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Status Reports

Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - March)

(Text as at 07/04/2025 00:15:50)

Rationale for this Project

• See my Christian page¹ and onward links from there for an explanation of how I got in to and out of evangelical Christianity. This is still a live issue for me, and the reason I originally undertook formal philosophical training.
• The connection to my current philosophical researches arises from the standard religious hope that resurrection – or some other form of post-mortem survival – is possible. This is a cornerstone of religious claims and expectations, at least in the Abrahamic religions, from those of suicide bombers to those of more pacific persons. I wish to go back to the considerations that originally motivated Locke and research the metaphysical possibility of resurrection, or other post-mortem survival, for beings such as us. My current opinion is that resurrection for human beings is metaphysically impossible₂, given that substance dualism is false.
• In late September 2010 I took the Philosophy of Religion³ Module of a 2-year part time MA in Philosophy and Religion at Heythrop College London (Defunct), University of London. Follow the links for my Personal Statement⁴, Interview Write-up⁵, and Course Outline⁶. I decided not to proceed with the MA but do intend to follow up on₇ the many issues raised.
• During 2016 I assisted with the Appendices of my friend’s PhD Thesis on the Narrative Structure of the Acts of the Apostles, building a website. See "Mansell (Peter) - Bottom Up Reading of Acts".
• In August 2017 I was asked by Michael J. Alter to review pre-publication his book on the theology of the Resurrection. Unfortunately, it turned out to be too much work, and I only commented on the first section.
• In mid-23Q3 I decided to focus as much as I could on my Thesis, so – temporarily at least – axed all ‘distractions’, including this project. However, I’ve decided it’s too important to ignore. Read on!

Summary of Progress during January - March 2025

1. I spent 102 hours in 25Q1 on this Project, or related work (188.25 hours YTD, where for "YTD" - Year to Date - I mean the (academic) year that commenced in October 2024). That's 156.5% of the planned effort (180.5% YTD). Overall, 12.8% of my Project effort in the Quarter was directed towards this project (making 12.2% YTD) - as against 8.1% planned (6.5% YTD).
2. I allocated 5 hours per week in 25Q1 and over-achieved this by almost 60%. This was partly down to an ‘accounting change’ – attributing reading "Mantel (Hilary) - The Mirror and the Light" to this project on account of it’s relevance to the (partly pseudo-) history of the Reformation. I also attributed listening to various BBC historical podcasts to the project.
3. The mid-week Bible Study at St. John’s only met once – to discuss Prophesy – but Linda who leads the group took sick, so the group is in abeyance. It did lead me to read Zechariah through in Hebrew earlier than I’d intended.
4. I had intended to reply to Jack about the talk on Samson (Kenneth Stewart: Samson and the Philistines: the Battle (Judges 15:14-15)) he recommended I listen to, and read some material, but haven’t got back to him yet, though I’ve drafted a reply and discussed it with Pete. While it’s a good example of its type, I don’t like this style of ‘eisegesis’, spiritualisation and failure to connect to real life. How can you – in December 2024 – preach on Samson bopping the Philistines without discussing Gaza?
5. Cambridge Papers issued an inflammatory diatribe ("Chapman (Colin) - The Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict") by Colin Chapman with whom I’d corresponded 40 years ago concerning "Chapman (Colin) - Whose Promised Land?". The book was been re-released – updated in the light of the present conflicts – at the end of the year: "Chapman (Colin) - Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine". I have started to read it and have the vague intention of re-engaging with the author and discussing it at the OBT weekend at the end of May.
6. Otherewise, I read, or started reading various books and booklets that I might review for the OBT weekend. Topics: Hell, and the NT use of the OT.
7. There were also sundry other social interactions, as listed.
8. Otherwise, I continued my ‘original language’ Bible-reading – I have been reading through the LXX in Greek and the OT in Hebrew and a second reading through the Greek NT (both of the latter using Bibleworks). Naturally, I’m proceeding at a more leisurely pace₈ than before my break, but it’s progressing steadily. I’m currently reading 1 Maccabees in the LXX.
9. I’ve been refreshing and enhancing my knowledge of Hebrew grammar, using "Lambdin (Thomas) - Introduction to Biblical Hebrew", but the time is booked to my Languages project. Not much this Quarter, though.
10. Further details follow:-
    Religion (Total Hours = 44)
    • Below is a table showing the progress on my project to read the OT, LXX & NT in the original Hebrew and Greek.
      1. I'm on my second pass through the NT. I've also read through the Koran, but mostly in English. One day in Arabic, maybe.
      2. I intermitted this project between August 2023 and April 2024 (inclusive; ie. 9 months); as well as deferring completion by 9 months, this has thrown out my completion-date algorithms somewhat. For now, I've amended the Completion Aims to reflect the intermission.
      3. I've calculated and used the daily rate of progress achieved prior to intermission to calculate the estimated completion date.
      4. I don't now have as much time to spare, so - as expected - this rate has fallen since the restart.
      5. I've therefore also calculated and used the daily rate of progress achieved since intermission to calculate the revised completion date.
      6. We'll see how it goes!
      
      

      Testament	Total Verses	Start Date	Intermission	Restart Date	Restart at	Elapsed	Read	V / D	Since Restart	Last Verse Read	Aim	Estimate	Ahead / Behind	Revised
      OT	23,143	13/05/2021	30/07/2023	05/05/2024	1 Samuel 9:25	808	7,469	9.2	4.2	2 Samuel 22:27	31/12/2028	25/06/2029	176 Days Behind	25/06/2034
      LXX	28,986	13/05/2021	30/07/2023	05/05/2024	2 Esdras 5:3	808	12,596	15.6	6.1	1 Maccabees 11:19	31/03/2027	13/10/2027	196 Days Behind	26/09/2031
      Koran	6,236	08/11/2022				159	6,236	39.2		114:6	30/06/2023	16/04/2023	(Complete) 75 Days Ahead
      NT	7,954	26/04/2021				498	7,954	16		Revelation 22:21	30/09/2022	06/09/2022	(Complete) 24 Days Ahead
      NT2	7,956	26/12/2022	30/07/2023	05/05/2024	John 8:22	216	3,258	15.1	6.4	1 Corinthians 2:7	31/03/2025	21/09/2025	174 Days Behind	05/05/2026

      
      
    • "Allen (David) - The New Testament’s Use of the Jewish Scriptures" (Read / Write, 5 hours)
    • Bibleworks Greek NT: Acts (Read, 3.5 hours)
    • Bibleworks Greek NT: Romans (Read, 5.25 hours)
    • Bibleworks Hebrew OT: 2 Samuel (Read, 6 hours)
    • Bibleworks Hebrew OT: Zechariah (Read, 5.75 hours)
      → See "Bibleworks - Bibleworks: OT & NT" (20.5 hours)
    • "Chapman (Colin) - Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine" (Read / Write, 2.25 hours)
    • "Diski (Jenny), LRB - Heaps upon Heaps" (Read / Write, 1.75 hours)
    • "Dolganov (Anna), Cotton (Hannah M.), Etc. - Forgery and Fiscal Fraud in Iudaea and Arabia on the Eve of the Bar Kokhba Revolt" (Read, 2 hours)
    • "Duffy (Eamon) - The Stripping of the Altars: Traditional Religion in England 1400 - 1580" (Write, 1.25 hours)
    • "Grossman (David), Schoffman (Stuart) - Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson" (Write, 0.75 hours)
    • "Lanier (Gregory R.) & Ros (William A.) - Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition - Volume 1" (Read, 7.5 hours)
    • "LRB, Brigden (Susan) - Homage to the Old Religion: Review of 'The Stripping of the Altars' by Eamon Duffy" (Read, 0.25 hours)
    • "Marston (Paul) - Hellfire and Destruction: What Does the Bible Really Say about Hell?" (Read, 1.5 hours)
    • Stewart (Kenneth) - Sermons - Samson - Discussion with Pete (Write, 1 hour)
      → See "Stewart (Kenneth) - Sermons" (1 hour)
    • "Various - Patheos" (Read, 0.25 hours)
    Religion Background (Total Hours = 58)
    1. Religion Background - Reading / Writing (Total Hours = 38)
       • BBC: Ancient Apocalypse - Sodom and Gomorrah (Read, 0.75 hours)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley - British History's Biggest Fibs - Series 1:2 - The Glorious Revolution (Read, 1 hour)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley - Royal History's Biggest Fibs - Series 1:1 - The Reformation (Read, 1 hour)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley - Royal History's Biggest Fibs - Series 1:2 - The Spanish Armada (Read, 1 hour)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley - Royal History's Biggest Fibs - Series 1:3 - Queen Ann and the Union (Read, 1 hour)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley - Six Wives (Read, 3.25 hours)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley Investigates - Bloody Mary (Read, 1.25 hours)
       • BBC: Lucy Worsley Investigates - The Gunpowder Plot (Read, 1 hour)
       • BBC: R4 - Human Intelligence - Disruptors - Martin Luther (Read, 0.25 hours)
       • BBC: R4 - Human Intelligence - Educators - Maimonides (Read, 0.25 hours)
       • BBC: The Boleyns: A Scandalous Family (Read, 3.25 hours)
         → See "BBC - Miscellaneous iPlayer and Podcasts" (14 hours)
       • "LRB, Brigden (Susan) - Homage to the Old Religion: Review of 'The Stripping of the Altars' by Eamon Duffy" (Write, 1 hour)
       • "Mantel (Hilary) - The Mirror and the Light" (Read, 20 hours)
       • "Telegraph - Hilary Mantel ‘falsified’ history in Wolf Hall, historian claims" (Write, 2.75 hours)
       • "Thomas (Keith) - Religion and the Decline of Magic" (Write, 0.25 hours)
    2. Religion Background - Admin
       • 24Q4 Status Reports: Religion (1.75 hours)
         → See "Admin - Religion - Admin" (1.75 hours)
    3. Religion Background - Discussions (Total Hours = 18.25)
       • Discussions with Nev (0.25 hours)
       • Interaction - Discussions - Andy B (1 hour)
       • Interaction - Discussions - Guardian & Prospect Articles on the C of E (0.5 hours)
       • Interaction - Discussions - Offshoots Meal (2 hours)
       • Interaction - Discussions - St John's Home Group (3 hours)
         → See "Interaction - Religion - Discussions" (6.75 hours)
       • Interaction - Discussions with Mike, Sylvia & Julie (6 hours)
         → See "Interaction - Discussion with Mike" (6 hours)
       • Interaction - Discussions with Pete, etc, re Holiday (3.5 hours)
       • Interaction - Review of Pete's Acts Paper on 'Certain Men from James' (2 hours)
         → See "Interaction - Discussions with Pete" (5.5 hours)
11. Progress (if any) in the current quarter can be obtained from the relevant section of my Summary Task List⁹, and YTD in the current & future “automatic” editions of this report.

Plans for the Near Future

• I’ve increased the time allocated to this project in 25Q2 to 7 hours / week to accommodate the time necessary to prepare for – and attend – the OBT weekend. .
• The items in the list below are those I’d like to address if time allows, which – apart from the first list – it most likely won’t!
  
  1. OBT Weekend: Read and Review ...
     1. "Allen (David) - The New Testament’s Use of the Jewish Scriptures",
     2. "Chapman (Colin) - The Israel-Hamas war and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict",
     3. "Chapman (Colin) - Whose Promised Land? The Continuing Conflict over Israel and Palestine",
     4. "Marston (Paul) - Death and ‘Hell’: What the New Testament Does and Does Not Teach",
     5. "Marston (Paul) - Hellfire and Destruction: What Does the Bible Really Say about Hell?",
     6. "Marston (Paul) - After Death: The Intermediate State", and
     7. "Marston (Paul) - Can Dead Believers Interact with the Living?"
  2. Philosophy of Religion:
     1. "Antony (Louise M.) - Philosophers without Gods: Meditations on Atheism and the Secular Life": Continue reading,
     2. "Davis (Stephen T.) - The Mad/Bad/God Trilemma: A Reply to Daniel Howard-Snyder": Annotate,
     3. "Ginn (Roy) - According to the Scriptures": Complete write-up
     4. "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - Does Faith Entail Belief": Read,
     5. "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - The Skeptical Christian": Read,
     6. "Howard-Snyder (Daniel) - Was Jesus Mad, Bad, Or God?…Or Merely Mistaken?": Annotate,
     7. "Hume (David) - Of Miracles": Annotate,
     8. "Insole (Christopher J.) - Realism and Anti-Realism": Read,
     9. "YouTube - Video - Atheists deny reality": Annotate,
     10. "YouTube - Video - 'It’s impossible for atheists to do this!' …but It’s Not": Annotate.
  3. Science & the Bible:
     1. "Instone-Brewer (David) - Science and the Bible: Modern Insights for an Ancient Text",
     2. "Loke (Andrew Ter Ern) - The Origin of Humanity and Evolution: Science and Scripture in Conversation", and
     3. "Plantinga (Alvin) & Dennett (Daniel) - Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?"
  4. Middle East:
     1. "Grossman (David), Schoffman (Stuart) - Lion's Honey: The Myth of Samson"
  5. Bible:
     1. "Bibleworks - Bibleworks: OT & NT", and
     2. "Lanier (Gregory R.) & Ros (William A.) - Septuaginta: A Reader's Edition - Volume 1".
  6. Qur'an / Islam:
     1. "Asad ( Muhammad), Qur'an - The Message of the Quran: The Full Account of the Revealed Arabic Text Accompanied by Parallel Transliteration",
     2. "Burton (John), Qur'an - The Collection of the Qur'an".
     3. "Jones (Alan), Qur'an - Arabic Through the Qur'an", Note₁₀
     4. "Omar (Abdul Mannan), Qur'an - The Dictionary of the Holy Quran: Arabic Words - English Meanings",
     5. "Qur'an - Easy Quran: Arabic Text With Word For Word English Translation",
     6. "Wansbrough (John), Rippin (Andrew), Qur'an - Quranic Studies: Sources and Methods of Scriptural Interpretation".
  7. Background:
     1. Aeon: Read & annotate papers as they arise
     2. "Dolganov (Anna), Cotton (Hannah M.), Etc. - Forgery and Fiscal Fraud in Iudaea and Arabia on the Eve of the Bar Kokhba Revolt": Read
     3. "Finkelstein (Israel) & Silberman (Neil Asher) - The Bible Unearthed": Continue reading
     4. "Instone-Brewer (David) - Techniques and Assumptions in Jewish Exegesis before 70 CE": Read
     5. "Taylor (Joan E.) - Jesus and Brian: Exploring the Historical Jesus and His Times Via Monty Python's Life of Brian": Review KCL Conference videos
     6. Incorporate downloaded David Instone-Brewer papers into my database.
  8. Fellowship / Interaction:
     1. Reply to Jack re Kenneth Stewart: Samson and the Philistines: the Battle (Judges 15:14-15).
     2. Attend fortnightly mid-week Bible Study at St. John's.

Summary of Progress to Date

I’ve hived off the history to a separate document¹¹, which still requires a major update. It hasn’t been touched since 2010.

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In-Page Footnotes:

Footnote 2:

• Or if not strictly impossible – rather unlikely, as the candidates for enabling some sort of physical continuity – from luz bones to “corpse swapping” – have multiple problems.
• However, there are some interesting ideas by Dean Zimmerman, most recently in "Zimmerman (Dean) - Bodily Resurrection: The Falling Elevator Model Revisited", that argue the contrary.
• Also, transhumanists – who are almost following a religion – are often hopeful of post-mortem survival. I have no metaphysical worries about “cryonic suspension”, and subsequent resuscitation, but think that uploading is incoherent.

Footnote 7:

• This pious hope has been sitting unactioned for 14 years now!
• The proximate cause of my failure was missing a deadline for my essay on the Ontological Argument, but a more serious reason was that it was all a waste of time (for me, given my research interests). Peter Vardy had warned me about anno domini, with the claim that original work after the age of 65 is unlikely. I hope this is false, as I’ve ignored the warning, and have now reached the following milestone of 70!

Footnote 8:

• I’ve updated the Functor that performs the ‘completion date’ calculations to show two completion dates based on reading rates before and since I intermitted.
• The table that shows plans and progress can be viewed above.

Footnote 10:

• Time to be booked to my Languages Project.

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Table of the Previous 12 Versions of this Note: (of 94)

Date	Length	Title
01/02/2025 00:28:48	14256	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - December)
10/10/2024 00:47:31	12451	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - September)
11/07/2024 23:08:10	11103	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - June)
15/04/2024 00:34:34	6591	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2024 - March)
01/04/2024 20:08:10	6923	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - December)
04/10/2023 21:59:02	7265	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - September)
06/07/2023 00:43:12	10254	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - June)
30/04/2023 01:06:14	10345	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2023 - March)
10/01/2023 23:35:31	9685	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2022 - December)
10/10/2022 22:32:10	11242	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2022 - September)
03/07/2022 01:29:17	10319	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2022 - June)
11/04/2022 00:01:26	9969	Status: Philosophy of Religion (2022 - March)

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Note last updated	Reference for this Topic	Parent Topic
07/04/2025 00:15:50	519 (Status: Philosophy of Religion (2025 - March))	Status: Summary (2025 - March)

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Summary of Notes Referenced by This Note

Heythrop - MA Philosophy and Religion	Heythrop - Personal Statement	Heythrop - Philosophy of Religion	McDade_100729	Ontological Argument
Status: Languages (2025 - March)	Status: Philosophy of Religion (Summary of Progress to Date)	Status: Summary Task List (2025: April - May)	Theo Todman's Christian Page	Transhumanism
Uploading

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Summary of Notes Citing This Note

Aeon Papers - Summary Document: 2017-2018	Immortality	Life After Death	Religion	Resurrection
Status: Consciousness Studies (2023 - September)	Status: General Culture (2025 - March)	Status: Languages (2025 - March)	Status: Philosophy of Religion (Summary of Progress to Date)	Status: Priority Task List (2025 - May)
Status: Summary (2025 - March), 2	Status: Summary Task List (2025: April - May)	Status: Summary Task List (YTD: 24Q4 - 25Q2)	Theo Todman's Christian Page	Website - Progress to Date (2025 - May), 2, 3, 4
Website Generator Documentation - Functors, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

To access information, click on one of the links in the table above.

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Authors, Books & Papers Citing this Note

Author	Title	Medium	Extra Links	Read?
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Immortality	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Life After Death	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Religion	Paper		Yes
Todman (Theo)	Thesis - Resurrection	Paper		Yes

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Text Colour Conventions

1. Blue: Text by me; © Theo Todman, 2025

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