[ Recently Published Articles | Editor’s Choice | Featured Books | Categories ]
[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
Our selection of books and associated reviews. Each cover is an affiliate link to Amazon for purchase.
The End of Christianity
Description In this successor volume to his critically acclaimed first anthology, The Christian Delusion: Why Faith Fails, John Loftus—a former minister and now a leading atheist spokesperson—has assembled a stellar group of respected scholars to continue the critique of Christianity begun in the first volume. The contributors include Victor Stenger, Robert Price, Hector Avalos, Richard […]
The Family: The Secret Fundamentalism at the Heart of American Power
Description They insist they are just a group of friends, yet they funnel millions of dollars through tax-free corporations. They claim to disdain politics, but congressmen of both parties describe them as the most influential religious organization in Washington. They say they are not Christians, but simply believers. Behind the scenes at every National Prayer […]
The God Virus: How Religion Infects Our Lives and Culture
Description Dr. Darrel Ray, psychologist and lifelong student of religion, discusses religious infection from the inside out. What makes religion so powerful? How does it weave its way into our political system? Why do people believe and follow obvious religious charlatans? What makes people profess deep faith even as they act in ways that betray […]
The Humanist Alternative
The contributors to this volume were asked the following questions: The term “Humanism” is widely used, as are the terms “ethical” Humanism, “scientific” Humanism and “religious” Humanism. What is Humanism? Can you define it? If there is in your judgment no clear definition in the literature, you may wish to propose one. You may also […]
The Last Temptation of Christ
Hailed as a masterpiece by critics worldwide, The Last Temptation of Christ is a monumental reinterpretation of the Gospels by one of the giants of modern literature. Nikos Kazantzakis, renowned author of Zorba the Greek, brilliantly fleshes out the story of Christ’s passion, giving it a dynamic spiritual freshness. Kazantzakis’s Jesus is gloriously divine, yet […]
The Making of the Messiah: Christianity and Resentment
“This book presents a picture of the origins of Christianity very different from anything that has been published before,” writes Robert Sheaffer in the Introduction to The Making of the Messiah. “Many Christians will find this book as offensive as Moslem fanatics did Salman Rushdie’s ‘blasphemous’ Satanic Verses.” Sheaffer has provided fascinating reading for all […]
The Mystical Mind: Probing the Biology of Religious Experience
How does the mind experience the sacred? What biological mechanisms are involved in mystical states and trances? Is there a neurological basis for patterns in comparative religions? Does religion have an evolutionary function? This pathbreaking work by two leading medical researchers explores the neurophysiology of religious experience. Building on an explanation of the basic structure […]
The Origin of Satan
Pagels’ lucid history of the social construction of Satan is not only a wealth of historical information, but also a source of important insights into the demonization of “intimate enemies” that has marked the history of Christianity. Pagels writes that she began with the assumption that Christian discourse about invisible beings, including Satan and other […]
The Portable Voltaire
Satirist, novelist, poet, dramatist, historian, moralist, critic, courtier, and correspondent, champion of reason and fanatical adversary of fanaticism, a darling of kings with the unfortunate habit of turning them into enemies, François Arouet de Voltaire is one of the few writers to have imposed his name on an entire epoch. It is entirely appropriate that […]
The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry
Although Christianity is anchored to the doctrine of the resurrection, historical research shows that from a historical standpoint Jesus was not raised from the dead. In the thorough explanation and discussion of the primary texts dealing with the claimed resurrection of Christ, New Testament expert Gerd Ludemann presents compelling evidence to show that the resurrection […]
The Small Book
When the author and his wife started Rational Recovery in 1986, their program met the huge demand for an alternative to 12-step recovery programs. The Small Book — as opposed to AA’s The Big Book — is the secular guide for people who want to recover through self-reliance, not through dependence on religion, sponsors, or […]
The Ultimate Hitchhiker’s Guide
It’s safe to say that The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy is one of the funniest science fiction novels ever written. Adams spoofs many core science fiction tropes: space travel, aliens, interstellar war–stripping away all sense of wonder and repainting them as commonplace, even silly. This omnibus edition begins with The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the […]
There’s Something About Mary: Essays on Phenomenal Consciousness and Frank Jackson’s Knowledge Argument
Book Description In Frank Jackson’s famous thought experiment, Mary is confined to a black-and-white room and educated through black-and-white books and lectures on a black-and-white television. In this way, she learns everything there is to know about the physical world. If physicalism–the doctrine that everything is physical–is true, then Mary seems to know all there […]
Universes
Universes asks ‘Why does our universe exist?’ In order to answer that most fundamental of question, this author examines the philosophical as well as the scientific arguments for ‘fine tuning’; that is, the theory that the cosmos is specifically suited to produce life. The result is one of the most powerful versions of the ‘argument […]
Why Be Moral?
Noted philosopher Kai Nielsen offers an answer to this fundamental question – a question that reaches in to grasp at the very heart of ethics itself. Essentially, this innocent inquiry masks a confusion that so many of us get caught in as we think about moral issues. We fail to realize that there is a […]
Wings Of Illusion: The Origin, Nature, and Future of Paranormal Belief
Synopsis Unavailable
A Celebration of Humanism and Freethought
A unified call to reason, tolerance, and freedom of expression in opposition to the forces of ignorance, supernaturalism, superstition, and dogmatism. The words of A Celebration of Humanism and Freethought is a remarkable collection of compelling ideas and impressive art that deserves a place on every bookshelf.
A Song of Stone
A European nation not unlike Bosnia: Armed forces roam the lawless land where dark columns of smoke rise up from the surrounding farms and houses. The war is ending, perhaps ended. But for the castle and its occupants, a young lord and lady, the trouble is just beginning. Fearing an invasion of soldiers, the amorous […]
Answering Islam
Christian apologist Norman L. Geisler and former muslim Abdul Saleeb team up to provide a comprehensive, systematic philosophical comparison of Islam and Christianity. Although freethinkers will obviously find much to disagree with in the portions of this book which attempt to “prove” Christianity, the insights of the anti-Islam sections alone make this book valuable to […]
Atheism and Theism
The issue of whether or not there is a God is one of the oldest and most widely disputed philosophical questions. It is a debate that spreads far across the range of philosophical questions about the status of science, the nature of mind, the character of good and evil, the epistemology of experience and testimony, […]
Being and Time
Heidegger has been criticized for his participation in the Nazi party and one could draw a direct connection from his politics to his idea of the herd-instinct philosophy of “falling into the they.” We fall into the “they” to avoid the anxiety of separation. “There is no I, only the one.” Human interaction usually lacks […]
Biogenesis: Theories of Life’s Origin
Biogenesis provides an up-to-date discussion of the origin of life, including experimental strategies, theories, models, and controversies. The book includes an historical overview, from the Greek philosophers to contemporary scientists.
Casting the First Stone
Christian lay reader, antiquarian bookseller and mystical philosopher Gilbert examines the battle lines that have been drawn between orthodoxy and non-orthodoxy, tradition and “alternative” innovation, religious fundamentalism and the “New Age” and looks at the activities of intolerant extremist pressure groups whose aim is to impose their own restrictive values and belief systems on all […]
Consciousness Explained
The national bestseller chosen by The New York Times Book Review as one of the ten best books of 1991 is now available in paperback. The author of Brainstorms and coauthor of The Mind’s I proposes an original model of consciousness based on new scientific fact and theory.
Darwin, God and the Meaning of Life: How Evolutionary Theory Undermines Everything You Thought You Knew
Description This accessible, engaging, and timely book brings together philosophy and evolutionary psychology in a way that will open up debate between the two disciplines. Is religion compatible with evolution? Is religious faith intellectually flawed? Steve Stewart-Williams addresses these and other fundamental questions raised by Darwin’s theory of evolution. Drawing on philosophy, biology and the […]
Denying Evolution: Creationism, Scientism, and the Nature of Science
Denying Evolution aims at taking a fresh look at the evolution-creation controversy. It presents a truly “balanced” treatment, not in the sense of treating creationism as a legitimate scientific theory (it demonstrably is not), but in the sense of dividing the blame for the controversy equally between creationists and scientists–the former for subscribing to various […]
Doubting Darwin?: Creationist Designs on Evolution
Book Description The debate about what to teach as science in our schools has reached the boiling point, both inside and outside the classroom. From Young Earth to Intelligent Design creationism, the intrusion of political and religious ideals is damaging the integrity of our public education system. Doubting Darwin? puts the dispute into its scientific […]
Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong
Mackie argues that morality is subjective and therefore invented rather than discovered.
Fading Faith: The Rise of the Secular Age
Description A historic transition is occurring, barely noticed. Slowly, imperceptibly, religion is shriveling. Pope Benedict XVI laments that “Europe has developed a culture that, in a manner unknown before now to humanity, excludes God from the public conscience.” In Denmark and Sweden, fewer than 5% of adults are in church on a typical Sunday. In […]
Freedom Evolves
Daniel C. Dennett is a brilliant polemicist, famous for challenging unexamined orthodoxies. Over the last thirty years, he has played a major role in expanding our understanding of consciousness, developmental psychology, and evolutionary theory. And with such groundbreaking, critically acclaimed books as Consciousness Explained and Darwin’s Dangerous Idea (a National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize […]
