My top 25 blog posts of 2013

When I write a blog post I usually have no idea just how much (or how little) interest it will attract.

I am often surprised and especially by my top post of 2013 which has attracted almost 160,000 views and is still going strong.

During the year I posted 210 articles in total (including this one). 

Two of the top five (1, 5) are testimonies while the other three (2, 3, 4) deal with apologetics issues and were deliberately written to attract atheists.

Whilst I write more on abortion and euthanasia than anything else these topics generally attract fewer views unless they deal with extreme cases (6, 8, 11, 19, 20).

Blogs with the names of well-known people in the title (5, 7, 8, 10, 13, 15, 18) tend to draw a crowd but in fact eleven of my top 25, but only one of the top ten, deal with homosexuality in one way or another (10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 21, 22, 23, 25).

Here are the top 25 ranked by the number of page views.

1. Do you know what happened to the girl in this iconic Pulitzer prize-winning photo from the Vietnam War? (159,088 views)

Testimony which went viral on Facebook in the US and South East Asia

2. Ten things we can learn from the slaughter of the Amorites in the Old Testament (12,572)

Retweeted by Richard Dawkins bringing thousands of his loyal followers

3. Twelve good arguments atheists advance against Christianity (12,492)

Attracted thousands of atheists looking for arguments to defend their position

4. Why Christians may eat shellfish but may not have sex outside marriage (8,341)

A favourite question from the new atheists

5. Springbok rugby hero Joost van der Westhuizen, dying from motor neurone disease, speaks of his Christian faith (7,477)

Christian testimonies of famous people always create interest

6. Defending the ‘indefensible’? Twenty reasons to think twice about aborting a baby with anencephaly (4,905)

Led to a BBC interview and attracted many wonderful testimonies from mothers of affected children

7. Margaret Thatcher recognises the wisdom and goodness of Jesus Christ (4,828)

A little-known moving letter from the former PM to a small child

8. Stephen Hawking is a great scientist but his advice on decriminalising assisted suicide should be given short shrift (4,624)

Celebrities are used to endorse legalisation

9. Why many British evangelicals are not that bothered with ethics (4,554)

An excerpt from my Christian Institute autumn lecture

10. Steve Chalke affirms same sex partnerships (4,362)

Steve Chalke’s disclosure of his views in Christianity magazine

11. Doctor who killed seven new-born babies by cutting their spinal cords with scissors may face death penalty (4,078)

The grisly tale of Gosnell

12. Man in active homosexual relationship who wants to become priest takes bishop to human rights tribunal for ‘discrimination’ (3,879)

The archbishop of New Zealand attacked by one of his own flock

13. The Archbishop’s speech on gay marriage – needless concessions and a lost opportunity (3,768)

Justin Welby fails to deliver in the House of Lords over same sex marriage

14. Twenty good arguments for Christianity (3,650)

Some basic defences put succinctly

15. Would giving royal assent to the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill place the queen in breach of her coronation oath? (3,446)

But she signed it anyway!

16. ‘Accepting Evangelicals’ – the new ‘evangelicals’ who back same sex marriage (3,362)

Disclosed Steve Chalke’s support for same sex marriage

17. Rosaria Butterfield – fascinating new autobiography of a lesbian English professor who finds Christian faith (3,236)

The testimony which provoked outrage amongst the politically correct

18. What causes homosexuality Peter Tatchell? Well it depends on which view is most politically convenient at the time (3,219)

The gay rights leaders see-sawing views exposed

19. Eight facts most people don’t know about the physical and psychological consequences of abortion for women (3,213)

Little known facts that shock

20. US House of Representatives vote for 20 week abortion limit raises the issue again for the UK (2,973)

A big issue on both sides of the Atlantic

21. Gay partnerships – how far should we go in tolerating ‘evangelicals’ who endorse them? (2,969)

Controversial within the church

22. Huge opposition mounts against gay marriage (2,675)

But it wasn’t enough!

23. Anal cancer rise in gay men prompts calls for vaccinations (2,479)

The disease that dare not speak its name

24. Parents should be informed about the impact of Down’s Syndrome on families (2,419)

Amazing little known facts that surprise

25. Professor Michael King applies double standard to evidence on homosexual change therapies (2,288)

The man behind the RCPsych’s opposition to change therapies