J. P. Holding

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James Patrick Holding, more commonly referred to as J. P. Holding[1] is an ex-prison librarian, cartoonist, and Christian apologist known best for founding and managing Tekton Education and Apologetic Ministries.

Contents

[edit] About J. P.

J. P. Holding is a Christian minister who lives in Florida with his wife and a rescued poodle.[2] He earned a Master's degree in library science and describes himself as "trained to look things up and answer questions."[3]

Even though he is a Christian, he claims he does not set out to convert people.[4] Instead, he claims, he is presenting facts and clearing up misunderstandings, such as biblical contradictions and scientific errors. He claims to be explaining the history of Judaism and Christianity in a cultural context, however it is unclear when reading his articles what this context is, since it is not mainstream academic nor mainstream revisionist Christian. He claims he doesn't have to resort to pseudohistory or logical fallacies, but again, this is not borne out in the articles from his website. His answers are his own, and they may or may not be useful for someone who is questioning his or her Christianity, but they do not resolve any of the known conflicts in the Bible any better than other apologetic writers have done.[5]

[edit] Tekton Ministry Website

The Tekton website has over 1,500 articles, most written by Holding. Tekton also publishes "guest articles" written by others, which he says do not necessarily reflect his opinions. Holding's articles reference everything from a criticism of Bart Eherman's Forged to descriptions of hell, and how to get there. Most of his writings seem to argue biblical interpretations from "context", however Holding has been critical of the need to read the Bible in its original Hebrew, Greek, or Aramaic[citation needed], so it is unclear from which "context" he presumes to approach his apologetics.

[edit] Books

  • The Mormon Defenders- This book argues that Mormons are distorting the message of Jesus in their religion
  • Shattering the Christ Myth- A book in which he argues against the Jesus myth theory.
  • The Impossible Faith - In which Holding argues that Christianity was such a bad belief that the only way it could have survived is by divine intervention. Richard Carrier responds in Not the Impossible Faith.
  • Trusting the New Testament

[edit] Views

  • The Spanish Inquisition(s) weren't really all that bad (and weren't really Spanish, they were the brain child of the surrender monkeys), and it's not just me saying that, it's these two books which I misread and misapplied. But since I'm citing two books, my ideas must be true.[6]
  • Ed-u-ma-cation, and expertise in Hebrew and Greek is stupid. I have software and not one day of study so nertz to your years of training in the language.[7]

[edit] Youtube

In 2010 J. P. Holding created a YouTube account where he has made several videos based on his beliefs and education. He covers topics such as Hell not being a fiery place of torture, how we know who wrote the New Testament, and Elisha and the Two bears.

He doesn't allow comments or videos containing swearing (except 'dumbass') or blasphemy.

His cartoons are much better than Chick Tracts.

[edit] Interactions with other YouTubers

JP Holding is known for making replies to famous atheists, such as ProfMTH and NonStampCollector. He calls them "Fundy Atheists" because he thinks they argue like Christian fundamentalists.

In his videos, ProfMTH, dubbed Mitch, is portrayed as a short bald man with heterochromatic eyes. He is shown to lack scholarship and is often thrown around and beat up. Holding has made a response to several of the "Bible Blunder" videos, as well as "Christians, Why do you Celebrate Easter".

NonStampCollector, nicknamed NoSCo, is often portrayed as a yellow stickman. NoSco is given a worse treatment than Mitch, and has been killed, decapitated, and seen making fart noises sometimes in videos not about him. Holding criticizes NonStampCollector for always portraying theists as uneducated in their religion, or completely irrational about it. Holding has made responses to "Context!!!" "Quiz Show! (Bible Contradictions)", and "Jesus and the Modern Day Intrepreter".

Holding's video "NonStampCollector and ProfMTH feel the agape" is a response to their videos "God is Love?" and "1 Corinthians 13:8". They are seen as drinking buddies, and Mitch is a coward while NoSCo gives people raspberries. They are beaten up by a Bible Scholar and the personification of love.

Both NoSCo and Mitch are nasally voiced by Nick Peters.

Critics of Holding often call his treatment of skeptics immature, but he responds saying that's how Looney Toons and political cartoons characterize authority figures.[9]

[edit] See also

RationalWiki:Vlogroll

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. He makes the somewhat odd claim that he was actually born J.P. Holding, that his name was changed (presumably to Robert Turkel) when he was an infant, and that he kept using the new name into his adult life because [http://www.tektonics.org/JP-Holding.html "I figured it made a good nome de plume so I used it — partly as a matter of safety for my family back when I worked for my state's correctional system." He claims to have changed his name back to J.P. Holding in 2007.
  2. http://www.tektonics.org/JP-Holding.html
  3. http://www.tektonics.org/JP-Holding.html
  4. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_hA8JvF8uw
  5. [http://www.tektonics.org/af/crimeline.htm In an attempt to refute an anti-religious site about Christianity, Holding or his writers make the standard claims that much of the 'confusion' is because of the non-Christian's lack of understanding of the scripture, or the misunderstanding of "the times," though in reality, few historians would take Holding's view of the history.
  6. http://tektonics.org/qt/spaninq.html
  7. http://the-anointed-one.com/blunder.html
  8. http://www.tektonics.org/af/baptismneed.html
  9. http://tektonforge.blogspot.com/2011/05/tube-boobs-6.html
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