The Evidence
A short story about a team of archaeologists in the future who use time travel technology to visit the crucifixion of Jesus. Their mission: to observe what happens, and to prove – once and for all – whether the Christian religion is true or not.
The Wedge Strategy Three Years Later
James Still returns after three years to the CRSC Wedge Strategy to assess how things stand.
The Dark Alley Apologetic
Imagine you are walking home one night and you encounter a group of ten men in a dark alley...
Creationism in Colorado School District
Colorado school board member maneuvers to get creationism into his district.
Country Runs On Judeo-Christian Ethic?
AU's Lynn Challenges Rep. Ball's Claim That 'Country Runs On Judeo-Christian Ethic That Comes From Bible'
The Proposal
A short story about the issue to put the words "In God We Trust" on the local City Hall. An atheist by the name of Richard takes the initiative.
Pardon Me, Are You a True American?
Mr. Monson received a Christian
revisionist tract that is currently making the rounds in Christian news
groups and email forwarding databases. It was written anonymously (which should
be cause for concern in and of itself) and it seeks as its goal to attack
the very foundations of our Constitution by way of a Christian-based revision
of history, to include changing the very convictions of our founding fathers,
in order to convince the targeted audience (i.e., already believing
Christians) that the United States is a "Christian nation," founded by
Christians, for Christians!
True Bible Found – "Holy Shit!" Says Pope
The authentic secret diaries of Moses were recently found, and they contain shocking revelations.
Why Atheism Versus Theism Debates Are So Frustrating
A treatise on the futility of Atheism versus Theism debates resulting from their contradictory premises and covering limits of human understanding, asking of invalid questions, and the "free will" paradox.
Influence of the Idea of God on Human Thought
The influence on human thought of the idea of God is so pervasive that hardly any sphere of man's intellectual activity is free from it--so much so that even the scientists who deal with physical facts, their observation and measurement, and their correlation and interpretation are also directly or indirectly affected by it in spite of the fact that their profession, 'science,' has little room for speculation about a supernatural entity.
Christian Salvation?
Ever wonder how you can be saved? Christians can't agree, and the confusion is embarrassing. A survey of sixteen major denominations proves the point.
Prayer as Magic
In the study of religion among primal peoples you find that many believed
in "magic". Magic is defined as the belief that supernatural forces can
be controlled, influenced and manipulated by executing a ritualistic formula,
either physical or verbal. We still, today, in a more fashionable way,
utilize superstition, prayer wheels, magic, sacrifices and elaborate doxologies
to induce God to favor our requests, grant our wishes and perform miracles
upon demand.
The Book of Mormon: One Too Many M’s
The first edition of the Book of the Mormon contained numerous grammatical, spelling, and Punctuation errors, most (but not all) of which were corrected in subsequent editions. The Book contains words that nobody, not even Joseph Smith, can define. It contains theological discrepancies and other errors, including having Jesus born in Jerusalem. It contains blatant anachronisms, including the practice of Christianity before Christ was even born, paraphrased sayings by Jesus by B.C. characters, and reference to the Book of Revelation centuries before it was written.
The Sorrow of an Atheist
A nonreligious family copes with the death of the father. What ensues is a secular funeral and a discussion over an atheist's philosophy of death.
The Case for a Coherent God
The Case for a Coherent God By Joseph A. Sabella Hyper Link Index Introduction 1A. Scientifically Coherent God Universe vs. Multidimensional Near-Death Experiences Morally Coherent God Summary 1B. Divine Properties 1C. Conclusion Arguments Against & For the Idea of a Coherent God 1.1. Perfection-vs.-Creation Drange – Sabella 1.2. Perfection-vs.-Creation Drange – Sabella 2. Immutability-vs.-Creation Drange […]
Atheist Still on Death Row!
Dr. Younas Shaikh was granted an appeal many months ago. Yet still Pakistan leaves him to rot in jail, setting no date for his new trial. Here are excerpts from his recent letter from death row and a plea from his friend to help end this injustice!
Acceptance of a God
Is belief in God a dissociative behavior?
Growing Need For The Spread Of Secular Reason
The detriment and burdens to which religion has subjected society and the progress of civilization have long since exceeded an acceptable level of secular tolerance. And, now we have Fundamental Islamic Terrorism that threatens western civilization and wants to turn the world into a Theocratic Autocracy.
Post Hoc Miracles
If a skyscraper collapses from an earthquake (or terrorist attack), killing thousands under millions of tons of concrete and steel, but a few people are rescued from isolated pockets within the rubble (through human effort, mind you), it's labeled "a miracle from Jesus" even though it's a statistical probability that a few people will be alive.
Invisible Bonds
What would we think of a society where a number of citizens decide to enslave their fellow-citizens, using the techniques of propaganda? Not only does their brain-washing result in manipulating their targets into a subservient role, but it succeeds in making them accept that role gladly, and even become enforcers of their own servitude.
TV Preacher Resumes Political Crusade
Pat Robertson pushes U.S. Congressional House Bill allowing churches to endorse political candidates
The Miracles
Quasi-poetical reaction to yet more callous fundamentalist "evidence" of God's supreme love on September 11.
Review of Warranted Christian Belief
Review of Warranted Christian Belief (2002) Tyler Wunder Review: Alvin Plantinga. 2000. Warranted Christian Belief. New York: Oxford University Press. xx+508 pp. [This review was originally published in Philo Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring-Summer 2002): pp. 103-118. This Secular Web version contains some minor changes by the author, but otherwise is faithful to the version […]
Richard Carrier Jesus Puzzle
Did Jesus Exist? Earl Doherty and the Argument to Ahistoricity (2002) What follows is a critical review of The Jesus Puzzle: Did Christianity Begin with a Mythical Christ? Challenging the Existence of an Historical Jesus, a work by Earl Doherty (Canadian Humanist Publications: Ottawa, Canada; revised edition, 2000). This does not address anything on Doherty’s […]
A Counterclockwise Paley
Gerkin takes the classic theistic Argument to Design from William Paley's Natural Theology, "the watchmaker analogy," argues that it is logically flawed as an argument for theism, then turns it on its head and reformulates it as an argument for atheism.
A New Argument against the “Feigned-Allegiance Reply”
One of the theistic maneuvers used to explain and justify the hiddenness of God is the so-called "Feigned-allegiance Reply" (FAR). Although some arguments against FAR have been published in the literature, Plugaru here presents what he believes is a new and valid attack on FAR (NAFAR).
Free Advertising Isn’t the Point
Related documents: “The Rest of the Story” (2002) by Jeffery Jay Lowder Lowder’s review of Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ. On July 13, 2000, I happened to be flipping through radio stations when I stumbled upon a talk radio show with a voice familiar to me. As luck would have it, it was Lee […]
The Kalam Cosmological Argument: The Question of the Metaphysical Possibility of an Infinite Set of Real Entities
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.
Science Creationism Behe
Michael Behe Behe, Biochemistry, and the Invisible Hand (2001) (Off Site) by Niall Shanks and Karl Joplin Published in Philo Vol. 4 No. 1, this essay takes creationist biochemist Michael Behe to task for failing to make an evidentially grounded case for the supernatural intelligent design of biochemical systems. In Shanks’ and Joplin’s earlier work […]