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Our selection of books and associated reviews. Each cover is an affiliate link to Amazon for purchase.
A Drop of Reason: Essays from the Secular Web
Keith Augustine | David Misialowski | Richard Carrier | Edouard Tahmizian | John MacDonald | B. Steven Matthies | Edward Babinski | Raymond D. Bradley | Brian Vroman | Andrew Melnyk
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March 13, 2025
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Kiosk Book, Publications
In 1995, the Secular Web made its debut online with the goal of promoting a naturalist view of reality, without recourse to God or gods or any supernatural realm. Now, thirty years on, the site is still going strong, and during that period it has assembled an impressive collection of scholarly essays from contributors. Now, to commemorate the site's 30th anniversary, we have assembled a number of those essays in book form: A Drop of Reason. Please enjoy this stellar collection of critical thinking.
Where did Everything Come From? A Short Philosophy Novel for Kids (Starring Billy and Bee, Who are Blue and Green)
Join young Billy and Beatrice, squabbling siblings, as they visit imaginary neighborhoods in different time periods, and even blast off into outer space! Engaging with oddball characters like Mr. Whom (a balloon), Mr. Sour Hour (a vulture) and Mr. Darwinkle (a bearded moose), they come to grips with Big Questions, like the nature of God, time, evolution, death, and the biggest question of all: where did everything come from?
Heterodox Hymns: Three Poets, One Purpose
The following works are from three writers who are members of the Internet Infidels Discussion Board (IIDB), which, in affiliation with the Secular Web, promotes a naturalistic world view, free of God or gods and the supernatural. The works in the main are in keeping with the basic idea of metaphysical or methodological naturalism, and the idea that ultimately we are responsible for our own lives, and not beholden to some eye in the sky always watching and judging us.
Killing History: Jesus in the No-Spin Zone
Description Killing Jesus, the bestselling blockbuster by Bill O’Reilly, claims to be a purely historical account of the events in the life of Jesus leading up to his crucifixion. New Testament scholar Robert M. Price (a member of the Jesus Seminar) shows how unfounded this claim is in this critical review of O’Reilly’s work. In […]
God’s Gravediggers: Why No Deity Exists
Description Raymond Bradley is probably the most important atheist you’ve never heard of. 16 years before the release of Richard Dawkin’s The Selfish Gene, Professor Bradley was completing his Ph.D. regarding the theological problem of free will, setting off a long, esteemed and distinguished career. As a veteran professor of philosophy back in 1994–long before […]
The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament Ethics
Description Did Jesus ever do anything wrong? Judging by the vast majority of books on New Testament ethics, the answer is a resounding “No.” But since the historical Jesus was a human being, must he not have had flaws, like everyone else? According to Avalos, it shows that New Testament ethics is still primarily an […]
The Bible Against Itself: Why the Bible Seems to Contradict Itself
Description All books are written for or against some point of view, and the books of the Bible are no different. Bible book authors were often motivated to write because they wanted to challenge or correct those who had written before them. As Helms explains, The Bible is a war zone, and its authors are […]
What If I’m an Atheist?: A Teen’s Guide to Exploring a Life Without Religion
Description Can you have guidance without God? This thoughtful, one-of-a-kind guide offers answers to all of your questions about atheism and nonbelief. Have you ever wondered what religion and belief mean for your life? Maybe you believe in nothing at all. Does that mean you’re an atheist? What does atheism even mean? Regardless of the […]
God or Godless? One Atheist. One Christian. Twenty Controversial Questions
Description Perhaps the most persistent question in human history is whether or not there is a God. Intelligent people on both sides of the issue have argued, sometimes with deep rancor and bitterness, for generations. The issue can’t be decided by another apologetics book, but the conversation can continue and help each side understand the […]
50 Simple Questions for Every Christian
Description Written in a respectful and conversational style, this unique book is designed to promote constructive dialogue and foster mutual understanding between Christians and non-Christians. The author, a skeptic and journalist, asks basic questions about Christian belief. What is the born-again experience? Why would God want to sacrifice his only son for the world? Do […]
Doubting Jesus’ Resurrection: What Happened in the Black Box? (2nd Edition)
In this outline of what may have given rise to the beliefs and traditions in 1 Corinthians 15:3-7 if Jesus did not rise from the dead, Kris D. Komarnitsky explains why using these verses to support the historical reliability of the Gospels is problematic.
Sword of Islam: Muslim Extremists from the Arab Conquests to the Attack on America
Undoubtedly timely and full of fascinating detail, Sword of Islam is a thorough, well-researched, and revealing account of global Islamic terrorism. A military historian, John F. Murphy Jr. traces the intricate interconnections among various terrorist cells, including Osama Bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda and its relationship with the Taliban of Afghanistan, the Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt, Islamic […]
The Historical Jesus Quest: Landmarks in the Search for the Jesus of History
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.
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.
Vision of War
Originally published: 1915 Genre: Poetry Subject: World War, 1914-1918 — Poetry
Physics and Psychics : The Search for a World Beyond the Senses
Editorial Reviews From Book News, Inc. , June 1, 1990 Stenger (physics, U. of Hawaii) critically examines theories of a transcendentreality in terms of what is currently known about matter at its most fundamentallevel. He offers a convincing rebuttal to those who attempt to link physicsto mystical truths.Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or
36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction
Description Equally adept at fiction (a winner of the National Jewish Book Award) and philosophy (a recipient of the MacArthur Foundation “genius” prize), Rebecca Newberger Goldstein gives us a novel that transforms the great debate between faith and reason into an exhilarating romance of both heart and mind. At the center: Cass Seltzer, a professor […]
A New Christianity for a New World
Friends and foes alike recognize the Bishop John Shelby Spong as the leading spokesman for liberal Christianity. In his bestselling Why Christianity Must Change or Die he describes the toxins that are poisoning the Church. Now he offers the antidote, calling Christians everywhere into a new and radical reformation for a new age. Spong looks […]
American Jesus: How the Son of God Became a National Icon
The Story of the Transformation of Jesus from Divinity to Celebrity The United States (it is often pointed out) is one of the most religious countries on earth, and most Americans belong to one Christian church or another. But as Stephen Prothero argues in American Jesus, many of the most interesting appraisals of Jesus have […]
Assignment in Eternity
The “nova effect” makes the H-bomb look like a kitchen match–one bomb can vaporize an entire planet. An undercover agent carrying the secret of this weapon must defeat an insane opponent, one who has decided that when she dies, the Earth will go “nova” with her.
Atlas Shrugged
The book that moved the world–and about the man who almost stopped it. Setting forth the fundamentals of Ayn Rand’s unique philosophy of Objectivism, Atlas Shrugged is an acclaimed work about the murder–and rebirth–of a man’s spirit.
Between Planets (US 1988 Paperback)
Don Harvey, Come Home! The message had seemed simple, yet it was more complex than Don Harvey could have imagined. He was being called from Earth to an alien world for reasons unknown — save only that his life depended on it. But setting out for Mars and getting there in good shape turned out […]
Bringing UFOs Down to Earth
Pioneer investigator of UFO claims urges young readers to think before believing that aliens have landed. Young people love the mystery that accompanies believing in Unidentified Flying Objects (UFOs). To children, the world of the unknown is often much more exciting than the world they know. Yet in their early search for the truth, it’s […]
Church Schools and Public Money: The Politics of Parochiaid
A synopsis is unavailable at this time.
Creationism’s Upside-Down Pyramid
Lee Tiffin demonstrates why he believes creationism is based on unscientific methods, and why he believes creationism should not be taught in public schools. He introduces scientific information and numerical data based on recognized standards to argue that creation science rests on guessing, not on verifiable evidence.
Decline of the West (Vol. 1)
Since its first publication in two volumes between 1926-28, this work has ranked as one of the most widely read and most talked about books of our time. Spengler probes the origin and “fate” of our civilization, presenting a world view based on the cyclical rise and decline of cultures. Time magazine calls it “an […]
Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason
If there is a God, why is his existence not more obvious? The traditional answer is that God is hidden. However, as Schellenberg points out, an all-good or perfectly loving God would not remain hidden. Therefore, he argues, the fact that it is reasonable not to believe in God is evidence for atheism.
Embracing the Power of Humanism
Is life meaningful without religion? Can one be moral and not believe in God? While many Americans believe that God is necessary to secure moral order, Paul Kurtz argues that it is quite possible for rationalists and freethinkers to lead exemplary lives. Embracing the Power of Humanism is a collection of essays organized into five […]
Exile and the Kingdom
A riveting and utterly haunting book, this anthology of Camus’s short stories is not only my favorite of all his works, but it is one of the best books I have ever read. The underlying theme in each of his stories is exile, whether it be spiritual, physical, or mental. From the tale of the […]
Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
James Randi is internationally known as a magician and escape artist. But for the past thirty-five years of his professional life, he has also been active as an investigator of the paranormal, occult, and supernatural claims that have impressed the thinking of the public for a generation: ESP, psychokinesis, psychic detectives, levitation, psychic surgery, UFOs, […]
Ghosts: Appearances of the Dead and Cultural Transformation
Throughout history, people have reported seeing ghosts. But if we compare a Victorian apparition with a medieval European or Classical Greek ghost, we will find that they are a very different phenomena. In Ghosts: Appearances Of The Dead & Cultural Transformation, R. C. Finucane makes just such a comparison. Surveying reports of ghosts from ancient […]
