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Our selection of books and associated reviews. Each cover is an affiliate link to Amazon for purchase.
The Bible’s Buried Secrets (DVD)
Description An archaeological detective story puzzles together clues to the mystery of who wrote the Bible, when and why. In this landmark two-hour special, viewers are taken on a fascinating scientific journey that began 3,000 years ago and continues today as NOVA travels to several excavations of ancient cities in the Near East, filming newly […]
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward
Incantations of black magic unearthed unspeakable horrors in a quiet town near Providence, Rhode Island. Evil spirits are being resurrected from beyond the grave, a supernatural force so twisted that it kills without offering the mercy of death!
The Dark Side of Christian History
Over a period of nearly two millennia, the Christian Church has oppressed and brutalized millions of individuals. Meticulously researched and courageously written, The Dark Side of Christian History by Helen Ellerbe examines the Church’s devastating impact upon human freedom, dignity and spirituality. Written for the lay reader, this controversial book is especially relevant today as […]
The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason
An impassioned plea for reason in a world divided by faith. This important and timely book delivers a startling analysis of the clash of faith and reason in today’s world. Harris offers a vivid historical tour of mankind’s willingness to suspend reason in favor of religious beliefs, even when those beliefs are used to justify […]
The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein
The Fantasies of Robert A. Heinlein gives newer SF readers and fans a less-known side of his work and opportunity to savor crisp sentences filled with telling detail, sardonic observations of character, and engrossing tales. The stories, originally published in the 1940s and ’50s, showcase Heinlein’s science-fictional approach to fantasy. Though magic works and the […]
The Godless Constitution: The Case Against Religious Correctness
The word God does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. Kramnick and Moore remind us why it does not and also how efforts to insert it have been staved off. They take us back to radical Christian Roger Williams’ influential insistence upon a religiously neutral polity for Rhode Island and to the British roots of […]
The Illusion of Immortality
The Illusion of Immortality details the often ignored scientific evidence against life after death. Lamont first outlines different historical views of immortality, presents the scientific evidence from mind-brain dependence against the immortality of the soul, considers the problem of what an afterlife environment could possibly be like, and evaluates arguments that immortality must be guaranteed […]
The Last Three Minutes
Subtitled “Conjectures About the Ultimate Fate of the Universe” from the Science Masters Series, Davies presents various alternatives for what happens when the universe reaches its final destiny. The only downside is that this book, dating from 1997, predates the recent discovery of facts tending to lead to the conclusion of a positive cosmological constant, […]
The Martian Way and Other Stories
Still thinking like an Earthling? Get out of your rut,open your mind – there’s a whole universe waiting. It’s waiting for peoplewho aren’t afraid of thinking in new ways, of doing new things. Can you imagine… …mining the skies for water?…building a new world beneath the surface of a strangeplanet?…making pets out of alien explorers?…putting […]
The Myth of Free Will
Book Description (Revised and Expanded Edition) Illuminating, uplifting and lighthearted, the second edition of The Myth of Free Will expands on the powerful ideas in the first edition by offering fifty additional pages of quotes and short essays on free will. The book strives to answer the question: “Who is saying we don’t have free […]
The Origin of Species
It’s hard to talk about The Origin of Species without making statements that seem overwrought and fulsome. But it’s true: this is indeed one of the most important and influential books ever written, and it is one of the very few groundbreaking works of science that is truly readable. To a certain extent it suffers […]
The Power of Logical Thinking
America has become a society devoid of any clear understanding of the power and logic of numbers. In this book, one of America’s most popular columnists offers a classic and enduring work intended to help readers restore the ability to reason, to use logic in everyday life, and to interpret what the numbers really mean.
The Resurrection of Jesus: History, Experience, Theology
How was Jesus seen? Was the tomb really empty and if so, what happened to the body? Gerd L’demann demonstrates that tradition as well as the evangelists themselves contributed substantially to the enlargement of the Easter story.
The Snark Puzzle Book
While walking on a hillside, an unusual line occurred to Lewis Carroll: “For the Snark was a Boojum, you see.” Carroll later incorporated the phrase into a complete work that became the best-known nonsense poem of all time: “The Hunting of the Snark.” What could be more of a delight to young readers? Here in […]
The Unconscious Quantum : Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology
The term “quantum” taken out of its original scientific context has become the mantra of a new metaphysics which purports to find a convergence between the picture of reality presented by physics and the world view of traditional Eastern mysticism. The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics In Modern Physics And Cosmology is a fascinating and accessible book […]
Think : A Compelling Introduction to Philosophy
Here at last is a coherent, unintimidating introduction to the challenging and fascinating landscape of Western philosophy. Written expressly for “anyone who believes there are big questions out there, but does not know how to approach them,” Think provides a sound framework for exploring the most basic themes of philosophy, and for understanding how major […]
Unto Others: The Evolution and Psychology of Unselfish Behavior
No matter what we do, however kind or generous our deeds may seem, a hidden motive of selfishness lurks — or so science has claimed for years. This book, a detailed case study of scientific change, tells us differently. In Unto Others philosopher Elliott Sober and biologist David Sloan Wilson demonstrate once and for all […]
What Is Atheism? A Short Introduction
Many questions and concerns arise when believers question the purpose and meaning they suspect is lacking in the lives of nonbelievers. Douglas Krueger contends that atheism is a powerful alternative to religion, yet it is also one of the most misunderstood because people harbor preconceived ideas about atheism. This concise introduction to the subject has […]
Why Christianity Must Change or Die
John Shelby Spong, Episcopal Bishop of Newark, New Jersey, argues that if Christianity is to survive in the modern age of science, it must shed some of its traditional beliefs. See why this book has traditional Christians in such a tizzy!
Wisdom Without Answers
Wisdom Without Answers is a simple yet profound introduction to philosophy ideal for those unfamiliar with philosophy. Rather than introducing the reader to a lot of complicated philosophical jargon, Kolak and Martin delve into several traditional philosophical problems in small separate chapters using a Socratic questioning style. This small book probes deep issues in a […]
A Dictionary of Philosophy
This 400 page dictionary is a real bargain. The editor Antony Flew has done a great service for philosophy lovers. Flew is one of the best known specialists of linguistic philosophy. In this carefully researched work he assists readers to clarify meanings and understand known and well known terms and issues on philosophy.
About Time: Einstein’s Unfinished Revolution
“With wit and clarity, the author of more than 20 popular science books, including God and the New Physics and The Last Three Minutes, now explores the riddle of time, examining the consequences of Einstein’s theory of relativity and offering startling suggestions about what recent research may reveal. 50 line drawings.”
Anthem
Available for the first time in trade paperback–this provocative book is “an anthem sung in praise of man’s ego”–from the legendary author Ayn Rand. Anthem has long been hailed as one of Ayn Rand’s classic novels, and a clear predecessor to her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged. In Anthem, Rand examines a frightening […]
Atheism, Ayn Rand & Other Heresies
An interesting collection of essays on atheism, Ayn Rand, and other issues including “My Path to Atheism,” “Philosophies of Toleration,” “The Righteous Persecution of Drug Consumers,” “Children’s Rights in Political Philosophy.”
Belief and Make-Believe: Critical Reflections on the Sources of Credulity
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Biology and the Foundation of Ethics
There has been much attention devoted in recent years to the question of whether our moral principles can be related to our biological nature. This collection of new essays focuses on the connection between biology and foundational questions in ethics. The book asks such questions as whether humans are innately selfish, and whether there are […]
Challenges to the Enlightenment
A collection of essays on philosophical, scientific, and social issues posed by challenges toliberal social and political traditions inherited from the 18th-century Enlightenment.
Constantine’s Sword: The Church and the Jews: A History
Constantine’s Sword is a sprawling work of history, theology, and personal confession by James Carroll (the author of An American Requiem, among many others). Carroll begins his landmark project by describing contemporary Catholic remembrances of the Holocaust and the Church’s intolerable legacy of hostility towards Jews. He then surveys Catholic anti-Judaism beginning with the New […]
Darwin, His Daughter, and Human Evolution
In a chest of drawers bequeathed by his grandmother, author Randal Keynes found the writing case of Charles Darwin’s beloved daughter Annie, who died at the age of ten. Within the box, among the typical keepsakes of a Victorian girlhood, were the notes Darwin kept throughout Annie’s illness and the eloquent and devastating eulogy he […]
Destroying the World to Save It
Subtitled: Aum Shinrikyo, Apocalyptic Violence, and the New Global Terrorism Since earliest history, prophets and gurus have foretold the world’s end, but only the nuclear age has made it possible for a megalomaniac guru with an apocalyptic vision to bring his prophecy to pass. Robert Jay Lifton offers a case in point in this chilling […]
