The Incoherence of Theism (1998) Andrew Moroz   A glance at the 1998 World Almanac reveals that over 1.1 billion people (19 percent of the world) are either atheists or nonbelievers; a stark difference with North America, where only 7 percent are atheists or nonbelievers. [1] The atheist position is perhaps founded on a principle […]

Dostoevsky Did Say It: A Response to David E. Cortesi (2011) Andrei I. Volkov I recently read an old Secular Web article by David E. Cortesi titled “Dostoevsky Didn’t Say It” (2000). This essay is now widely cited and referenced across the Internet. When believers attribute to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (1880) the phrase […]

Conclusion I do not consider myself a Christian, or an atheist. If one were to pigeonhole my own personal philosophy with a label, it might be "weak atheist" or "strong agnostic," because any belief concerning God is completely nonexistent from my mind. However, I don’t reject all religion or spirituality out of hand. Religion and […]

The Rest of the Book The remainder of this commentary will touch on a few issues in the remainder of the book. I had collected sufficient notes for a detailed review of each chapter, but these were lost when my computer died forever, before I finished with chapter 7 (though I have a few hand-scribbled […]

Last Appendix A Parable M. M. Mangasarian, 1909 Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201 Public Domain – copies may be given away, but not sold By education most have been misled, So they believe because they were so bred; The priest continues what the nurse began, And thus the child imposes on the […]

Chapter 7: Why I Believe in Moral Absolutes (Contradiction) Note: At this point, my hard-working little laptop computer died for good. Fortunately, I had backups of my finished work (chapters 1 through 6 and the Appendices), and work-in-process (chapter 7). However, all of my references and my collection of notes covering subsequent chapters, painstakingly gathered […]

CHAPTERS 5 & 6: WHY I BELIEVE IN HEAVEN / HELL (Non Sequitur) After that long analysis of the chapter on creationism, I need a rest! Fortunately, the next two chapters in Why I Believe can be reviewed relatively quickly. The chapter on Heaven begins by first trying to establish the immortality of the human […]

WHY I BELIEVE IN CREATION (Bifurcation) I said to myself concerning the sons of men, God has surely tested them in order for them to see that they are but beasts. For the fate of the sons of men and the fate of beasts is the same. As one dies so dies the other; indeed, […]

Chapter 3: Why I Believe in God (Non Causa Pro Causa) The first two chapters dealt with Biblical history as it relates to prophecy and archaeology. This chapter veers away from history and enters the realm of theology, a much more nebulous subject. As theology, I cannot address the main thrust of this chapter: that […]

Chapter 3 Appendix Analysis of the Teleological Argument Eric Sotnak University of Rochester, Rochester, New York 15 March 1993 The motivations of creationists are often more philosophical than scientific. In particular, creationists are often motivated to claim that evolution cannot be true because it fails to provide a satisfactory account of how the universe can […]

CHAPTER 2: THE STONES CRY OUT (Argumentum Ad Verecundiam) In Chapter 2 of Why I Believe, D. James Kennedy continues with his explanation of why he believes in the Bible, this time using evidence from archaeology rather than prophecy. He stands on more solid ground here. Until the 1970s, a strong alliance existed between the […]

CHAPTER 1: WHY I BELIEVE IN THE BIBLE (Composition Argument) Dr. Kennedy begins his book with a chapter on the why he believes the Bible. I must say, a right proper beginning. After all, the Bible forms the whole basis for his beliefs; therefore he must establish the validity of this basis. Before I even […]

Introduction “Anachronist” This book inspired me to embark on a long search for knowledge and truth. I studied books on history, theology, and the sciences, researching many things Dr. Kennedy considered and many other issues he ignored; I examined some of his references; and I engaged in lengthy electronic debates with several learned individuals. In […]

Commentary on D. James Kennedy’s book Why I Believe “Anachronist”   D. James Kennedy is the founder of Coral Ridge Ministries in Florida. A television show exists by the same name, although I have not seen it. Dr. Kennedy is an evangelical Christian who has written several books, including Evangelism Explosion and Why I Believe. […]

  Review of Tales of the Rational: Skeptical Essays About Nature and Science Amanda Chesworth Pigliucci, Massimo. (2000): Tales of the Rational: Skeptical Essays About Nature and Science. Atlanta, Georgia: Freethought Press. 255 pages. U.S. $17.00. Tales of the Rational: Skeptical Essays About Nature and Science begins by introducing the rational approach through the author’s […]

THEOLOGICAL MISINTERPRETATIONS OF CURRENT PHYSICAL COSMOLOGY* Adolf Grünbaum   University of Pittsburgh   [This article was originally published in PHILO, Vol. 1, No. 1, pp. 15-34, Spring-Summer 1998.] Abstract: In earlier writings, I argued that neither of the two major physical cosmologies of the twentieth century support divine creation, so that atheism has nothing to […]

The Poverty of Theistic Morality Adolf Grünbaum University of Pittsburgh   [This essay was originally published in Science, Mind and Art: Essays on Science and the Humanistic Understanding in Art, Epistemology, Religion and Ethics, in Honor of Robert S. Cohen. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 165. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, […]

DISCUSSION: NARLIKAR’S “CREATION” OF THE BIG BANG UNIVERSE WAS A MERE ORIGINATION ADOLF GRÜNBAUM University of Pittsburgh [This article was originally published in Philosophy of Science, Vol. 60, No. 4, December 1993, pp. 638-646.] In Grünbaum (1989, 374, 390), I objected to Narlikar’s (1977, 136-137) designation “event of ‘creation'” for a supposed first cosmic instant […]

Creation As a Pseudo-Explanation in Current Physical Cosmology Adolf Grünbaum   University of Pittsburgh   [This article was originally published in Erkenntnis 35: 233-254, 1991.] Introduction In his posthumously published The Direction of Time (1956, p. 133), Hans Reichenbach wrote: “At the present state of cosmology, it is very difficult to come to a conclusion […]

Some Comments on William Craig’s “Creation and Big Bang Cosmology” Adolf Grünbaum   University of Pittsburgh   [This article was originally published in Philosophia Naturalis, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 225-236, 1994.] I. Introduction Craig makes a whole array of assertions, some of which call for much more detailed scrutiny than is possible in a […]

Answer to Why I Am Not a Hindu by A Hindu Woman I First, I wish to make clear that I have no quarrel with Mr. Ramendra Nath for declaring that he is not a Hindu. He has listed four reasons for declaring why he is not a Hindu: “I do not believe in the […]