In journalism circles BBC stands for the venerable British Broadcasting Corporation. But in Texas, the heart of the Bible Belt, it stands for the Bible and Beer Consortium, which appears to be a Fort Worth outfit designed to promote dialogue between atheists and Christians.
Last June such an event was held at a night club in Dallas featuring Dan Barker, of Madison’s Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF), and Justin Bass, who is both the pastor of a church plant that meets in a hotel in Frisco and an adjunct professor at the Dallas Theological Seminary. Barker courageously showed up for the debate. He apparently did not fare well, according to a blog review posted a few weeks later by Bass called “Fact Checking Dan Barker: From Our Recent Debate.”
For Madison residents who are treated to frequent stories about legal assaults launched by the Madison lawyers of FFRF, and may remember a debate decades ago between FFRF founder Ann Gaylor and local pastor Dick Pritchard, the analysis is revealing.
Bass is complimentary towards Barker, calling him “kind, brilliant, and…articulate.” But he takes Barker to task for fighting against a fundamentalist, “glorified Sunday School” version of Christianity that misrepresents “many of the facts surrounding Jesus of Nazareth.”
Bass examines the sources that Barker quotes in his books and his debates and finds many of them lacking in credibility to address basic issues relating to Jesus and early Christianity. In particular he notes:
“In his discussions of Jesus and Christianity, Barker cites only two scholars who are credentialed and professionally teaching in the field of early Christianity: R. J. Hoffman and Bart Ehrman. In contrast to these two sources, Dan questions Jesus’ existence. He parts ways again with Bart Ehrman, arguing that the Jesus story was cut from the same cloth of pagan religions.”
Bass articulates seven issues where he says Barker clearly got his facts wrong about Christianity and/or ancient history, such as:
- Did Nazareth exist during the time of Jesus?
- Did Paul believe Jesus’ resurrection was spiritual or physical?
- “Contradictions” in the resurrection accounts.
Perhaps the most telling item was the last, #7: “Even if Jesus rose from the dead, Dan would still not accept him as Lord.”
For many people, such as Barker, it’s more than just the evidence. But for those who are concerned about the evidence, Bass makes some compelling points and raises some intriguing questions. Losing faith is about more than just the evidence.