Jesus was raised from the dead Romans 1:4, 4:24-25, 6:4-5 9, 7:4, 8:11, 34, 9:17, 10:9, 1 Corinthians 6:14, 15:4, 12-17, 20, 2 Corinthians 4:14, 5:15 Galatians 1:1, Ephesians 1:20, Colossians 2:12, 1 Thessalonians 1:10, 4:14

Conclusion The core doctrines of Christianity are taught not only by Paul, but also by Jesus, the apostles, and Old Testament saints. The atheist claim that Paul invented Christianity is a myth

More In-Depth Research Papers Paul Invented Christianity? Is the Founder of the Christian Religion Paul of Tarsus or Jesus of Nazareth? Paul Invented Christianity? Is the Founder of the Christian Religion Paul of Tarsus or Jesus of Nazareth? History of the Bible: How The Bible Came To Us History of the Bible: How The Bible Came To Us The Bible Has Been Changed Over the Centuries From the Original? The Bible Has Been Changed Over the Centuries From the Original?

More Atheist Myths GodAndScience.org

Creation Update: “Evolution” of Fairness and Punishment

Did Cooperation Evolve? Evolutionary psychology claims that human interaction is largely a function of the genes and that it evolved along with our physical characteristics to make us what we are Accordingly, humans possess an innate social psychology evolved for cooperation within our small-scale Paleolithic societies With the emergence of agriculture these behaviors were mistakenly extended to non- kin individuals, as societies expanded

Did Cooperation Evolve? Determinism claims that humans lack free will, but react to stimuli in a predictable, programmed way

Study Design Money-swapping games were played by 2,148 people from 15 small societies around the world The amount of money used was the equivalent of one day’s wage Market Integration was measured by the percentage of calories that that were purchased

Dictator Game Two anonymous players are allotted a sum of money (the stake) in a one-shot interaction Player 1 must decide how to divide this sum between himself and Player 2 Player 2 receives the allocation (offer), and the game ends Player 1’s offer to Player 2 provides a measure of Player 1’s behavioral fairness

Ultimatum Game Two anonymous players are again allotted a sum in a one-shot interaction Player 1 can offer a portion of this to Player 2 Player 2, before hearing the actual offer from Player 1, must decide whether to accept or reject each of the possible offers If Player 2 specified that he or she would accept the amount of the actual offer, then Player 2 receives the offered amount and Player 1 gets the remainder. If Player 2 specified that he would reject the offered amount, then both players receive zero If people are motivated purely by money maximization, Player 2 will always accept any positive offer Realizing this, Player 1 should offer the smallest nonzero amount Because this is a one-shot anonymous interaction, Player 2’s willingness to reject provides a measure of punishment Player 1’s offer measures a combination of social motivations and an assessment of the likelihood of rejection, providing a second behavioral measure of fairness.

Ultimatum Game Example $100 stake Player 1 offers $20 to Player 2 Player 2 AcceptancePlayer 1Player 2 $20$80$20 $30$0

Third-Party Punishment Game Two players are allotted a stake and a third player also receives the equivalent of one-half of the stake Player 1 must decide how much to allocate to Player 2, who has no choices Player 3, before hearing the actual amount that Player 1 allocated to Player 2, has to decide whether to pay 20% or more of his allocation to punish Player 1 for each of the possible offers If punished, Player 1 loses triple the amount paid by Player 3

Third-Party Punishment Example $100 stake Player 1 offers $10 to Player 2 (keeping $90) PunishmentPlayer 1Player 2Player 3 No$90$10$50 Yes$60$10$40

J. Henrich et al Science 327: Mean Dictator Game Offers for Each Population vs. Market Integration

Creation Update: Should Extremely Small Probabilities be Considered Scientifically Possible?

Background Many atheists claim that if something is possible, it should be considered as having a basis in scientific reality Mere possibility is not an adequate basis for asserting scientific plausibility This paper presents a method of objectively measuring the plausibility of any chance hypothesis (The Universal Plausibility Metric – UPM)

Calculating the UPM 4.4 × seconds since the Big Bang Plank time (minimum time interval) is seconds Number of possible quantum transitions since the Big Bang would be × = number of protons, neutrons and electrons is Universal probability bound is: × × =

Calculating the UPM qΩu = Universe = trans/sec × secs × particles = qΩg = Galaxy = trans/sec × secs × particles = qΩs = Solar System = trans/sec × secs × particles = qΩu = Earth = trans/sec × secs × particles =

Origin of Life Origin of life theories are dependent upon the maximum chemical reaction rate Shortest transition time is sec Complete chemical reactions require sec Biochemical reactions require sec Exceedingly generous time of sec

Origin of Life qΩu = Universe = reactions/sec × secs × atoms = qΩg = Galaxy = trans/sec × secs × atoms = qΩs = Solar System = trans/sec × secs × atoms = qΩu = Earth = trans/sec × secs × atoms = 10 70

Conclusions Any scientific claim that produces probabilities less than the UPM are implausible and must be rejected on a scientific basis Atheism is irrational