[This article was originally published in Analysis 57.4, October 1997, pp. 295-304.] Quantum Cosmology’s Implication of Atheism (1997) Quentin Smith     ‘In principle, one can predict everything in the universe solely from physical laws. Thus, the long-standing ‘first cause’ problem intrinsic in cosmology has finally been dispelled.’ Fang and Wu, (1986):3) 1. The quantum […]

A Natural Explanation of the Existence and Laws of Our Universe (1990) Quentin Smith The following article was originally published in AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY in March 1990 (Volume 68, No. 1, pp. 22-43). I. The Possibility of a Natural Explanation of Our Universe The standard view of philosophers is that the existence of particular […]

A Formal Logic Proof of Atheism (2000) Quentin Smith   I (1.) An extensional analytic sentence is one that, through substitution of synonyms for synonyms, results in a narrowly logical truth, e.g., a truth in standard propositional logic. The theorems of propositional logic are not sentences, but propositions that are expressible by sentences. Proof of […]

Stephen Hawking’s Cosmology and Theism (1994)   Quentin Smith   The following article was originally published in ANALYSIS in 1994 (Volume 54, No. 4. pp. 236-243).   1. Stephen Hawking has recently argued that there is ‘no place for a creator’, that God does not exist. In his quantum cosmology there would be no singularities […]

An Atheological Argument from Evil Natural Laws* (1991) Quentin Smith Department of Philosophy, Antioch College, Yellow Springs, OH 45387   The following article was originally published in INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL FOR THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION in 1991 (Volume 29, pp. 159-174). * I should like to thank Keith Chrzan, P.G. McGrath, Susan Ament Smith and an […]

Atheism, Theism and Big Bang Cosmology (1991) Quentin Smith The following article was originally published in AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY in March 1991 (Volume 69, No. 1, pp. 48-66). I. Introduction The idea that the big bang theory allows us to infer that the universe began to exist about 15 billion years ago has attracted […]

Can Everything Come to Be Without a Cause? (1994) Quentin Smith Western Michigan University   The following article was originally published in DIALOGUE: CANADIAN PHILOSOPHICAL REVIEW in 1994 (Volume 33, pp. 313-323). It is rare to find an argument for the principle that it is impossible for the universe to come to be without a […]

[This article was originally published in Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191.] CAUSATION AND THE LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF A DIVINE CAUSE* (1996) Quentin Smith Western Michigan University   1. Introduction Some interesting light is thrown on the nature of causation, the origin of the universe, and arguments for atheism if we […]

A Big Bang Cosmological Argument For God’s Nonexistence (1992) Quentin Smith   The following article was originally published in FAITH AND PHILOSOPHY in April 1992 (Volume 9, No. 2, pp. 217-237).   The big bang cosmological theory is relevant to Christian theism and other theist perspectives since it represents the universe as beginning to exist […]

Two Ways to Prove Atheism (1996) Quentin Smith   [This speech was delivered before the Atheist Alliance convention in Minneapolis, MN on April 6, 1996.] Today I will discuss two ways to prove atheism: that scientific cosmology can prove atheism and that the existence of gratuitous evil proves atheism. I’ll begin with scientific cosmology. Scientific […]

The Anthropic Coincidences, Evil and the Disconfirmation of Theism (1992)   Quentin Smith   The following article was originally published in RELIGIOUS STUDIES in 1992 (Volume 28, pp. 347-350).   The anthropic principle or the associated anthropic coincidences have been used by philosophers such as John Leslie (1989), William Lane Craig (1988) and Richard Swinburne […]

God, Atheism and Incompatibility: The Argument from Nonbelief (2001) Philip Kuchar   The Argument from Nonbelief against God’s existence (ANB) has been used by a number of writers, such as Theodore Drange [1] and J. L. Schellenberg [2], to show that the mere existence of nonbelievers or the presence of sufficient evidence for nonbelief in […]

Secular Ethics and Animal Rights (1995) Peter D. Wilson   Since the beginning of recorded history humans have searched for the knowledge that teaches us right from wrong. Most of the time, people have found this knowledge in religion. But for those of us who do not believe in gods, we are left to fend […]

The Atheist’s Certainty (1994) Peter D. Wilson   Neither atheists nor agnostics believe in gods. Whether or not this lack of belief is itself a belief has long been debated and forms part of the disagreement between atheists and agnostics. The atheist confidently proclaims “God does not exist” while the agnostic admits uncertainty and believes […]

Argument from Silence I titled this section “Argument from Silence” because I am well aware that these are arguments from silence. Whenever an argument from silence is made, the objection invariably comes “that is just an argument from silence,” perhaps accompanied by the dictum, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I am recognizing […]

The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus The essay quoted is by William Lane Craig, originally published “The Historicity of the Empty Tomb of Jesus.” New Testament Studies 31 (1985): 39-67. It was accessed December 14, 2000 (URL:http://www.origins.org/offices/billcraig/docs/tomb2.html). Until recently the empty tomb has been widely regarded as both an offense to modern intelligence […]

Rebuttal to Tomb Burial by Joseph of Arimathea In order to present the arguments for the empty tomb in a fair way and in order to comment on these arguments in full detail, I have chosen to quote and to respond to an essay by Craig in a manner made popular through Usenet and e-mail […]

Testimony of Paul In the previous section, it was argued that the silence of several writers to mention the empty tomb constitutes an inductive argument against the historicity of the empty tomb. The absence of evidence for tomb veneration was also taken as evidence against the empty tomb. In this section, the evidence of Paul’s […]

Introduction to the Issue There is a longstanding debate over the historicity of the empty tomb of Jesus. Because many competent critics do not think that the historical evidence justifies belief in the empty tomb, it is fair to say that scholarship is divided on this point.[1] At the same time, many critics do accept […]

Improbabilities in Mark I will start with those objections to the plausibility of the story that have little merit and proceed to those that are more serious. As always, I am not declaring any of these to be insuperable, but I do think that some provide a degree of evidence against the story. It is […]

Fictional Characteristics in Mark With the previous section, this section aims to provide a likely explanation for how the empty tomb story came to be without a historical basis. This section does more to discredit the story because indications in Mark will be used to suggest the fictional, legendary, or redactional character of the first […]

Dependence on Mark   We have seen that there is no mention of the empty tomb story in early Christian writings outside of the four gospels. This situation is made worse if the evangelists do not demonstrate any independence in reporting this story. This would be somewhat strange because, were the story historical, it would […]

Burial Traditions So we have established as our best historical reconstruction that the burial of Jesus was carried out by those opposed to Jesus (responsible for his crucifixion) and that they would have given him a dishonorable burial. This stands in distinction to the idea in the four gospels that Jesus was given a proper […]

Assessment of the Evidence   As the postmodernists would urge us all to do, I will begin with a confession of my interest in this matter, of biases that operate on levels seen and unseen, from the motivation to make my efforts in writing appear worthwhile to my general disbelief in the Christian religion. There […]

Appearance Traditions The first appearances were to Peter and his associates. The first appearance recounted in the formula found in 1 Corinthians 15 is the one to Kephas. This is widely acknowledged to be the earliest and best evidence that is available. The Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the four, alludes to the appearance […]

The Historicity of the Empty Tomb Evaluated (2001) Peter Kirby   Introduction to the Issue The Case Against the Empty Tomb Argument from Silence Testimony of Paul Dependence on Mark Fictional Characteristics in Mark Improbabilities in Mark Roman Crucifixion and Jewish Burial Burial Traditions Appearance Traditions The Case For the Empty Tomb The Tomb Burial […]

Naturalistic Inquiry This essay is written in response to those who have questioned me about ‘naturalism’, what it means to me, and why I am a naturalist. It is the product of several informal exchanges. First off, I would note that ‘naturalist’ is a title that I adopt with some hesitancy. It is amazing how […]

Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution Michael J. Behe The Free Press, New York ISBN 0-684-82754-9 xii + 307 pp Reviewed by Peter Atkins, University of Oxford For those who have not already encountered this book or one of its numerous reviews, let me simply say that the author sets out to argue […]

As I proceed to bury myself further into controversial theological issues, the issue of hell is something to be considered as well. Heaven provides some assurance that there will be life after death, and it also assures us that a heavenly life will be a fantastic one. But what about hell? I was concerned about […]

Let me assess James’ conclusion about theism and elaborate upon which points we disagree upon. I want to show why some atheists, like me, might see Godlessness as preferable to theism under the light of serious doubts and criticisms. I will find faults with theism, but they are not conclusive or irreparably damaging. They are […]