when it comes to Christianity, a simple survey of history will soon confirm that, far from poisoning everything, it has been responsible for masses of positive things. The modern benefits of healthcare, education, social provision, human rights, and even literature, art and music can all be found to have roots in the Christians who were inspired to

‘Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have’ (1 Peter 3.15).

It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debating it. Joseph Joubert

for mainstream academics, the view that Jesus never existed belongs in the same category as those who claim that the moon landings were a hoax.

Rocks, chairs and cats also lack belief in God. Does that make them atheists?

Atheism and Christianity tell two very different stories. One is a story of ultimate purposelessness – the ‘blind, pitiless indifference’ of Richard Dawkins’ universe. The other is a story of ultimate meaning and hope – hope that there is a reason for our existence, hope that our lives mean something, the hope that death is not the end. A hope that

If there is a God, then why should we cut ourselves off from explanations that involve supernatural agency if that’s where the evidence most clearly leads?

hell isn’t God’s punishment for not believing the right things; it’s a self-imposed exile and final end for those who simply don’t want God.

We aren’t obliged to make every element of the stories line up in order to establish that the Gospels are historically reliable, any more than differing accounts from the battle of Waterloo would change the conclusion that Napoleon’s army was defeated.