Added Hail Mary: Was Virgin Mary Truly the Mother of God’s Son? (2024) by John W. Loftus to the Christian Worldview page under Christianity in the Modern Documents section of the Secular Web Library.
In this essay John Loftus explores the most important questions regarding the belief that the ‘Virgin Mary’ truly was the mother of God’s son. In short, he argues that no virgin ever gave birth to a son of God, citing sources for those who want an even longer argument. The argument begins by exploring a noteworthy Christian sect that questions whether, in fact, Mary was indeed a virgin, and whether God had a body through which conception could be achieved. The questions and issues that he goes on to explore should challenge what Christians believe about God, Mary, the Gospels, and their entire faith.
New in the Kiosk: The Paradox of Self-Condemnation in a Christian or Muslim Universe (2024) by Reinhard von Richter
In their traditional exclusivist, no-second-chance forms, Christianity and Islam preach as a final destination a Hell of eternal misery for those who fail to achieve salvation. Those who prefer not to subject others to eternal misery thus have no choice but to adopt antinatalism and condemn having children as a morally wrong act since this is exposes children the risk of eternal damnation. Opposition to having children, however, conflicts with passages from the respective sacred texts of these same religions imploring believers to procreate. But if Hell exists and a person has the subjective preference to minimize the risk of people, even hypothetical ones, going to Hell, they should adopt antinatalism and also wish for others not to have children. Any believer taking action to effect this result would thereby condemn himself to Hell.
Recommended reading: Unreasonable Faith: How William Lane Craig Overstates the Case for Christianity by James Fodor
William Lane Craig, the professor of philosophy at the Talbot School of Theology most known for his campus debates with atheists, has written or edited more than thirty books and his arguments for God and Jesus are frequently cited by Christian apologists around the world. He has also severely overstated his case through a series of blatant mischaracterizations and philosophical blunders. From his attempt to show evidence for Jesus’ resurrection to his development of the kalam cosmological argument for the existence of God, Craig is respected among his Christian peers. In Unreasonable Faith, James Fodor asks some pointed questions about Craig’s apologetics. Is his intellectual respect deserved? What’s at the core of his arguments? Are they philosophically sound? More importantly, is his an unreasonable faith?