Too Skeptical To Be Reasonable

Here are some of Guy Playfair's comments about a report on the Enfield Poltergeist that he and Maurice Grosse delivered to a meeting of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR). This occurred on March 29, 1978:

He [Grosse] kicked off with a very concise and factual account of the case to date, summarising the types of phenomenon we had observed or recorded from eye-witnesses under seventeen headings. These included knocks, movement of small and large objects, interference with bedclothes, appearance of water, apparitions, levitation of persons, physical assaults of several types, automatisms, psychological disturbance, equipment malfunction and failure, the passage of matter through matter, unidentifiable voice phenomena - both embodied and disembodied, and spontaneous combustion.

While he was reeling off this list, I looked around the audience. Some, like Professor [Hans] Bender, were listening intently, while elsewhere I saw a number of raised eyebrows. Clearly, this was a bit much for some SPR members, who had never witnessed anything paranormal all their lives.

Being Rational is Racist

http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/07/irrational_animal.html

What Does Athens Have To Do With Jerusalem?

The Biblical authors, as well as ancient Jews and Christians in general, are often dismissed as unreasonable. The criticism takes different forms, and the appropriate response depends on how the objection is nuanced. Ancient Jews and Christians, or ancient people in general, will be accused of being gullible, superstitious, unconcerned with evidence, or anti-intellectual, for example. Sometimes they're even criticized for their ignorance of modern science. Apparently, Matthew's ignorance of the latest theories in physics or Paul's ignorance of the latest astronomical discoveries makes that Biblical author unreliable in what he reports about the activities of Pontius Pilate or whether he saw the risen Jesus. I've responded to these kinds of objections in the past. I've often recommended Glenn Miller's treatment of the subject. I've discussed some passages in Origen's treatise Against Celsus that are often misused in support of the notion that ancient Christians were irrational.

What I want to do in this post is address two passages in Tertullian that are often cited in this context: