Thursday, February 26, 2026

The Disciples Were Not Present at the Alleged Trial Before Pilate

1. THE ALLEGED TRIAL BEFORE PILATE IS HISTORICALLY DUBIOUS

In Chapter 6 of my book Thinking Critically about the Resurrection of Jesus, Volume 1: The Resuscitation of the Swoon Theory, in the subsection called "TEN HISTORICAL CLAIMS ABOUT AN ALLEGED TRIAL BEFORE PILATE", I show that there are several good reasons to doubt the historicity or historical reliability of the Gospel accounts of the alleged trial of Jesus before Pilate.[1]  This means that there are good reasons to doubt that the disciples of Jesus witnessed alleged events at a trial of Jesus before Pilate. If there was no trial of Jesus before Pilate, then obviously there were no disciples present at that fictional trial.  

2. IF THERE WAS A TRIAL BEFORE PILATE, THE ALLEGED EVENTS IN THE TRIAL ARE DUBIOUS

On the other hand, if there was a trial of Jesus before Pilate, then it is likely that some of the alleged events and details of that trial, as presented in the Gospels, did not actually occur and thus were not observed by anyone, including Jesus' disciples.  For example, if Jesus was not actually scourged by a Roman soldier during or immediately following the trial before Pilate, then none of Jesus' disciples observed Jesus being scourged by a Roman soldier.

3. JESUS DISCIPLES WERE IN HIDING DURING THE TRIAL

No Gospel account mentions that any of Jesus' disciples were present at the alleged trial of Jesus before Pilate. Furthermore, the Gospel of Mark indicates that the disciples fled and abandoned Jesus when he was arrested, and the Gospel of Matthew agrees with Mark on this point (Mark 14:48-50 & Matthew 26:55-56). The Gospel of Mark also indicates that only some of the women who followed Jesus were present at the crucifixion, and the Gospel of Matthew agrees with Mark on this point (Mark 15:40-41 & Matthew 27:55-56), implying that the twelve disciples of Jesus were still in hiding at that time. If Jesus' twelve disciples fled and abandoned Jesus when he was arrested, and if Jesus' twelve disciples were not present during his crucifixion, then it is unlikely that they were present at the alleged trial before Pilate.
This is one reason why many Jesus and NT scholars doubt the historicity or historical reliability of the Gospel accounts of the trial of Jesus before Pilate:
About the events reported between arrest and execution, including the trials before Jewish and Roman authorities, I have little historical conficence. The reason: whatever happened was not witnessed by Jesus' followers; they had fled and were not there.[2]       - Marcus Borg

 


END NOTES
1. You can read a DRAFT of Chapter 6 of my book here:
2. Marcus Borg, "Why Was Jesus Killed?" in The Meaning of Jesus (San Francisco, CA: HarperCollins Publishers, 1996), p.87.







Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Parapsychology and the Search for Psi - Part1: Overview of Parapsychology

 WHAT IS PARAPSYCHOLOGY?


Three main kinds of alleged paranormal phenomena (called psi) are studied in parapsychology:

  • ESP (Extrasensory Perception) - knowledge without the use of ordinary senses
  • PK (Psychokinesis) - mind over matter
  • SOC (Survival Of Consciousness) - life after death, ghosts, communication with dead people, reincarnation, near-death experiences, out-of-body experiences
Three main kinds of ESP:


The Historical Context of Parapsychology

The Origins of Parapsychology

The origins of parapsychology include a number of Red Flags, facts that indicate that critical thinkers should be skeptical about parapsychology claims (e.g. that some or most people experience ESP, that some or most people experience precognition).  

Healthy skepticism about parapsychology claims does not mean refusing to consider evidence and arguments supporting such claims, which would amount to dogmatic skepticismHealthy skepticism about parapsychology claims means that critical thinkers should be cautious about such claims and carefully examine the evidence and arguments presented for such claims, and should require strong and clear evidence before accepting parapsychology claims.

A major milestone in the history of parapsychology is the founding of The Society for Psychical Research (SPR) in England in 1882 by William Barrett and Edmond Rogers.  Barrett and Rogers were both spiritualists:

Barrett was a Christian and spiritualist member of the SPR. Although he had founded the society, Barrett was only truly active for a year, and in 1884 founded the American Society for Psychical Research. He became president of the society in 1904 and continued to submit articles to their journal.[1]

About 1843 Rogers was introduced by Sir Isaac Pitman to the work of Swedenborg. He went on to study mesmerism and mesmeric healing. He began to attend séances in 1869 with various mediums, especially Mrs Thomas Everitt and William Eglinton, and became a spiritualist. In 1873 he helped to form the British National Association of Spiritualists, and in 1881 founded the spiritualist journal Light, which he edited from 1894 until his death in 1910. In 1881–1882 he founded the Society for Psychical Research, with Sir William Barrett.[2]

The SPR still exists today, and according to its website, it was the first "learned society" formed to conduct scientific research into psychical and spiritualist phenomena:

In January 1882, a conference was held in London to discuss the viability of setting up an organisation to carry out formal scientific research into these matters. The following month the SPR was founded, the first learned society of its kind, with the purpose of investigating mesmeric, psychical and ‘spiritualist’ phenomena in a purely scientific spirit.[3]

The fact that both Barrett and Rogers, the founders of SPR, were spiritualists leads us to the first three Red Flags of Parapsychology:
  • The Nature of Spiritualism
  • The Origin of Spiritualism
  • The Origin of SPR in 1882 
RED FLAG #1: THE NATURE OF SPIRITUALISM

Spiritualism is a religious movement that began in the mid 1800s:


Although the stated purpose of the SPR was to investigate psychical and spiritualist phenomena by means of objective scientific investigations, the fact that both founders of SPR were involved in the same religious movement, and a religious movement that involved belief not only in life after death, but in communication with the dead by the living, casts doubt on the objectivity of the research conducted by the SPR.

Both founders of the SPR were religious believers who thought that living people can communicate with dead people. They were not skeptical about supernatural communication with dead spirits, nor were they merely neutral on this question.  They were religious believers who were part of a religious movement that promoted the belief that living people can communicate with the spirits or ghosts of dead people. 

This fact alone gives critical thinkers a good reason to be skeptical about the claims of parapsychology.

This is analogous to the fact that the founders of Scientific Creationism were fundamentalist or conservative evangelical Christians.  Their belief that the theory of evolution is false, and that life has existed on the Earth for only a few thousand years, appears to be based on their religious beliefs, and on their literal interpretation of the biblical account of creation in the book of Genesis.  Scientific creationism was not driven by objective scientific investigation; it was driven by religious beliefs

The religious bias of the founders of Scientific Creationism, however, does not prove that they are wrong.  Their view of the origin of life and of the origin of species might be correct, even if that belief was not based on objective scientific investigation. A critical thinker should not simply ignore the evidence and arguments of Scientific Creationists. That would be dogmatic skepticism. However, the obvious religious bias of the founders of Scientific Creationism does provide a good reason for critical thinkers to approach the claims of Scientific Creationism with healthy skepticism.  The same is true of how critical thinkers should approach parapsychology claims, i.e., claims about the existence of ESP, PK, or SOC. 

An example of bias in the thinking of SPR founder William Barrett is his evaluation of the Creery Sisters:

In the late 19th century the Creery Sisters (Mary, Alice, Maud, Kathleen, and Emily) were tested by Barrett and other members of the SPR who believed them to have genuine psychic ability, however, the sisters later confessed to fraud by describing their method of signal codes that they had utilized. Barrett and the other members of the SPR such as Edmund Gurney and Frederic W. H. Myers had been easily duped.[1]

Barrett's prior belief in telepathy and communication with the dead led him to be insufficiently skeptical about claims of alleged psychics. Critical thinkers have good reason to be skeptical about the objectivity and reliability of the SPR investigations into alleged psychic phenomena.

RED FLAG #2: THE ORIGIN OF SPIRITUALISM IN 1848

As previously noted, spiritualism has roots in shamanism, and its origin has been traced to the Fox sisters in 1848:


Most people in the 21st century recognize that shamanism is an ancient superstition that existed among primitive peoples around the world for thousands of years, prior to the advent of modern science. Most modern people no longer view bad weather, natural disasters, physical disease, or mental illness as being the result of the actions of evil spiritsthe way that primitive people did for thousands of years.  The fact that spiritualism has roots in such ancient superstitious beliefs provides critical thinkers with a good reason to be skeptical about spiritualist phenomena and claims.

Furthermore, the important role of the Fox sisters in the origin of spiritualism also provides a good reason for critical thinkers to approach the phenomena and claims of spiritualism with healthy skepticism:


It turned out that the rapping of alleged ghosts was a hoax conducted by the Fox sisters[4]:

Beginning in 1850, some critics concluded that the girls made the rappings themselves, including physician E. P. Longworthy, John W. Hurn, Reverend John M. Austin, and Reverend D. Potts. In 1851, the Reverend C. Chauncey Burr wrote in the New-York Tribune that by cracking toe joints the sounds were so loud, they could be heard in a large hall. In the same year, investigators from the University at Buffalo concluded that the raps were made by cracking joints of their body and that the raps would not occur if they had cushions under their feet.

In 1851, Mrs. Norman Culver, a relative of the Fox family, admitted in a signed statement that she had assisted them during their séances by touching them to indicate when the raps should be made. She also claimed that Kate and Margaretta revealed to her the method of producing the raps by snapping their toes and using their knees and ankles.

Charles Grafton Page, a patent examiner and patent advocate, had developed a keen eye for detecting fraudulent claims about science. In his book Psychomancy (1853), Page observed that the rapping sounds came from underneath the girls' long dresses. In 1857, the Boston Courier set up a prize of $500 to any medium who could demonstrate a paranormal ability to their committee. The Fox sisters made an attempt and were investigated by a committee which included the magician John Wyman. The committee concluded the raps were produced by bone and feet movements and thus the Fox sisters failed the challenge. A report by the Seybert Commission in 1887 stated that after investigating various mediums including Margaretta, the phenomena could have easily been produced by fraudulent methods. The report noted that the raps were heard close to Margaretta and a séance sitter, Professor Furness had felt pulsations in her foot.

In 1888, Margaretta publicly revealed that the rappings were a hoax[4]:

In 1888, the two sisters traveled to New York City, where a reporter offered $1,500 if they would "expose" their methods and give him an exclusive on the story. Margaretta appeared publicly at the New York Academy of Music on October 21, 1888, with Kate present. Before an audience of 2,000, Margaret demonstrated how she could produce—at will—raps audible throughout the theater. Doctors from the audience came on stage to verify that the cracking of her toe joints was the source of the Sound.
 
Margaretta told her story of the origins of the mysterious "rappings" in a signed confession given to the press and published in New York World, October 21, 1888. In it, she explained the Hydesville events.
 
Because spiritualism has roots in the ancient superstition of shamanism, and because the origin of the spiritualist movement was based largely on a hoax conducted by the Fox sisters, critical thinkers have a good reason to be skeptical about the phenomena and claims of spiritualism. 

RED FLAG #3: THE ORIGIN OF SPR IN 1882

Critical thinkers have good reason for healthy skepticism about parapsychology claims because of the origin of The Society for Psychical Research (PSR) in 1882. 

First, this organization was formed during a time when the religious movement of spiritualism was rapidly spreading in England and internationally.  Second, both of the founders of SPR were involved in the religious movement of spiritualism.  Third, as we have seen, there is good reason to be skeptical about the phenomena and claims of spiritualism.  Fourth, SPR was the first "learned society" to promote scientific investigation into psychical and spiritualist phenomena.  So, the origin of SPR is a major milestone in the origin of parapsychology.

Given that the origin of SPR has strong roots in the religious movement of spiritualism, and given that the founding of SPR is a major milestone in the development of parapsychology, we have good reason to be skeptical about parapsychology claims.

RED FLAG #4: EARLY INVESTIGATIONS BY THE SPR

Although both founders of SPR were spiritualists, some important members of SPR were not and were more skeptical about the mediums who inspired the spiritualist movement.  The first president of SPR was Henry Sidgwick, and he was agnostic about the existence of spirits and about alleged communication by mediums with dead people:

Investigation by members of the SPR exposed the world-famous medium Eusapia Palladino as a fraud, giving critical thinkers a good reason to be skeptical about spiritualist beliefs and claims. 

However, the SPR also investigated another world-famous medium named Leonora Piper:


The lack of clear evidence supporting the spiritualist claim that Piper was communicating with dead people and the existence of clear evidence indicating that she was NOT communicating with dead people should have led SPR investigators to reject spiritualist claims about Piper.  Their failure to reject those claims gives critical thinkers a good reason to be skeptical about the objectivity and reliability of the "learned society" of SPR investigators.[5]

One significant piece of evidence was the absurd claims allegedly made by the ghost of Sir Walter Scott:

As with other mediums of the era, Piper claimed the use of spirit guides or "controls" in trance. In some of Piper's early sittings her control, supposedly Walter Scott, made absurd statements about the planets. He claimed beautiful creatures live inside Venus and the Sun is populated by "dreadful looking creatures" which he described as monkeys that live in caves made out of sand and mud.[6]

Sir Walter Scott was a famous writer and editor who died in 1832. It is obvious that the well-educated and sensible Walter Scott would not have made such absurd claims about Venus or the Sun, so it is very unlikely that the ghost of Walter Scott was communicating through Piper.

Further evidence comes from alleged communications from the ghost of George Pellew:

Among her controls was a personality referred to as G.P., who claimed to be George Pellew (1859–1892), a writer who had died in New York City and a friend of Richard Hodgson. In 1888 Pellew had attended a séance sitting with Piper. After he had died Hodgson claimed that Pellew communicated through Piper, however the family members and friends of George denied this. Andrew Lang wrote that when alive George Pellew was a scholar and metaphysician but the Pellew control of Piper had forgotten his Greek and philosophy and when asked for proof of his identity was incoherent or wholly mistaken.[6]

The writer "George Pellew" who allegedly communicated through Piper had "forgotten his Greek and philosophy" and was unable to provide any clear proof of his identity. But in the face of this evidence that the ghost of Pellew was NOT communicating through Piper, the SPR investigator Richard Hodgson came to the opposite conclusion.

There is also the evidence concerning alleged communications from the ghost of a French doctor:

Another control was called "Phinuit" who was purportedly a French doctor. Phinuit's French was limited to salutations like "Bonjour" and "Au revoir" and had little apparent knowledge either of the French language or of medicine. According to some accounts, medical people were surprised Phinuit did not
know the French or Latin names for the many remedies Piper advised for her sitters, and Phinuit's historical existence could not be verified by SPR investigations.[6]

The alleged ghost of a French doctor named Phinuit had little knowledge of either French or medicine, and no historical record of his existence could be found, providing SPR investigators with clear evidence that the ghost of a French doctor named Phinuit was NOT communicating through Piper. Yet the SPR failed to draw this skeptical conclusion.

Furthermore, consider the evidence concerning the alleged communications of the ghost of Frederic Myers, who was himself an investigator of mediums and psychics:

After the death of Frederic Myers in 1901, Piper claimed to receive messages from Myers for his widow. ...Before his death Myers had left a message in a sealed envelope; Piper's control did not reveal the message. In 1906 the Myers control was completely baffled when given a message in Latin by a séance sitter, and took three months to get the meaning of the message. This was unlike Myers, as whilst alive he was a classicist who knew Latin.[6]

The ghost of Frederic Myers allegedly communicated through Piper.  But this "ghost", unlike Myers, did not know the contents of a message written by Myers and placed into a sealed envelope before he died, and this "ghost", unlike Myers, did not know Latin.  This evidence clearly indicates that Frederic Myers was NOT communicating to others through Piper.

The deceased father of an SPR investigator allegedly communicated to his son, James Hyslop, through Leonora Piper.  Hyslop became convinced that Piper had indeed passed on messages from his dead father, but there was evidence to the contrary:

Physiologist Ivor Lloyd Tuckett criticized Hyslop's interpretation of Piper's mediumship and gave an example of a mistake her control had made which was alleged to be the spirit of Hyslop's father. The control when asked if he had remembered a "Samuel Cooper" responded that he was old friend in the West, and that they used to discuss philosophy on long walks together, but the statement was proven to be false. Tuckett came to the conclusion that Piper's controls were fictitious creations and her mediumship could best be explained without recourse to the paranormal.[7]

Another SPR investigator named Richard Hodgson died in 1905, and his ghost allegedly communicated to the living through Piper.  But there was significant evidence indicating that this was not actually the case:

After the death of Hodgson between December 1905 and the beginning of 1908 Piper held about seventy séances during which the spirit of Hodgson was said to have communicated through her. However the control of Piper sounded nothing like Hodgson. According to Joseph McCabe "when Hodgson died in 1905 and left a large amount of manuscript in cipher, she could not get the least clue to it. When friends put test questions to the spirit of Hodgson about his early life in Australia, the answers were all wrong." The Hodgson control was asked the name of his schoolmaster in Melbourne but failed to give the correct answer, Hodgson's sister who was sent the messages was not convinced they were from Hodgson. Before he died Hodgson had written a test letter, and claimed that if he was to communicate through Piper he would reveal the contents inside the letter. Piper's Hodgson control failed to reveal the test letter.[8]  

It is possible that, unlike the medium Eusapia Palladino, Leonora Piper was not a fraud or deceiver. But even if Piper was an honest and sincere person, the investigations of the SPR should have drawn the conclusion that she was NOT actually communicating with dead people. But the SPR investigators were too biased and credulous to accept the evidence showing this to be the case.  

Among the early investigations of the SPR, two international superstars of spiritualism were evaluated:  Eusapia Palladino and Leonora Piper.  Palladino, a physical medium, was revealed to be a fraud, thus giving critical thinkers a good reason to be skeptical about spiritualist phenomena and claims.  

However, Leonora Piper, a mental medium, was taken seriously by SPR investigators and viewed as having communicated messages from the ghosts of dead people, even though there was clear evidence that this was NOT the case, thus giving critical thinkers a good reason to be skeptical about the objectivity and reliability of investigations by the SPR.

RED FLAG #5: THE ORIGIN OF THE DUKE PARAPSYCHOLOGY LAB IN 1930-1935

The term "parapsychology" was originally coined in German:


But the term was popularized in English in the 1930s:


This popularization of the term "parapsychology" in the 1930s is historically significant because there was a shift towards "more rigorous experimental methodologies and laboratory-based studies" at that time, particularly with the initiation of the Parapsychology Lab at Duke University by J.B. Rhine:


Joseph Banks Rhine was a bona fide scientist, but his PhD from the University of Chicago was in botany, not psychology.  

J.B. Rhine and his wife, Louisa, became interested in psychic phenomena largely as a result of a lecture by the superstitious spiritualist Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The excitement of the Rhines about the prospect of scientifically establishing the existence of psychic phenomena indicates that they were not objective or neutral investigators of such phenomena:

...he [J.B. Rhine] enrolled at the University of Chicago, where he received his master's degree in botany in 1923 and a PhD in botany in 1925. While there, he and his wife Louisa E. Rhine were impressed by a May 1922 lecture given by Arthur Conan Doyle exulting the scientific proof of communication with the dead. Rhine later wrote, "This mere possibility was the most exhilarating thought I had had in years." Rhine's interest in this topic was furthered after reading The Survival of Man, Oliver Lodge's book about mediumship and life after death.[9]

The Rhines became devoted investigators of alleged psychic phenomena largely as a result of the influence of two famous promoters of spiritualism: Doyle and LodgeArthur Conan Doyle was a credulous spiritualist and a member of the SPR:

Doyle had a longstanding interest in mystical subjects and remained fascinated by the idea of paranormal phenomena, even though the strength of his belief in their reality waxed and waned periodically over the years.

In 1887, in Southsea, influenced by Major-General Alfred Wilks Drayson, a member of the Portsmouth Literary and Philosophical Society, Doyle began a series of investigations into the possibility of psychic phenomena and attended about 20 seances, experiments in telepathy, and sittings with mediums. Writing to spiritualist journal Light that year, he declared himself to be a spiritualist, describing one particular event that had convinced him psychic phenomena were real. ...

In 1889, he became a founding member of the Hampshire Society for Psychical Research; in 1893, he joined the London-based Society for Psychical Research; and in 1894, he collaborated with Sir Sidney Scott and Frank Podmore in a search for poltergeists in Devon....

Doyle and the spiritualist William Thomas Stead (who would die on the Titanic) were led to believe that Julius and Agnes Zancig had genuine psychic powers, and they claimed publicly that the Zancigs used telepathy. However, in 1924, the Zancigs confessed that their mind reading act had been a trick; they published the secret code and all other details of the trick method they had used under the title "Our Secrets!!" in a London newspaper. Doyle also praised the psychic phenomena and spirit materialisations that he believed had been produced by Eusapia Palladino and Mina Crandon, both of whom were also later exposed as frauds.[10]
  
Oliver Lodge was a bona fide scientist (a physicist and electrical engineer), but, like Doyle, Lodge was a credulous spiritualist and a member of SPR: 

Lodge is remembered for his studies in psychical research and spiritualism. He began to study psychical phenomena (chiefly telepathy) in the late 1880s, was a member of The Ghost Club, and served as president of the London-based Society for Psychical Research from 1901 to 1903. After his son, Raymond, was killed in World War I in 1915, he visited several mediums and wrote about the experience in a number of books, including the best-selling Raymond; or, Life and Death (1916). Lodge was a friend of Arthur Conan Doyle, who also lost a son in World War I and was a Spiritualist.

Lodge was a Christian Spiritualist. In 1909, he published the book Survival of Man which expressed his belief that life after death had been demonstrated by mediumship. His most controversial book was Raymond or Life and Death (1916). The book documented the séances that he and his wife had attended with the medium Gladys Osborne Leonard. Lodge was convinced that his son Raymond had communicated with him and the book is a description of his son's experiences in the spirit world.[11]

Others who investigated Gladys Leonard did not conclude that she was actually communicating messages from dead people:

Researchers such as Clodd (1917), Culpin (1920), Hansel (1966) and Moore (1981) who investigated Leonard's mediumship from psychical reports were not convinced she had communicated with spirits.

Clodd has stated that Leonard had known some of her sitters before the séances, and could have obtained information by natural means. Culpin has suggested that her results could be explained by cold reading and subjective validation. ...[12]

There was evidence that cast significant doubt on the spiritualist claims about Leonard[12]:

As a medium she specialised in 'book tests', whereby she would select a book from the shelf which held special significance to the deceased. In 1921, Eleanor Sidgwick analysed these tests and found that only 36% were successful.

[...]

Although Lodge was convinced that Leonard's spirit control [named "Feda"] had communicated with his [dead] son, he admitted a good deal of the information was nonsense and suggested that Feda picked it up from a séance sitter. ...

... It was claimed by spiritualists that Leonard's spirit control Feda communicated with Raymond [Lodge's son who had died in WWI], however when asked specific questions he failed to answer them. Raymond could not give the name of a single soldier he had been with before his death.

Like Arthur Conan Doyle, Oliver Lodge demonstrated poor judgment in his evaluations of other alleged psychics: 

Magician John Booth noted that the stage mentalist David Devant managed to fool a number of people into believing he had genuine psychic ability who did not realize that his feats were magic tricks. At St. George's Hall, London he performed a fake "clairvoyant" act where he would read a message sealed inside an envelope. Lodge who was present in the audience was duped by the trick and claimed that Devant had used psychic powers. In 1936, Devant in his book Secrets of My Magic revealed the trick method he had used.

Lodge had endorsed a clairvoyant medium known as "Annie Brittain". However, she made entirely incorrect guesses about a policeman who was disguised as a farmer. She was arrested and convicted for fraudulent fortune telling.[11]

The origin of the  Parapsychology Lab at Duke University, like the origin of the Society for Psychic Research, is directly connected with the religious movement of spiritualism, because J.B. Rhine and his wife were inspired to become psychic investigators primarily by two famous credulous supporters of spiritualism: Doyle and Lodge. This gives critical thinkers a good reason for healthy skepticism about the investigations carried out by J.B. Rhine.

RED FLAG #6: EARLY INVESTIGATIONS BY J.B. RHINE

Although J.B. Rhine was inspired to become a dedicated investigator of psychic phenomena by two credulous promoters of spiritualism (Doyle and Lodge), in one of his first serious investigations, Rhine ended up revealing a popular medium to be a fraud:

Rhine lent an insight into the medium Mina Crandon's performances. He was able to observe some of her trickery in the dark when she used luminous objects. Rhine observed Crandon in fraud in a séance in 1926. According to Rhine, during the séance she was free from control and kicked a megaphone to give the impression it was levitating.

Rhine’s report that documented the fraud was refused by the American Society for Psychical Research, so he published it in the Journal of Abnormal Social PsychologyIn response [to Rhine's article exposing Crandon as a fraud], defenders of Crandon attacked Rhine. Arthur Conan Doyle wrote a letter to the Boston Herald attacking Rhine's "colossal impertinence... stupidity and malignancy."[9]

It must have stung Rhine to be attacked and insulted by Doyle for carrying out a serious investigation of psychic phenomena, given that Doyle had inspired Rhine to become involved in such investigations. 

In any case, Rhine (and other investigators, such as Harry Houdini) exposing the popular medium Mina Crandon to be a fraud gives critical thinkers a good reason for skepticism about psychic and spiritualist phenomena, just like when early investigations by SPR exposed the world-famous medium Eusapia Palladino as a fraud.

Also, similar to early investigations by SPR, where investigators were fooled into believing that the world-famous medium Leonora Piper actually communicated messages from dead people,  Rhine was fooled into believing in an allegedly telepathic horse:

Rhine has been described as credulous as he believed the horse "Lady Wonder" was telepathic but it was discovered the owner was using subtle signals to control the horse's behavior.[9]

The parapsychologist researcher J. B. Rhine investigated Lady's alleged abilities and concluded that there was evidence for extrasensory perception between human and horse. The magicians and skeptical investigators Milbourne Christopher and John Scarne showed that Lady's prediction abilities resulted from Mrs. Fonda [Lady Wonder's owner] employing mentalism tricks and signaling the answers to Lady.[13]

This is evidence of bias and credulity in an investigation by J.B. Rhine, and thus gives critical thinkers a good reason for healthy skepticism about the investigations conducted by Rhine. 

CONCLUSION

I have pointed out six Red Flags about the origin and development of parapsychology:

  • The Nature of Spiritualism
  • The Origin of Spiritualism
  • The Origin of SPR in 1882
  • Early Investigations by SPR
  • The Origin of the Parapsychology Lab (1930-1935)
  • Early Investigations by J.B. Rhine 

These six Red Flags do not disprove any of the main claims of parapsychology.  They do not show that there is no such thing as ESP, PK, or SOC. However, they do give critical thinkers good reasons for heathy skepticism about such claims. Critical thinkers should be cautious about such claims, carefully examine the evidence and arguments for such claims, and should only accept such claims if presented with clear and strong evidence supporting those claims.

END NOTES

1. From the Wikipedia article "William F. Barrett":

2. From the Wikipedia article "Edmund Rogers":

3. From the "Our History" article on the SPR website:

4. From the Wikipedia article "Fox sisters":  

5. Richard Hodgson and James Hyslop were SPR investigators who concluded that Leonora Piper was communicating messages from the ghosts of dead people:
(viewed 3/13/26)

6. From the Wikipedia article "Leonora Piper": https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Leonora_Piper  (viewed 3/12/26)

7. From the Wikipedia article "James H. Hyslop": https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_H._Hyslop  (viewed 3/13/26)

8. From the Wikipedia article "Richard Hodgson":

9. From the Wikipedia article "Joseph Banks Rhine":

10. From the Wikipedia article "Arthur Conan Doyle":

11. From the Wikipedia article "Oliver Lodge":

12. From the Wikipedia article "Gladys Osborne Leonard":

13. See the Wikipedia article "Lady Wonder":  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_Wonder (viewed 3/17/26)


Wednesday, February 11, 2026

The Historical Unreliability of the Passion Story in the Gospel of Mark - INDEX

 

The Historical Unreliability of the Gospel of Matthew - INDEX

REASONS FOR THE HISTORICAL UNRELIABILITY OF THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

The stories about alleged events in the life of Jesus found in the Gospel of Matthew involve changes and additions to the stories about the life of Jesus from the Gospel of Mark and those changes and additions by the author of the Gospel of Matthew are dubious and historically unreliable

There are at least five reasons that support this conclusion:

REASON #1: There are several general considerations about the Gospel of Matthew that suggest that its additions and changes to stories from the Gospel of Mark are historically unreliable. I will present such general considerations later in this post. 


REASON #2: The Gospel of Mark has no stories about the birth, infancy, or childhood of Jesus, but the Gospel of Matthew adds stories of five such events, and there are good reasons to doubt the historical reliability of those stories in the Gospel of Matthew. 

REASON #3: The Gospel of Mark has no stories about alleged appearances of the risen Jesus to his followers, but the Gospel of Matthew adds stories about two events involving alleged appearances of the risen Jesus and about another event related to the alleged empty tomb, and there are good reasons to doubt the historical reliability of these additional stories in the Gospel of Matthew.

 REASON #4: In Chapters 3 through 25, the Gospel of Matthew adds sixteen events that are not found in the Gospel of Mark, and there are good reasons to doubt the historical reliability of those accounts of additional events.

REASON #5: The various additions and changes that the author of the Gospel of Matthew makes to the Passion Narrative (about the arrest, trials, crucifixion, and burial of Jesus) in the Gospel of Mark are consistently dubious and are thus historically unreliable.

The above five reasons are sufficient to show it is very probable that changes and additions made by the author of the Gospel of Matthew to stories about Jesus from the Gospel of Mark are historically unreliableand thus in terms of stories about Jesus, the Gospel of Matthew has very little historical information about Jesus to offer us beyond what we find in the Gospel of Mark.

The Historical Unreliability of the Gospel of Luke - INDEX

Here are links to my posts about the historical unreliability of the stories about alleged events in the life of Jesus found in the Gospel of Luke that involve changes or additions to the stories about alleged events in the life of Jesus found in the Gospel of Mark:

The Unreliability of the Gospel of Luke - Part 1: General Considerations

The Unreliability of the Gospel of Luke - Part 2: Birth, Infancy, & Childhood Stories

The Unreliability of the Gospel of Luke - Part 3: Unhistorical Genealogy

The Unreliability of the Gospel of Luke - Part 4: Chapter 1

NOTE:

I plan to write several more posts about the historical unreliability of the Gospel of Luke, and will add links to this page as those posts are written and published.


Tuesday, February 10, 2026

The Unreliability of the Gospel of Luke - Part 4: Chapter 1

EIGHT STORIES IN LUKE'S BIRTH NARRATIVE

In the first two chapters of the Gospel of Luke, we find eight different events related to the birth, infancy, and childhood of Jesus that are not found in the Gospel of Mark:[1]

  • Miraculous Conception of John (Luke 1:7-25)
  • Miraculous Conception of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38)
  • Mary Visits Elizabeth (Luke 1:39-56)
  • Birth and Naming of John (Luke 1:57-80]
  • Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-7)
  • Visit of the Shepherds (Luke 2:8-20)
  • Dedication of Jesus (Luke 2:21-40)
  • The Young Jesus in Jerusalem (Luke 2:41-52)
In this post, I will critically examine the four stories in Chapter 1
of the Gospel of Luke.

MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF JOHN 

The first story related to the birth and childhood of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke concerns the conception of John the Baptist:

5 In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was descended from the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. 6 Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. 7 But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.

8 Once when he was serving as priest before God during his section’s turn of duty, 9 he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord to offer incense. 10 Now at the time of the incense offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. 11 Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified, and fear overwhelmed him. 13 But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. 14 You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, 15 for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. 16 He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. 17 With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” 18 Zechariah said to the angel, “How can I know that this will happen? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.” 19 The angel replied, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20 But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.”

21 Meanwhile the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering at his delay in the sanctuary. 22 When he did come out, he was unable to speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. 23 When his time of service was ended, he returned to his home.

24 After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, 25 “This is what the Lord has done for me in this time, when he looked favorably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.”
(Luke 1:5-25)

MIRACULOUS CONCEPTION OF JESUS

(Luke 1:26-38)

MARY VISITS ELIZABETH 

(Luke 1:39-56)

BIRTH AND NAMING OF JOHN 

(Luke 1:57-80]


END NOTES

1. Raymond Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (New York, NY: Doubleday,1997)from footnote #23 on page 236.

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