(2004) In this rebuttal, I will argue that Drange has failed to show that ANB prevails against ED.[1] Concerning my presentation of ED, Drange is absolutely correct when he notes that the version that I presented does not follow the modus tollens form. This embarrassing error on my part was the result of hurried editing, […]

(2004) Chris McHugh (CM) still has not done the thing that he had originally said he would do in this debate and that is to “attempt to make a case for the existence of the God of Christianity.” Nowhere in his first rebuttal is there any definition of “the God of Christianity” and nowhere is […]

(2004) This second rebuttal will show that Drange’s critique of my opening statement offers no sound refutation of any of the arguments presented there. Drange’s debate tactic appears to be relegated to pleading a lack of understanding of my opening arguments. This is surprising, for most of the points made in my opening statement are […]

(2004) My opponent in this debate, Chris McHugh (CM), apparently has three main objections to the argument from nonbelief (ANB), which is the argument that I presented in my opening statement. They are: (1) the expectations defense, (2) his claim that ANB’s premise (A3) is unsupported, and (3) a version of what I have called […]

I argue that Pardi’s criticisms of Drange’s version of the argument from nonbelief (ANB) do not refute ANB, although they may or may not require peripheral corrections or clarifications on Drange’s part. I focus not so much on Drange’s formulation, but on what I take to be the central intuitions of ANB and on the inadequacy of Pardi’s objections. I assume some familiarity with Pardi’s paper and with ANB, although I present what I consider to be ANB’s central claims.

In this essay Horia Plugaru argues that the existence of physiological horrors provides evidence against the existence of a traditional theistic God. Although the argument proceeds from the empirical observation of facts that shouldn't obtain in a theistic world, and horrors by definition bring us some sort of suffering, the argument is not a variation on the evidential argument from evil, though it is related to it. Rather, the argument is that unjustified and extreme ugliness is unlikely to be found in the work of a perfect creator, but since it is in fact found in the world, human beings are probably not the products of a perfect creator.

Some Christian philosophers and apologists have vigorously mounted a moral argument for God's existence made apart from the standard nonmoral grounds. The moral argument is based upon the idea of natural moral law (fundamental moral principles and norms apprehended as such by persons of good will as universally binding and not based upon supernatural revelation or divine positive law). In this expanded version of a talk given to the University of Colorado Theology Forum, Arnold T. Guminski aims to show why those naturalists and theists who hold that the natural moral law obtains should conclude that the moral argument for the existence of God is unsound. Particular attention is given to the writings of J. P. Moreland, William Lane Craig, and Paul Copan.

According to a form of the kalam cosmological argument expounded by William Lane Craig, there cannot be a beginningless temporal world because the application of Cantorian set theory of transfinite arithmetic to the real world generates counterintuitive absurdities, thereby disclosing that an infinite set of real entities is metaphysically impossible. This article shows how this is not the case by pursuing a novel approach wherein it is understood that an infinite set of real entities is not a set, considered as a technical term of art, within the meaning of Cantorian theory. Upon accepting the original version for publication, Quentin Smith, then editor of Philo, wrote: "Your paper has been studied thoroughly for some time and there is agreement that it is at least an undercutting defeater of [William Lane] Craig's beliefs about real infinites, probably even an overriding defeater. More importantly, it introduces a novel metaphysical theory of the relation of transfinite arithmetic to concrete reality." Guminski's persuasive challenge to Craig's account of why Cantorian transfinite arithmetic should not be deemed to apply to the world of concrete entities has yet to be answered by Craig. The world wonders.

In this third paper about the kalam cosmological argument (KCA), Guminski shows how William Lane Craig has developed a mutated form of the argument such that it presupposes the metaphysical possibility of an infinite temporal series of finite duration. The Kalam Cosmological Argument As Amended (KCAAA) thus contradicts a key component of the KCA: that any infinite temporal series is metaphysically impossible. The KCAAA relies upon the Standard Big Bang Model as providing the supposed factual basis for concluding that the universe has a finite but indefinite past, thus involving an infinite temporal series of finite duration. Guminski argues why there is good reason to hold that any infinite temporal series of finite duration is metaphysically impossible given the A-theory of time, absolute simultaneity, and some complementary doctrines--assumptions that Craig accepts. Given these assumptions, however, the KCAAA fails.

(2003) In this first rebuttal, I argue that Drange’s ANB provides no evidence against the existence of the God of Christianity. Premise A of ANB states that if the God of Christianity (abbreviated GC) were to exist, then He would possess at least the following properties: being able to bring about situation S, all things […]

(2003) In his Opening Statement, Chris McHugh (hereafter CM) declared that he would defend two theses, that it is more reasonable to be a theist than a nontheist and that it is more reasonable to be a Christian than it is to reject Jesus Christ. That stated aim is different from CM’s originally stated aim. […]

(2003) Tom Wanchick In a sampling of his Internet publications,[1] Prof. Michael Martin has argued that, when closely evaluated, the concept of Heaven as historically construed by Christians is found to be a veritable mare’s nest of philosophical difficulties and confusions. At best, the idea is implausible; at worst, it is incoherent. Among Dr. Martin’s […]

(2003) Richard Carrier Introduction The Event Basic Survey and Score Note on Debate Strategy First Point: “Argument from the Universe” Second Point: “Argument from Absolute Morality” Third Point: The “Trial” Defense vs. the Argument from Evil Fourth Point: Shoring Up Agnosticism Q & A: Pitching Balls for the Home Team Addendum on Muslim Apologetics Handout […]

Review of Michael Martin’s: Atheism, Morality, and Meaning (2003) (Buffalo: Prometheus Books, 2002, 330 pages) Jeffery Jay Lowder What is the relationship between God and morality? Is morality dependent in some way on the existence of God? Arguments for an affirmative answer to that question may be classified into one of three categories: ontological, epistemological, […]

(2003) Jeffery Jay Lowder Michael Martin is the author of Atheism, Morality, and Meaning. I recently wrote a review of that book.[1] I concluded that although Martin’s book is a welcome addition to the literature on the relationship between atheism and morality, it does contain some significant shortcomings. In a recent essay, Martin responds to […]

(2003) This opening statement will defend two theses; the first of these is that it is more reasonable to be a theist than a nontheist, and the second is that it is more reasonable to be a Christian than it is to reject Jesus Christ. In order to show that theism is more reasonable than […]

(2003) Although Chris McHugh and I have discussed the argument from nonbelief (abbreviated ANB) in the past[1], and although he took it up recently as part of his Internet debate with Doug Krueger[2], I shall not presuppose any of that in this debate, but will present the argument from scratch. My position is that ANB […]

The "lost" Drange-McHugh debate on the existence of the God of evangelical Christianity was originally conducted in the Formal Debates & Discussions forum of the Internet Infidels Discussion Board (IIDB) from November 30, 2003 to May 15, 2004, and has been restored to the Secular Web proper so that it would once again be available to all on the world wide web.