Miscellaneous   The Celebrity Atheist List [Off Site] A collection of the names of notable individuals who have been public about their lack of belief in deities, as well as some who seem to be skeptical when it comes to religion but whose beliefs are nevertheless somewhat ambiguous. Famous Dead Nontheists [Off Site] A list […]

References   Brown, Raymond E. An Introduction to the New Testament. (Doubleday: New York). 1997. Bruce, F.F. Jesus and Christian Origins Outside the New Testament (Hodder and Stoughton Limited: Great Britain). 1974. Cavin, Robert Greg. “Is There Sufficient Historical Evidence to Establish the Resurrection of Jesus?” Faith and Philosophy, July 1995. Charlesworth, James. Jesus Within […]

Notes   1. See Sections I.1 and I.2 for Davis’ analyses of these world views. In brief, supernaturalists grant the existence of supernatural entities, while naturalists do not. 2. Concerning the distinction between a corpse being resurrected into a supernatural being rather than being revived back to natural (as opposed to supernatural) life, I will […]

Concluding Remarks: Return to DT and the Possibility of Rational Resurrection-Belief and Resurrection-Doubt   On its barest interpretation, DT claims that both belief in and scepticism of the resurrection can be rational given an awareness of the most persuasive argumentative cases for both sides in the resurrection-debate; consequently, the truth or falsity of DT will […]

When Theories Collide   The proponents of Mythicism and Core Facts are aware of one another: both Martin and Wells have criticized Habermas (see Martin, pp.65-67, 87-97; Wells 1989, pp.22-23, 46-52); Habermas has also attacked both Wells and Martin on the matter of Jesus’ historicity (1996, pp.27-46)(32) and addressed Martin separately on the matter of […]

IV. Support for the Core Facts of Core Facts Before considering the inevitable confrontation between these two most persuasive cases, I will briefly describe some of the evidence marshalled by Habermas in support of the premises of his abridged apologetic. Identifying these supports is extremely important, for apart from sheer authority-approval and appeal to “shared […]

Naturalism’s Best Case: Christological Mythicism   III. Naturalism’s Best Case: Christological Mythicism Recall that Davis characterized the naturalist’s most persuasive argumentative case as composed of the following claims: D1) the biblical testimony supporting the resurrection is unreliable, written years after the alleged event by unsophisticated, myth-prone people who were concerned with proclaiming statements of faith […]

II. Supernaturalism’s Best Case: Core Facts   This section will outline the argument that will represent the supernaturalist’s best case for the resurrection: Habermas’ Core Facts. I think some initial justificatory comments are required to defend using Habermas in this manner, specifically focussing on how Habermas and Davis differ to determine whether any differences between […]

Introduction: Disagreement and the Resurrection of Jesus   In his 1984 article “Is it Possible to Know that Jesus Rose From the Dead?” Professor Stephen T. Davis referred to a paradox facing any philosopher writing about the possibility of knowing the resurrection occurred:   On the one hand, some believers in the resurrection hold that […]

Wittgenstein on Seeing (1999) Travis J. Denneson The basic evil of Russell’s logic, as also of mine in the Tractatus, is that what a proposition is is illustrated by a few commonplace examples, and then pre-supposed as understood in full generality. –§ 38, Remarks on the Philosophy of Psychology, Volume I You need new conceptual […]

Society and the Individual in Nietzsche’s The Will to Power (1999) Travis J. Denneson I. Introduction In The Will to Power, specifically the section entitled "The Will to Power as Society and Individual," Nietzsche’s ideas concerning how his doctrine of the will to power is manifested in both societies as a whole and in individuals […]

Nietzsche’s The Antichrist (1999) Travis J. Denneson I. Introduction In his book, The Antichrist, Nietzsche sets out to denounce and illegitimize not only Christianity itself as a belief and a practice, but also the ethical-moral value system which modern western civilization has inherited from it. This book can be considered a further development of some […]

The Word of the LORD (2002) Tony Kuphaldt   The Word of the LORD Psalm 19:7-9 The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening […]

Transcendence, Moral Facts, and the God of Theism: Critiquing Vuletic (2002) Tom Wanchick Introduction In a recent Internet paper,[1] Mark I. Vuletic has set out to show that, contrary to the beliefs of many religious believers, it is not the case that God’s existence is implied by the existence of moral facts. In this essay, […]

Not Practicing What You Preach The Boy Scouts of America’s Refusal to Recognize Atheism (1993) Todd M. Pence   The Boy Scouts of America is an organization that was established to better the quality of life in America through having its members perform service for their respective communities and the nation as a whole, as […]

Debates: The Horner-Triplett Debate: Mr. Triplett’s Opening Remarks So I’m the local neighborhood atheist. And I think that the theists here tonight should worry too much about the fact that they have a local atheist but they had to fly in Mr. Horner from British Columbia. I think that in spite of the appearance of […]

Horner-Triplett Debate, 1993: Does God Exist? Introduction Tonight’s debate will follow this format: Professor Triplett will speak first with his opening remarks. Mr. Horner will follow with his opening remarks. Professor Triplett will give his first rebuttal, and Mr. Horner will give his first rebuttal. Then two second rebuttals which last eight minutes each, Dr. […]

Mr. Triplett’s Opening Remarks

On Walter Brown & Plate Tectonics (1997) Tim Thompson   Related WWW Resources A Beginner’s Guide to Plate Tectonics from Rasumssen College The ABC’s of Plate Tectonics by Donald L. Blanchard Plate Tectonics, The Cause of Earthquakes from the University of Nevada, Reno, Seismological Laboratory Structural Geology and Tectonics Division of the Geological Society of […]

The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986–electronic edition 2000) Thomas Sheehan II How Jesus Was Raised From the Dead Soon after Jesus died, something dramatic happened to his reputation: His followers came to believe that he had been raised from the dead and was alive with his heavenly Father. This enhancement […]

The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986–electronic edition 2000) Thomas Sheehan III How Jesus Became God The first mention of Jesus anywhere in literature was made twenty years after he died, and is found in a text that records the already developed status of his reputation. Writing around 50 C.E., Saint […]

The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986–electronic edition 2000) Thomas Sheehan I How Jesus Lived and Died In popular Christian teaching, Jesus often comes across as a divine visitor to our planet, a supernatural being who dropped into history disguised as a Jewish carpenter, performed some miracles, died on a cross […]

The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986-electronic edition 2000) Thomas Sheehan   Selected Bibliography Alexander, Paul J. The Byzantine Apocalyptic Tradition. Edited by Dorothy deF. Abrahamse. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985. Alsup, John E. The Post-Resurrection Appearance Stories of the Gospel Tradition: A History-of Tradition Analysis, With Text-Synopsis. Stuttgart: Calwer, […]

The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986-electronic edition 2000) Thomas Sheehan   Appendix: Notes on Rabbinical Literature A. THE MISHNAH In the centuries after the closing of the Pentateuch (ca. 400 B.C.E.), and particularly from 270 B.C.E. onward, there grew up alongside the Written Law of the Pentateuch a rich oral […]