When Jesus Became God
Subtitled: The Struggle to Define Christianity during the Last Days of Rome After almost three hundred years of persecution, Christianity made an astonishing breakthrough in 324, when Constantine the Great became the emperor of Rome. No longer fearing for their own suvival, Christians turned to the question of how to define what beliefs identified a […]
When Bad Christians Happen to Good People
Subtitled: Where We Have Failed Each Other and How to Reverse the Damage A believing Christian documents, sometimes with biting humor, the damage to people and society done by “bad” Christians, emphasizing contemporary hypocrisy, including that of institutions and churches. He presents copious evidence, and argues from Biblical precedent that Christians ought to exhibit humility, […]
What the Koran Really Says: Language, Text, and Commentary
Islam has worldwide influence, and even in the United States is experiencing a period of unprecedented growth. Its sacred book, the Koran, is the subject of voluminous commentary, yet it rarely receives the kind of objective critical scrutiny that has been applied to the texts of the Bible for over a century. To correct this […]
What Really Happened to Jesus
This book created a storm of controversy in Europe as soon as it was published. Were the resurrection appearances real physical events–or nothing more than grief-induced hallucinations? What does it mean to say, Jesus rose from the dead? Dissatisfied with what he regarded as evasive answers given by theologians and scholars about the nature of […]
What is God?
Twenty-two critical essays raise serious questions about traditional claims of God’s omnipotence, omniscience, omnibenevolence, simplicity, ability to do the logically impossible, and omnipresence. LaCroix’s introductory article on metatheism explains his unique approach to issues in the philosophy of religion, providing a useful, up-front orientation for the reader.
What Is Atheism? A Short Introduction
Many questions and concerns arise when believers question the purpose and meaning they suspect is lacking in the lives of nonbelievers. Douglas Krueger contends that atheism is a powerful alternative to religion, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood because people harbor preconceived ideas about atheism. This concise introduction to the subject has […]
What Evolution Is
Gathering insights from his seven-decade career, the renowned biologist Ernst Mayr argues that evolution is now to be considered not a theory but a fact–and that “there is not a single Why? question in biology that can be answered adequately without a consideration of evolution.” Mayr, emeritus professor of zoology at Harvard University, has long […]
What Does It All Mean?
In this cogent and accessible introduction to philosophy, the distinguished author of Mortal Questions and The View From Nowhere sets forth the central problems of philosophical inquiry for the beginning student. Arguing that the best way to learn about philosophy is to think about its questions directly, Thomas Nagel considers possible solutions to nine problems–knowledge […]
What About Gods?
A skeptical treatment of religion in a book designed to be read by, or to, children.
Western Atheism: A Short History
Thrower’s excellent little tome (at 151 pages) introduces you to the major currents of atheistic thought within Western Civilization. It makes a great addition to your home library.
Weddings, Funerals and Rites of Passage: Sample Ceremonies for Celebrants, Officiants, and Ministers
Written by Rev. Amy Long, with contributions from a variety of other authors, this book represets the spectrum of different faiths and belief systems. The book has a black, leatherette cover with gold foil printing. It’s elegant and professional. The must have book for any celebrant, officiant or minister! Over 270 pages of new wedding […]
We the Living
First published in 1936, this inspiring and defiant novel by the author of The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged has sold nearly two million copies. Portraying the impact of the Russian Revolution on three human beings who demand the right to live their own lives, the novel is Ayn Rand’s challenge to the modern conscience. We […]
Walden
An American classic that hails from the nineteenth-century Transcendentalism movement rather than existentialism. However, Thoreau addresses several themes that are of interest to existentialists as well. How does one avoid too much compromise in conforming to others’ expectations while still retaining personal identity and freedom? Thoreau outlines his carpe deim prescription for an authentic life: […]
Voices for Evolution
A collection of statements favoring evolution by various scientific and religious organizations. Handy reference!
Visions: How Science Will Revolutionize the 21st Century
In a spellbinding narrative that brings together the cutting-edge research of today’s foremost scientists, Michio Kaku examines the three scientific revolutions that have reshaped the twentieth century–quantum mechanics, bio-genetics, and artificial intelligence–and tells how they will dramatically alter science and the way in which people will live in the 21st century.
Victims of Memory: Incest Accusations and Shattered Lives
An honest account of a father’s loss and his plea for reconciliation, this book is also a definitive scholarly work on recovered memory therapy and is widely hailed by professional psychologists.
Veiled Courage: Inside the Afghan Women’s Resistance
In Afghanistan under Taliban rule, women were forbidden to work or go to school, they could not leave their homes without a male chaperone, and they could not be seen without a head-to-toe covering called the burqua. A woman’s slightest infractions were met with brutal public beatings. That is why it is both appropriate and […]
Various Thoughts on the Occasion of a Comet
The famous author of the Historical and Critical Dictionary gives a reasoned response to superstitious hysteria accompanying the appearance of a comet in 1680. In the process, he also becomes the first recorded person to suggest that a society of atheists would not necessarily be any less moral than a society of theists.
Value and Virtue in a Godless Universe
Suppose there is no God. This supposition implies that human life is meaningless, that there are no moral obligations and hence people can do whatever they want, and that the notions of virtue and vice, right and wrong, and good and evil have no place in the universe. Erik J. Wielenberg believes this view to […]
Unweaving the Rainbow: Science, Delusion, and the Appetite for Wonder
Did Newton “unweave the rainbow” by reducing it to its prismatic colors, as Keats contended? Did he, in other words, diminish beauty? Far from it, says Dawkins–Newton’s unweaving is the key too much of modern astronomy and to the breathtaking poetry of modern cosmology. Mysteries don’t lose their poetry because they are solved: the solution […]
Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior
No matter what we do, however kind or generous our deeds may seem, a hidden motive of selfishness lurks — or so science has claimed for years. This book, a detailed case study of scientific change, tells us differently. In Unto Others philosopher Elliott Sober and biologist David Sloan Wilson demonstrate once and for all […]
Universes
Universes asks ‘Why does our universe exist?’ In order to answer that most fundamental of question, this author examines the philosophical as well as the scientific arguments for ‘fine tuning’; that is, the theory that the cosmos is specifically suited to produce life. The result is one of the most powerful versions of the ‘argument […]
Unintelligent Design
Spurred on not only by the quasi-scientific agenda of the so-called intelligent design theorists, who seek to prove the existence of God mathematically, but also by his personal contact with otherwise rational scientists, physicist Mark Perakh sets out to reveal the falsity of the claims of neocreationism with a thorough, carefully-detailed series of arguments aimed […]
Understanding the Hadith: The Sacred Traditions of Islam
Noted Indian writer and polymath Ram Swarup explores the meaning of Islam through the words of the Sahih Muslim, considered by Muslims to be one of the most authoritative of the collections of “traditions” (Arabic Hadith) about the life of the Prophet Muhammad. Like the Koran, these traditions are believed to be divinely revealed by […]
Under the Net
Murdoch’s existential burlesque novel centers on Jake, a hack writer and popular-novel translator, as he attempts to find himself and his own authentic existence. This novel explores the theme of how we see ourselves as projected through the eyes of others.
Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy
Under His Very Windows: The Vatican and the Holocaust in Italy describes what the Vatican did–or did not do–to help Jews in Italy in World War II. Author Susan Zuccotti, who has written two other books about the Holocaust, demonstrates that little help of any kind came from Popes Pius XI and XII or their […]
Trilobite!
Subtitled: Eyewitness to Evolution With his new book Trilobite! Eyewitness to Evolution, Richard Fortey confirms his status as one of the best communicators of science around today. His hugely enjoyable previous book, Life: A Natural History of the First Four Billion Years of Life on Earth, was shortlisted for the 1998 Rhone-Poulenc science book prize, […]
Treatise on the Gods
In Treatise On The Gods, Mencken takes on the history of religion from pre-history to the practice of Christianity in his own day. First published in 1930 (and revised in 1946), this book generated more controversy than any of his other books, but surprised some of Mencken’s most bitter critics with its genuine scholarship, sober […]
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the twentieth century, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus first appeared in 1921 and was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his lifetime. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme compression and brilliance, it immediately convinced many of its readers and captivated the imagination of […]
