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Our selection of books and associated reviews. Each cover is an affiliate link to Amazon for purchase.
Testimony: A Philosophical Study
The role of testimony in the getting of reliable belief or knowledge is a central but neglected epistemological issue. Western philosophical tradition has paid scant attention to the individual thinker’s reliance upon the word of others; yet this reliance is both extensive and often hidden from view. Professor Coady begins by exploring the nature and […]
The Battle for America’s Families
Gilson approaches the religious right phenomenon through the lens of feminism. Along the way she tackles such questions as “What are family values?” and “Can right-wing family values fix social wrongs?” In her exploration of the roots of the religious right, Gilson also responds to the assumptions made in the religious right that families are […]
The Bridge
A darkly brilliant novel of self-discovery the cutting edge of experimental fiction. It leads from nowhere to nowhere, the mysterious world-spanning structure on which everyone seems to live. Rescued from the sea, devoid of personality or memory, all John Orr knows is the Bridge, his persistent dreams of war, and his desire for Chief Engineer […]
The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order
Based on the author’s seminal article in Foreign Affairs, Samuel P. Huntington’s The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order is a provocative and prescient analysis of the state of world politics after the fall of communism. In this incisive work, the renowned political scientist explains how “civilizations” have replaced nations and ideologies […]
The Dunwich Cycle : Where the Old Gods Wait (US 1996 Paperback)
In the Dunwiches of the world the old ways linger. Safely distant from bustling cities, ignorant of science, ignored by civilization, dull enough never to excite others, poor enough never to provoke envy, these are safe harbours for superstition and seemingly meaningless custom. Sometimes also they shelter truths that have seeped invisibly across the centuries. […]
The Evolutionists: The Struggle for Darwin’s Soul
Evolution is a fact: of that there can be no dispute. But, writes Richard Morris in this lively overview of modern biology, scientists have been arguing about most other aspects of Darwinian thought for generations, and the battle is growing ever fiercer with the advent of “evolutionary psychology” and other new approaches. Following the biologist […]
The Forgery of the Old Testament
Is the creation story in Genesis nothing more than a botched version of Babylonian myth? Are the Jesuits really educated men? In these three classic essays — “The Forgery of the Old Testament,” “The Myth of Immortality,” and “The Lies of Religious Literature” — Joseph McCabe (1867 – 1955), ex-priest and the “world’s greatest scholar,” […]
The Jesus Dynasty : The Hidden History of Jesus, His Royal Family, and the Birth of Christianity
Based on a careful analysis of the earliest Christian documents and recent archaeological discoveries, The Jesus Dynasty offers a bold new interpretation of the life of Jesus and the origins of Christianity. The story is surprising, controversial, and exciting as only a long-lost history can be when it is at last recovered. In The Jesus […]
The Light of Other Days (Abridged Audio Cassette)
The crowning achievement of any professional writer is to get paid twice for the same material: write a piece for one publisher and then tweak it just enough that you can turn around and sell it to someone else. While it’s specious to accuse Stephen Baxter and Arthur C. Clarke of this, fans of both […]
The Mind Made Flesh – Essays from the Frontiers of Psychology and Evolution
This book, by the author of Leaps of Faith: Science, Miracles, and the Search for Supernatural Consolation, collects together a series of controversial essays that probe what we think we know on a variety of topics. Dealing with the complex issues of evolutionary psychology in terms that most well-educated lay people can comprehend is no […]
The Necessity of Atheism
The great Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822), best known for such masterpieces as “Ode to the West Wind” and “Prometheus Unbound,” also expressed his ideas on religious oppression in works of impassioned prose. The Necessity of Atheism and Other Essays features five anti-religious tracts by Shelley: “On Christianity,” “The Necessity of Atheism” (which resulted […]
The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy (1996 Paperback)
All the terms one would expect to find in a comprehensive dictionary of philosophy can be found in this expertly researched reference, plus many terms and concepts not ususally found in such reference works. Capsule biographies of nearly 500 individuals, from the pre-Socratics through such major figures as Aquinas, Lady Anne Finch, Nietzsche, and Einstein, […]
The Psychology of Religion: Theoretical Approaches
Theory in the psychology of religion is in a state of rapid development, and the present volume demonstrates how various positions in this field may be translated into original foundational work that will in turn encourage exploration in many directions. A number of new contributions are collected with previously published pieces to illustrate the diversity […]
The Second Sex
In The Second Sex, Simone de Beauvoir posed questions many men, and women, had yet to ponder when the book was released in 1953. “One wonders if women still exist, if they will always exist, whether or not it is desirable that they should …,” she says in this comprehensive treatise on women. She weaves […]
The Symbolic Species (1998 Paperback)
Subtitled “The Co-Evolution of Language and the Brain,” Deacon’s book traces the origin of language back to the developmentof the human pair bond and shows how langugage propelled human brain evolution. Highly recommended!
The Voyage of the Beagle: Charles Darwin’s Journal of Researches
When the Beagle sailed out of Devenport on 27 December 1831, Charles Darwin was twenty-two and setting off on the voyage of a lifetime. It was to last five years and transform him from an amiable and somewhat aimless young man into a scientific celebrity. Even more vitally, it was to set in motion the […]
Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus
Perhaps the most important work of philosophy written in the twentieth century, the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus first appeared in 1921 and was the only philosophical work that Ludwig Wittgenstein published during his lifetime. Written in short, carefully numbered paragraphs of extreme compression and brilliance, it immediately convinced many of its readers and captivated the imagination of […]
Walden
An American classic that hails from the nineteenth-century Transcendentalism movement rather than existentialism. However, Thoreau addresses several themes that are of interest to existentialists as well. How does one avoid too much compromise in conforming to others’ expectations while still retaining personal identity and freedom? Thoreau outlines his carpe deim prescription for an authentic life: […]
Who Is Jesus?: Answers to Your Questions About the Historical Jesus
This fascinating book makes the results of a lifetime of scholarship readily available to nonspecialists who want to meet the historical Jesus. Eminent biblical scholar John Dominic Crossan collaborates with pastor Richard G. Watts to rediscover the life, the work, and the message of the Man from Galilee. The authors explain the person and teachings […]
Why I Am Not a Muslim
Appalled by the rise of Islamic fundamentalism, Ibn Warraq offers in response a reasoned examination of the world’s second largest religion. Having been raised as a Muslim himself, Warraq has personal experience with Islam as well as a thorough knowledge of Islamic scholarship. Warraq presents a critical analysis of the life of Muhammad, the factors […]
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 […]
