Review of ‘Atheism and Theism’ (1999)   Alexander Pruss and Richard Gale   The following article is a review of the “great debate” by J.J.C. Smart and J.J. Haldane. The original debate was published by Blackwell Publishers in 1996. This review will be published in FAITH AND PHILOSOPHY in January 1999.   The participants in […]

  Why Alston’s Mystical Doxastic Practice Is Subjective (1994) Richard Gale The following article was originally published in PHILOSOPHY AND PHENOMENOLOGICAL RESEARCH, Vol. LIV, No. 4, December 1994.   Within each of the great religions there is a well established doxastic practice (DP) of taking experiential inputs consisting of apparent direct perceptions of God (M-experiences) […]

Why I Am Not a Christian (2006) Richard Carrier   Introduction The Top Four Reasons I Am Not a Christian Are… 1. God is Silent 2. God is Inert 3. The Evidence is Inadequate      A Digression on Method      Hero Savior of Vietnam 4. Christianity Predicts a Different Universe      Origin and Evolution of Life      The Human […]

The Problem of the Virgin Birth Prophecy (2003) Richard Carrier   In March 23 of 2003 I received the following question by email. I was encouraged to publish my answer online, since it would be of help to many others faced with the same question.[1] Some of my advice is applicable to many other questions […]

Translations (Bibliography of Skepticism in the Ancient World) (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999)   Translations The Modes of Scepticism: Ancient Texts and Modern Interpretations, Julia Annas, and Jonathan Barnes (editors and translators), New York, Cambridge University Press, 1985., 203 p. Augustine, Against the Academics, John J. O’Meara (translator), Westminster, Md., Newman Press, 1950, 213 p. […]

Proving a Negative (1999) Richard Carrier   I know the myth of “you can’t prove a negative” circulates throughout the nontheist community, and it is good to dispel myths whenever we can. As it happens, there really isn’t such a thing as a “purely” negative statement, because every negative entails a positive, and vice versa. […]

Thallus: An Analysis (1999) Richard Carrier   [A formal peer reviewed version of the research in this article is now available in volume 8 of the Journal of Greco-Roman Christianity and Judaism, under the title “Thallus and the Darkness at Christ’s Death” (PDF). The new article updates and supersedes the old.] This is a preliminary […]

Ten Things Wrong with Cosmological Creationism (2000) Richard Carrier   A short series of exchanges on cosmological creationism which largely transpired in our August and October feedback pages touched upon every issue that I have often visited and continue to visit in my discussions with creationists. In this essay, I now present several objections which […]

Tai Solarin: His Life, Ideas, and Accomplishments (1995) Richard Carrier   The most famous and controversial atheist and secular humanist in African history (if not the only one of any real renown) was the Nigerian nationalist Tai Solarin, who sadly passed away at the age of 72 in 1994. I wrote a paper on Tai […]

Supplements (Bibliography of Skepticism in the Ancient World) (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999)   Supplements Sage, Saint, and Sophist: Holy Men and their Associates in the Early Roman Empire, Graham Anderson, New York, Routledge, 1994, 289 p. Annas, Julia, “Doing Without Objective Values: Ancient and Modern Strategies,” in The Norms of Nature: Studies in Hellenistic […]

Fundamental Flaws in Mark Steiner’s Challenge to Naturalism in The Applicability of Mathematics as a Philosophical Problem (2003) Richard Carrier   This is a critical rebuttal to Mark Steiner’s book The Applicability of Mathematics as a Philosophical Problem (1998). Steiner argues that naturalism appears to be false because nature is fundamentally mathematical. Carrier argues otherwise. […]

Comprehensive Bibliography on Skeptical Thought in the Ancient World (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999)   This bibliography is not as complete as I would like. However, it does contain every reference that could be found in every relevant electronic database known to me (and accessible through Columbia University), including everything that could be found in […]

Test Your Scientific Literacy! (2001) Richard Carrier   Do you think you know what science is? You may be surprised. Scientific literacy is hard to acquire and is not widespread. Science is, after all, a very complex and nuanced affair that can only be truly understood with wide experience and deep thought. It took the […]

Scientific Studies (Bibliography of Skepticism in the Ancient World) (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999)   Scientific Studies Biddle, Bruce Jesse, and Marlin, Marjorie M., “Causality, Confirmation, Credulity, and Structural Equation Modeling,” in Child Development, Vol. 58, Feb., 1987, pp. 4-17. Bower, Bruce, “True Believers: the Thinking Person May Favor Gullibility Over Skepticism,” in Science News, […]

Research Notes and Protocols (Bibliography of Skepticism in the Ancient World) (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999)   What I Have Done In compiling my bibliography, I employed the following resources, which are mainly (though not exclusively) electronic databases: The Database of Classical Bibliography (and the ensuing issues of L’Année Philologique), The Guide to Historical Literature, […]

Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection Story (6th ed., 2006) Richard Carrier   The Rubicon Analogy   James Holding claims that we have as much evidence that Jesus rose from his grave as we have that Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon (“Julie’s River Run: On Comparing the Rubicon to the Resurrection“). There are numerous errors […]

Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection Story (6th ed., 2006) Richard Carrier Main Argument What follows is a half-hour lecture I have given on several public occasions, first at Yale on 26 October 2000 at the request of the Yale College Humanists and Secularists. It was followed by a Q & A session of nearly two hours. […]

Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection Story (6th ed., 2006) Richard Carrier   Introduction   What is the purpose of this collection of essays? Many things could be said which cast doubt on the story of the Resurrection of Jesus by God, but there are three above all that are most decisive in leading me […]

This file has been relocated: it is now the first half of the new Introduction.

This file has been relocated: it is now the second half of the new Introduction.

This file has been relocated: it is now Section III of Rebutting Lesser Arguments.

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This file has been relocated: it is now Section I of Rebutting Lesser Arguments.

Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection Story (6th ed., 2006) Richard Carrier   Rebutting Lesser Arguments   Many devout believers will take issue with what I have said so far in the essays listed in the table above. So far, they have yet to give any good reason to actually come to a different conclusion. […]

This file has been relocated: it is now Section XII of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.

This file has been relocated: it is now Section XI of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.

This file has been relocated: it is now Section X of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.

This file has been relocated: it is now Section IX of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.

This file has been relocated: it is now Section VIII of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.

This file has been relocated: it is now Section VII of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.