Is such a slogan inclusive, pluralistic, non-elitist, and consistent with the American doctrine of separation of church and state? Are there citizens who have no god to trust, or citizens who have a god, but don't trust him? If so, then who is included in the pronoun 'We'?"
I am always overwhelmed with thanksgiving and gratitude that men of the stature and integrity of Jefferson, Adams and Madison never stooped to the low level of inviting a bible thumper for a "prayer breakfast" to placate bible belt America.
An exhibit opened at the Huntington Library in Los Angeles with the title of RELIGION AND THE FOUNDING OF THE AMERICAN REPUBLIC. The employee of the Library of Congress, James Huston, who put the exhibit together writes: "the founders thought that virtue and morality required religion, therefore religion was necessary." The naive, gullible, innocent and historically ignorant will believe this nonsense.
What ever happened to Solon? An Ancient Greek who founded democracy and the concept of equality, Solon's work is the true inspiration behind America. His moral code far outshines Moses' Ten Commandments and would be a much more appropriate document to place within our public schools. It is time that the long forgotten Athenian be resurrected.
A review of Whatever Happened to the Soul? edited by Warren Brown, Nancey Murphy, and H. Newton Malony. The book attempts to reconcile Christian theology with the scientific evidence against the existence of a soul.
Alan Hale, codiscoverer of Comet Hale-Bopp, urges Americans to think critically about the upcoming Presidential Elections. In an open letter to the American public, he confronts the issues at hand, addresses the diversity of stances being made, and emphasizes the importance this election will have on the very future of human civilization. "The decision we make next week will have effects which will reverberate throughout our nation and our overall human society for many decades to come."
(June 2000) A few weeks ago I asked this question: “How, in the year 2000, can people still believe that the bible is reliable, infallible, and without contradictions?” Questions have come to me asking “what contradictions?” To go through the thousands of contradictions in the Old and New Testament would take more space than is […]
The author, once a member of the evangelical religion, attempted to reconcile his homosexuality with his faith. In so doing he exposed several characteristics about evangelism that led to a full rejection of religious belief and an understanding of the hypocrisy that underlies fundamentalism. In the following essay Brian Rainey recounts his experiences and offers a glimpse into the many interpretations of Biblical passages that address the issue of homosexuality.
Last night (June 26, 2000) on ABC, Peter Jennings hosted a two-hour special entitled "The Search for Jesus". Jennings' reporting is important because most Americans, ironically, are barely literate when it comes to the historical Jesus in particular and the New Testament texts in general.
Jeffery Jay Lowder Updated: May 21, 2000 Related documents: “That Colossal Wreck” by Doug Kruege “Ravi Zacharias’s A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism is an unsuccessful attempt to refute or discredit atheism. He concentrates on some of the more prounounced problems with atheism, as he perceives them, and in the course of this […]
Josh McDowell’s “Evidence” for Jesus Is It Reliable? Jeffery Jay Lowder Last Updated: May 15, 2000 Overview: Christian Sources: New Testament | Church Fathers Non-Christian Sources: Josephus | The Talmud | Pliny the Younger | Tacitus | Suetonius | Thallus | Phlegon | Mara Bar-Serapion | Lucian | Hadrian Miscellaneous: Notes | Related Documents In the fifth chapter […]
I have often asked "When are Jews and Christians going to grow up, evolve spiritually, and let go of the archaic and primitive biblical concepts of 'God'?"
If the message boards are not yet crawling with the news they soon will be: U.S. Vice President and Presidential candidate Al Gore admitted that he was a born-again Christian. During a 60 Minutes interview, broadcast on Dec. 5, he also attacked nonbelievers--or what Gore referred to as the "anti-religious view"-- calling them "arrogant" and "intimidating . . . making people who do believe in God feel like they're being put down and I don't like that. I've never liked that."
3/16/00 – SILVERMAN SCHOLARSHIP ESTABLISHED College of Charleston Mathematics Professor Dr. Herb Silverman has contributed funds to establish an endowed student scholarship at the school. Dr. Silverman, who has taught at the College of Charleston since 1976, has created the Silverman Secular Humanist Scholarship to recognize and encourage students who are secular humanists. “Secular humanism […]
On March 12, Pope John Paul II made history by asking forgiveness for the conduct of his†Church over the centuries. The Church characterizes those who pick and choose what to believe to be "cafeteria Catholics." Citing a long list of sins of his predecessors, the Pope conveniently omitted his own crime against women and children, thus making his own apology a "cafeteria confession."
Pressured by the church in the wake of Professor Lüdemann's deconversion, the University and the Theological Faculty have effectively barred him from offering courses or advising students. Jesus Seminar Chair Robert W. Funk and other signatories wrote this open letter on Lüdemann's behalf.
Thomas Paine is the Viet Nam vet of our Founding Fathers. While Washington, Franklin, Jefferson, et al, are memorialized on our coin and currency, in parks, schools, mountains, and rivers, Thomas Paine is largely ignored. He gave his all for our freedom, but abuse and scorn have been his reward. Even his American grave was desecrated and his body taken, allowing an English bishop to scornfully display his skull.
On February 22, the day of the Michigan state Republican primaries, Christian Coalition Founder Pat Robertson taped a telephone message for a “shadow” campaign in support of Presidential candidate George W. Bush. The message, which went out on phone banks to thousands of Christian Coalition supporters in Michigan, warned that Bush’s rival John McCain was […]
In a bit more than a fortnight Pope John Paul II will make a request for forgiveness for the conduct of his church over the centuries. The infirm pontiff has prepared a list of the murders, tortures and horrors the papacy has caused to humanity. It reportedly takes 50 pages to lay it all out--things like the papal pogroms against the Jews, the crusades against Islam, and the Inquisitions that went on for centuries. Will 50 pages be enough?
If I hear one I more phony politician make the statement that "we need to return God to the classroom" ... I'll gag. The quackery of God and Jesus talk is a stink that is rising clear to the Ozone layer. What a blessing it would be for us all in these remaining months before the election if the phony "protectors of God" would grow up and recover something called ... integrity. It will be a sad day for America when we reward religious sham at the polls. Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Harry Truman, and Barry Goldwater, where are you now that we need you?
The possibility of finding reliable information about the life of the historical Jesus has fascinated the imagination of generations of scholars from as early as the seventeenth century. Opinion on the issue has moved in waves, coming and going along with moods of pessimism and optimism. Until now, no one has brought together a comparison of the points of view of the most influential writers about the historical Jesus.
The Historical Jesus Quest brings together substantial extracts from the seminal works in Jesus studies over the last two centuries. The extracts are accompanied by brief introductions to each writer, helpful summaries of the central arguments of the works from which the extracts are taken, and incisive assessments of their continuing relevance to current debates. In one resource, this compendium provides the foundation upon which modern research is based and allows these great scholars—Spinoza, Troeltsch, D. F. Strauss, Wrede, Schweitzer, Kahler, Bultmann, Kasemann, and others—to speak in their own words. It is essential reading for all serious students of the Gospels and of the historical Jesus.
G. A. Wells Replies to Criticisms of his Books on Jesus My views on Christian Origins have met with a number of adverse criticisms on the Internet. I am not on-line and have not seen them all, but a sympathizer has kindly sent me printouts extracted from “The Errant Skeptics Research Institute” (errantskeptics.org). They comprise “Who is […]
How did Jesus of Nazareth live? How was he raised from the dead? How did he become God? These questions are raised and answered by Professor Thomas Sheehan of Stanford University in this original and provocative narrative of Jesus and first-century Christianity. Sheehan argues that Jesus thought of himself not as God or Christ but as God's eschatological prophet proclaiming God's kingdom, that the resurrection had nothing to do with Jesus coming back to life, and that the affirmation that Jesus was divine first arose among his followers long after his death. Employing the best of contemporary historical-critical scholarship, Sheehan paints a plausible picture of a very human Jesus who came to reform Judaism rather than to found Christianity, who met a tragic end at the hands of the Roman Empire, and who in a matter of decades was proclaimed by his followers to be Christ, Lord, and God. This is an electronic reproduction of the Random House book by the same name.
This essay considers whether life is inherently meaningless if death is the permanent end of our conscious existence and our lives are not part of a higher purpose. If a sentient God existed, Augustine argues, then the value that he would attribute to our lives would not be the same as the value that we find in living and thus would be irrelevant. Therefore, we must create our own meaning for our lives regardless of whether or not our lives serve some higher purpose.
For the first two years of its existence, 1996 and 1997, Camp Quest , the only secular humanist summer camp in the United States, rented the camp facilities of the Bullittsburg Baptist Assembly in Boone County, Kentucky. Edwin and Helen Kagin, the founders and leaders of Camp Quest, also live in Boone County. From the […]
Huddleston questions Still's philosophical assault on the notion of life after death. If one understands this life as a time of soul-making, then our earthly life is neither purposeless nor overshadowed by the afterlife to come.
We tumble into the world without purpose and when we leave it we are gone forever. But I still believe that, rightly examined and understood, we can experience eternal life.
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