[Taken from the program handed out at the debate] I.) There are good reasons to affirm the Resurrection. A.) The writings about the Resurrection are too early for legend to prevail over the truth. B.) The tomb was empty. C.) Jesus appeared to many witnesses. D.) The origin of the Christian movement is inexplicable apart […]

This is a transcript of the debate between Michael Horner and Farrell Till on the historicity of the Resurrection which was held May 30th, 1995, at Seattle Pacific University. This transcript has been published by mutual agreement of Farrell Till and Michael Horner. We express appreciation to Don Morgan for transcribing the debate from audio […]

I’ll use this time to refer to some things that I didn’t have the oppurtunity to refer to during the regular speeches. Dr. Geisler made the statement that the pagans saviors were not like Jesus because they did not experience bodily resurrection. But I want to assure you, my friends, that that is not so. […]

This is my ninth debate. No, this is my tenth debate. And I have seen a first. Did you notice that Dr. Geisler read a manuscript for his first speech? That’s okay, because he won a toss and he was the first speaker. So if we wanted to read a manuscript that he had written, […]

Like Dr. Geisler, I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to be here. I always consider it a privlege to speak on subjects like the issue under discussion tonight, and I certainly want to thank those who arranged this event for asking me to be a part of it. At the same time, […]

[After the second round of speeches, Geisler and Till answered questions from the audience. All questions were submitted on cards and specifically addressed to one of the speakers. The speaker to whom a question was addressed had two minutes to answer the question; his opponent then gave a one-minute response.] Question for Till: What does […]

1994 Used by Permission of Dr. Norman L. Geisler Southern Evangelical Seminary 5801 Pineville-Matthews Road Charlotte, NC 28226-3447 (704) 543-9475 and Farrell Till, Editor The Skeptical Review P.O. Box 717 Canton, IL 61520-0717 (309) 647-4764 Prepared by Apologetics Press (230 Landmark Drive, Montgomery, AL 36117) in cooperation with Farrell Till.

I have presented strong evidence and contemporary evidence that Jesus died and rose from the dead. No such evidence for the contrary view has been presented. This evidence is sufficient for anyone who wants to believe. But what about those who choose not to believe? They are, of course, free to do so. But they […]

For the purposes of contrast and comparison, I’ll frame my response to Till over against the evidence I presented for the resurrection. First, I argued that the basic evidence for the New Testament is found in the fact that the New Testament documents are reliable, having more evidence for them than for any other book […]

It is an honor to be here. On the topic under discussion, I affirm that Jesus of Nazareth died and rose bodily from the grave. I offer two points in support of this claim. First, the New Testament documents are historically reliable accounts. Second, these documents reveal that Jesus really died on the cross and […]

Dr. Norman L. Geisler (author, educator, and Dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary, Charlotte, NC) and Mr. Farrell Till (editor of The Skeptical Review and English teacher at Spoon River College, Canton, IL) met for public debate March 29, 1994, at the Columbus College Fine Arts Hall (Columbus, GA). The proposition was "Jesus of Nazareth died […]

The Geisler-Till Debate Did Jesus of Nazareth Bodily Rise from the Dead? (1994) Norman L. Geisler and Farrell Till   Participants and Format of the Debate Dr. Norman L. Geisler’s First Speech (twenty minutes) Mr. Farrell Till’s First Speech (twenty minutes) Dr. Norman L. Geisler’s Second Speech (ten minutes) Mr. Farrell Till’s Second Speech (ten […]

Response to Richard Carrier’s Alleged “Rebuttal” (2012) Eric Laupot Richard Carrier’s reasoning in “Severus Is Not Quoting Tacitus: A Rebuttal to Eric Laupot” is too muddled to review in its entirety. Most leading scholars and Latinists are at variance with his conclusions. Most problematic is that Carrier begs the question from the beginning because he […]

Is the Bible the Word of God? Emmett F. Fields 1983 This essay was written to be delivered as a lecture and is worded accordingly. It was part of a two day debate with a Fundamentalist minister. For each evening there are two parts, one of thirty minutes and a conclusion of ten minutes. This […]

The Higher Religions (1996) Emmett F. Fields   I must take issue with Dr. Paul Kurtz and Free Inquiry magazine (Fall 1996) in concluding that Humanism is not a religion. If there were religious liberty in America the question of the religious status of Humanism, and the other Higher Religions, would be simply a matter […]

Atheism: An Affirmative View (1980) Emmett F. Fields What is Atheism that it survives? Every religion, from earliest times, has hated and condemned those who could not believe whatever it was that those old religions happened to believe. Throughout the ages there have been the ‘intellectual outlaws’ who have questioned the “unquestionable,” and doubted even […]

Preface About the Author Edwin Henry Wilson was born on August 23, 1898, in Woodhaven, New York. He was raised in Concord, Massachusetts, where he attended the First Parish Church, a Unitarian fellowship. Wilson’s father had no use for the church; it was his mother who introduced him to Unitarianism, albeit of the conservative variety. […]

CHAPTER 9 Style and Semantics It is my contention that those who signed "A Humanist Manifesto" in 1933 sought verbal integrity and a semantic change from traditional religious terms in order to clarify their naturalistic approach. However, as is the case with most editorial matters, a great deal of the response to the written word […]

CHAPTER 8 Unitarian Humanists Who Feared a Creed Some of the men who declined to sign "A Humanist" Manifesto" were active writers in the humanist movement before and after the publication of the document. Four of them were Unitarian in background and affiliation, and, of them, two were published in the same issue of The […]

CHAPTER 7 Critiques from Humanists Who Did Not Sign Several important individuals did not sign "A Humanist Manifesto" but contributed substantially through their criticisms. The following four men are of varied backgrounds and professions and, precisely for that reason, the manifesto editors made concerted efforts to obtain their endorsements. We very much wanted the manifesto […]

CHAPTER 6 Early Responses from Signers Dr. E. A. Burtt Dr. E. A. Burtt of Cornell University’s Sage School of Philosophy, was one of the most prompt and thorough critics of the proposed manifesto. Six years later, in the first edition of his excellent book, Types of Religious Philosophy, Dr. Burtt placed religious humanism in […]

CHAPTER 5 The Editing Process That there was no one writer of "A Humanist Manifesto" becomes clear as one reviews the editing process. Following the receipt of Dr. Sellars’ first draft and some initial correspondence, the meetings of an editorial committee-Curtis Reese, A. Eustace Haydon, Raymond Bragg, and myself-were convened by Bragg and held in […]

CHAPTER 4 "A Humanist Manifesto" – The Beginning Raymond B. Bragg, as the associate editor of The New Humanist, initiated the project that resulted in the 1933 publication of "A Humanist Manifesto." In a letter dated February 17, 1970, reminiscing about the early stages, Bragg wrote: "The fact is that my job as Secretary of […]

CHAPTER 3 The New Humanist – Sponsor of the Manifesto The New Humanist was started in 1927, while I was studying in Europe as a Cruft Fellow, an award for graduating seniors. The first issue-volume one, number one-appeared in 1928. Examination of the brief record of this periodical preceding the publication of "A Humanist Manifesto" […]

  CHAPTER 2 The Background of Religious Humanism The history of religious humanism in the twentieth century, as it appeared in North America, has yet to be adequately written. The modern humanist movement emerged from liberal religious change at the end of the previous century and the beginning of this one . The influence of […]

CHAPTER 18 The Manifesto’s Long-Term Impact Over the decades since 1933, the radical nature of "A Humanist Manifesto" continued to be a source of controversy. Among the long-term effects of the manifesto, perhaps one of the most significant is the generation of a second manifesto in 1973. The forty interim years saw dramatic cultural and […]

  CHAPTER 17 Twenty Years Later: Symposium-Parts I and II While the first manifesto was never revised, debate over the need for revision or for a new document continued. So much so, that twenty years later, a symposium was published containing the views of the twenty-seven surviving signers (John Dewey, Bernard Fantus, William Floyd, Maynard […]