Springer Nature is threatening to retract a very popular related article on the registrational trials. Please check it out and rate it by clicking the orange button in the upper left corner. https://www.cureus.com/articles/203052-covid-19-mrna-vaccines-lessons-learned-from-the-registrational-trials-and-global-vaccination-campaign#!/metrics
Especially for the Old Testament, there are variations of this view promoted by guys like Clif High, Mauro Biglino, and Zechariah Sitchin. The deity you mention could also in fact be aliens / Annunaki / Elohim. If you are avoiding Christianity, this seems like a plausible stance to take, and there are possible hybrid views as well.
For a Christian perspective, see work by Michael Heiser, https://drmsh.com/
To me the central question is the person of Jesus Christ. Were His self-claims about being the Son of God true? There is incredibly strong evidence for His resurrection, e.g. see Gary Habermas https://www.garyhabermas.com/ The entire Christian religion rides on this, and once you settle this, topics like the canon of Scripture fall into place easier. e.g. The four Gospels are eyewitness accounts. Some try and claim these and other New Testament books were written hundreds of years later, but there is strong evidence to the contrary.
No, Rancourt and colleagues consistently both debunk the millions saved and estimate 17 million killed. Their 17 mill is a legit estimate based on analysis of countries in the Southern hemisphere. Of course there have been efforts to discredit their work, but not successfully IMO.
Errr, Josh Walkos just goes ad hominem and points out obvious conflicts of interest. Relevant but...
Much stronger are formal critiques and absurdities of the models that claim millions of lives saved, e.g. https://correlation-canada.org/nobel-vaccine-and-all-cause-mortality/ from Hickey and Rancourt--who are the ones who estimate 17 million killed.
This is one of the sharpest contradictions I've ever seen in scientific publications.
Most of the list is reasonable, but he omits many strong pieces of evidence and often overstates or completely whiffs on an analysis, e.g. recent NZ data, see one rebuttal at https://openvaet.substack.com/p/yet-another-dive-in-the-new-zealand
Really appreciate your open, informative, and detailed reply.
I remain surprised at how many people are so reluctant to live with uncertainty that they flock to those who claim to have "the answers" and are very quick to criticize those who express doubt, recognize subtle flaws, and really think through and weigh possibilities.
Prayers and well wishes for success in your pursuit of ultimate truth.
Thanks for your measured replies and insightful questions. May I inquire as to your worldview and religious beliefs? Mine remain firmly Christian, but I'm open to all challenges, scholarly research, and cordial debate.
Agree the Priest Class wrote the Biblical books and that there has been some drift in certain texts over the centuries. A pivotal question is indeed the trustworthiness of our current canon, both OT and NT. What are your favorite references on this topic?
Prompted by recent commentary by Clif High on the Elohim that I suspect most Christians would find heretical, I've been doing some research into the work of Zecharia Sitchin, Mauro Biglino, and now Francesca Stavrakopoulou. I find counters by Michael Heiser helpful in defense of more classic Christian beliefs: https://www.sitchiniswrong.com/ and https://drmsh.com/ , but Clif could very well be right that we see aliens openly in our midst within the next few years creating shockwaves throughout Christendom, Judaism, and Islam.
To answer your questions: no, I have absolutely no problems with any of the cross-cultural pursuits you mention, and also agree that Stavrakopoulou's work is worth a look. My points, which I may not have communicated clearly enough, are that (a) atheists are in fact religious in the sense that they still view something to be divine (e.g. the cosmos) and (b) no empirical research is religiously neutral. It is thus valuable to learn of a scholar's worldview while studying and interpreting their work.
I'm going through the same process now with Clif High and his views on the Elohim.
Thanks for the reference and I've been listening to her online interview with three other Brits posted at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Stavrakopoulou Interesting to hear their cordial exchange. She flat out admits that even if she had eyewitnessed the resurrection she still would not believe Jesus was the Son of God.
In other words, her scholarship is not inclined to be distorted by identifying personally with the subject matter.
Our worldview and fundamental religious beliefs underlie and influence everything we do and say. My take is Stavrakopoulou's conclusions are exactly the kind of thing we would expect from an atheist Hebrew Bible scholar, but this does not make them neutral, unbiased, or necessarily the best research. See The Myth of Religious Neutrality by Roy Clouser.
Nice work!
1066 Battle of Hastings
Would be good to cross-ref with recent work by Matthew Ehret and Cynthia Chung.
Potential interactive graphical depiction: https://www.chronoflotimeline.com/timeline/shared/4392/Ancient-History-Timeline/
I'm on your side. To me the divide-and-conquer footholds are being created by folks who promote questionable analyses of potentially very valuable data. People unfamiliar with causal inference jump on them whole hog, especially when they are grandstanded. I'm trying to steer analyses in better directions before our real opponents leverage them.
Let's continue to bring high-quality, validated data to light and provide rock solid evidence of harms caused by the vax.. The plural of anecdotes is data--let's assemble them and analyze them in statistically and causally rigorous ways. If you have tables of data you mention available for NZ, please provide links.
Coincidentally I was just going through some content by Heiser https://www.ancientaliensdebunked.com/ https://drmsh.com/exposing-the-work-of-zecharia-sitchin-part-1-elohim-in-the-hebrew-bible/ by way of critiquing the Alien/Elohim/Annunaki interpretation of the Old Testament espoused by Zecharia Sitchin, Mauro Biglino, and Clif High.
I've analyzed the NZ data and while I applaud Kirsch for calling out the CDC, this specific data is far from the slam dunk he claims it is. It is 4.4M pay-for-vax database records containing only vax date, dose number, age, and death date (1.7% total die). Deaths rise smoothly into 2022 after NZ experienced negative all-cause mortality in 2020 due to an influx of healthy immigrants. https://openvaet.substack.com/p/the-new-zealand-whistle-blower-story
It's a very good and critical question to ask. From the Slay News writeup: "These are the results after controlling for observable confounders. In the raw data, regular mask-wearers had a 74-75% higher risk of testing positive for Covid."
Causal inference methods are essential when analyzing observational data.
Thanks for the interesting links. Could you please provide further perspective on the long history of pedophilic priests and how to effectively discern good Catholics from bad ones? And what about the vast wealth controlled by the Vatican milked for centuries from continents like South America--is this for good or evil? What about Pope Francis, white or black hat?
Side buffet: https://c19science.info/FDA_Drug_Approvals2.htm
Badass ride