Added A Lawyer Evaluates Philosophical Arguments for Miracles (2024) by Robert G. Miller to the Argument from Miracles page under Arguments for the Existence of a God, and the Resurrection page under Christianity in the Modern Documents section of the Secular Web Library.
Evidentialists typically argue that there is something unfair about “presuppositions” against miracles and that we should investigate the alleged evidence for their occurrence. But in this paper Robert G. Miller points out that legal rules do not exclude evidence only after a complete investigation proves that such evidence could never be factual. Rather, evidentiary rules exclude entire categories of evidence that the law considers to be too unreliable to support a verdict. Furthermore, religious historians’ two requirements for historical evidence of a miracle—the absence of a plausible natural explanation for an event and the occurrence of that event in a historical “context charged with religious significance”—amount to an argument from ignorance combined with an appeal to a historical context that is irrelevant to how truth-conducive a claim may be. Little wonder that supposed evidence of miracles has not been admissible in court since the Salem witch trials.
New in the Kiosk: Hope without Heaven: An Overview Response to Misconceptions of Atheism (2024) by Thomas Bear
Inspired to respond to some half-a-dozen common misconceptions about atheism, Thomas Bear outlines his own views—and those of the atheists that he knows personally—about the true nature of atheism. In doing so Bear clarifies who holds the burden of proof concerning claims about God, the place of hope, meaning, and purpose in a world without God, the significance of life’s transience to that place for hope, meaning, and purpose, how we all create our own meaning anyway, the role of religion in the public sphere, and the rights and freedoms of nonbelievers as well as everyone else. While each of these topics could inspire an entire essay in its own right, it’s useful for novices to have them already addressed in one article to which they can refer whenever these well-worn religious objections rear their ugly heads.
Recommended reading: Atheism and Agnosticism (Elements in the Philosophy of Religion) (2018) by Graham Oppy
In Atheism and Agnosticism long-time atheist philosopher of religion Graham Oppy provides an elementary introduction to atheism and agnosticism. It begins with a careful characterization of atheism and agnosticism, distinguishing them from many other things with which they are often conflated. After a brief discussion of the theoretical framework within which atheism and agnosticism are properly evaluated, it then turns to the sketching of cases for atheism and agnosticism. In both cases, the aim is not conviction, but rather advancement of understanding: the point of the cases is to make it intelligible why some take themselves to have compelling reason to adopt atheism or agnosticism.