A Note on the Concept of Belief (1998) Niclas Berggren “Ratio omnia vincit” (“Reason defeats everything”) – Manilius, Astronomica 4, 931 The purpose of this note is to proffer a needed clarification as to what determines beliefs. Particular attention will be devoted to the idea that it is possible to choose beliefs, i.e., that beliefs […]

A Critique of Miracles by C. S. Lewis (2000) Nicholas Tattersall   Introduction More than thirty years after his death, C. S. Lewis is still world-famous as a literary critic, as an author of children’s fiction and as a Christian apologist. His works have been translated into many languages and they are widely read and […]

The Evidential Argument from Evil (1998) Nicholas Tattersall   “Please understand, it is not God I do not accept, but the world he has created.” Feodor Dostoyevsky The Brothers Karamazov Introduction The purpose of this essay is to explain and argue against various common objections to the Argument from Evil (AE). It is necessary to […]

Substance Dualism and Disembodied Existence (2000) Nicholas Everitt   An edited version of this article was originally published in Faith & Philosophy, Vol. 17, No. 3 (2000), pp. 331-347. I Substance dualism, that most unpopular of current theories of mind, continues to find interesting and able defenders.[1] I shall focus on one set of arguments […]

We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided A Family Therapist View of the Pathogenic Aspects of Prayer (2000) Michael Moore Technion — Israel Institute of Technology Daniela Kramer Oranim Teachers’ College Israel Author Note Michael Moore, Department of Education in Science and Technology; Daniela Kramer, Division of Psychology. The quotation in the title comes from […]

Religion as a Total Institution (2019) Michael Moore According to sociologist Nicki Lisa Cole, “A total institution is a closed social system in which life is organized by strict norms, rules, and schedules, and what happens within it is determined by a single authority whose will is carried out by staff who enforce the rules” […]

Religion and Violence (2017) Michael Moore There is no greater social evil than religion. It is the cancer in the body of humanity. — A. C. Grayling (2005, p. 34) The connection between religion and violence is a long-standing one. Its roots can be found in Edward Burnett Tylor’s description of the “murderous practices” found […]

Prejudice in Religions (2018) Michael Moore Gordon Allport (1897-1967) was one of the most influential personality psychologists of the 20th century. He defined ethnic prejudice as “an antipathy based on faulty and inflexible generalization” (1954, p. 9). In The Nature of Prejudice, Allport devoted an entire chapter to the connection between prejudice and religion, noting […]

Religion and Cultural Cleansing (2019) Michael Moore Traditionally, the transmission of knowledge across generations happens through spoken and written words. Both methods have their disadvantages: spoken words get distorted, whereas written ones are often destroyed. In this essay I will discuss the willful, ideologically guided destruction of religious and cultural heritage by representatives of competing […]

Psychopathology in Religious Ideation: The Case of Death by Proxy (2013) Michael Moore Though there is no unequivocal evidence for a causal relationship between religiosity and psychopathology, a large body of data suggests a connection between these two phenomena. (For some of the controversial research findings, see my paper with Daniela Kramer titled “We are […]

On Miracles and Miracle Workers (2019) Michael Moore Washerwoman to French queen: “Is Milady making the pilgrimage to Chartres?” “Yes”, says the queen, “God has cursed me with barrenness, and I am going there hoping to be cured.” “Useless!” replies the washerwoman; “the big, strapping monk that used to do the miracles is dead”      —Gershon […]

Holy Fools (2017) Michael Moore That strange and sickly world into which the Gospels lead us—a world apparently out of a Russian novel, in which the scum of society, nervous maladies and ‘childish’ idiocy keep a tryst (Nietzsche 1895/1918, p. 96). The jury is still out on the correlation between religiosity and psychopathology. Several studies […]

God Doesn’t Punish? (2019) Michael Moore The claim that “God doesn’t punish” appears about 100,000 times on Google; another 150,000 hits can be found when French, German, Russian, and Spanish equivalents are also added. Haven’t the authors of this phrase heard of the Flood (Genesis 6:7): “So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the […]

On (False) Prophets and Messiahs (2016) Michael Moore The word “prophet” comes from the Greek for “one who predicts.” It served as the accepted translation of the Hebrew “navi”—itself from a Semitic source, which in Akkadian and Arabic indicated “call, announce.” Some Latin sources translated Greek “prophetes” with Latin “vates” (still current in English, and […]

Filthy Lucre: The Church and Wealth (2019) Michael Moore “Filthy lucre,” wrote Titus (1:11), and Matthew (6:19, 24) concurred: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth,” for “Ye cannot serve both God and mammon.” Luke (12:33) instructed his flock: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not […]

Zens’ New Defense of TAG (2001) Michael Martin   Introduction In an Internet paper entitled “A Christian Response to atheist thinker, Michael Martin on TAG and the foundation of induction,” Adam Spurgeon Zens attempted to defend Greg Bahnsen’s inductive form of the Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (TAG). As I showed in my […]

Zens’ Defense of TAG (2000) Michael Martin   In a recent internet paper entitled "A Christian Response to atheist thinker, Michael Martin on TAG and the foundation of induction," Adam Spurgeon Zens attempts to defend Greg Bahnsen’s inductive form of the Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (TAG).[1] Unfortunately, Zens does not seem to […]

Is Christianity Absurd? Michael Martin Introduction For the purpose of my argument I will understand Christianity to mean the religious view that is characterized by doctrines such as Salvation through Christ, Heaven, the Atonement, the ethical views of Jesus, and belief in God.[1] So understood is Christianity absurd? This question is seldom asked, let alone […]

Wittgenstein’s Lectures on Religious Belief (2001) Michael Martin In 1938 Wittgenstein gave a series of three lectures on religious belief at Cambridge. We do not have his own lecture notes but we do have twenty pages of notes taken down by one or more of his students.[1] Wittgenstein did not check their accuracy and they […]

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Religious Studies 19 (1983): 57-64. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 57 Pascal’s Wager as an Argument for Not Believing in God (1984) Michael Martin Can Pascal’s wager for the existence of God be turned against the religious […]

Atheism and Humanistic Value Theory (1996) Michael Martin   What is the relation between atheism and humanistic value theory? Can one be an atheist [1] and not accept any humanistic value theories? Can one accept a humanist value theory and believe in God? These are the sorts of questions that I want to address in […]

Human Suffering and the Acceptance of God (1997) Michael Martin   Why is there so much human suffering in the world if God is all good and all powerful? As I have shown elsewhere although there have been many answers to this question none are successful.[1] However, an answer has been offered by William Craig […]

You may order books by Michael Martin here. A brief biographical sketch is also available. Are There Really No Atheists? (1996) [ 16K ] Martin refutes Greg Bahnsen’s argument that there are no atheists. Butler’s Defense of TAG and Critique of TANG (1996) [ 11K ] Michael Butler in a recent paper published on the Internet has attempted to […]

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in International Journal for Philosophy of Religion 16 (1984): 257-262. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 257 Does the Evidence Confirm Theism More Than Naturalism? Michael Martin Boston University   A positive answer is given by George Schlesinger in […]

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Teaching Philosophy 9:1 (October 1986): 90-91. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 90 An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism, Gordon Stein, ed. Prometheus Books, 1980, 354 pages, $14.95 pbk. Michael Martin This book is a useful reminder that […]

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Teaching Philosophy 5:2 (April 1982): 152-55. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 152 Atheism: The Case Against God, George H. Smith. Prometheus Books, 1979, 355 pages. $6.95 pbk. Michael Martin Boston University This book is a hard hitting […]

[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Teaching Philosophy 8:4 (October 1985): 352-54. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 352 God, Freedom and Immortality, Antony Flew. Buffalo: Prornetheus Books. 1984, 183 pp, $8.95. MICHAEL MARTIN This collection of essays, divided into three parts (God, Freedom […]

Reply to Butler, Ventrella, and Fields (1996) Michael Martin   Introduction On the evening of October 26, 1994 a debate on the existence of God was scheduled between the late Greg Bahnsen and me at Rhodes College. This debate was canceled when SCCCS and I could not agree on whether the debate was to be […]