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Dan Barker

Dan Barker

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Book

Losing Faith in Faith (1992)

The following section links to the chapters of Dan Barker's 1992 book that are available online. For Barker's other books, click the link above.

Table of Contents (Off Site)

Chapter 3. I Just Lost Faith in Faith (Off Site)

Chapter 17. Refuting God (Off Site)

Brief atheistic responses to theistic arguments.

Chapter 19. Dear Theologian (Off Site)

A chapter from Dan Barker's book, Losing Faith in Faith.

Chapter 23. Confused? Bible Contradictions (Off Site)

An overview of some of the contradictions of the Bible.

Chapter 24. Leave No Stone Unturned (Off Site)

A resurrection challenge.

Chapter 35. Mere Assertions (Off Site)

A critique of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity.

Essays

Cosmological Kalamity (2000)

Three possible flaws in the Kalam cosmological argument are discussed:
1) If God is the only object accommodated by the set of things that do not begin to exist, then the Kalam argument has the effect (if not the intention) of begging the question.
2) The logic regarding the impossibility of an actual infinity disproves the existence of an actually infinite God.
3) Since the universe is not a member of itself, the Kalam argument is illogically comparing apples and oranges.

Did Jesus Really Rise From The Dead? (2003) (Off Site)

Dan Barker defends the legend hypothesis as the best explanation of the historical evidence.

Did Paul's Men Hear A Voice? (1994)

Dan Barker discusses a contradiction between Luke and Paul's account of Paul's conversion to Christianity.

Evangelistic Atheism: Leading Believers Astray (1993) (Off Site)

Barker describes how to conduct atheistic evangelism.

For Goodness Sake (n.d.)

The Freewill Argument For the Nonexistence of God (1997) (Off Site)

Barker articulates and defends an incompatible-properties argument for the non-existence of God. According to Barker, God's free will is incompatible with his omniscience.

What Is A Freethinker? (1993) (Off Site)

Barker explains what it means to be a freethinker, and answers several frequently asked questions about freethinkers.

Why Jesus? (1993) (Off Site)

Does Jesus merit the widespread adoration he has received? Barker reviews what he said and did.

Debates

The Barker-Horner Debate: Did Jesus Really Rise From the Dead? (1996) [ Index ]

A transcript of the 1996 debate between Dan Barker and Michael Horner on whether Jesus rose from the dead.

From the Bookstore


Dan Barker is public relations director of the Freedom From Religion Foundation. A former minister and evangelist, Barker became a freethinker in 1983. His books, Just Pretend: A Freethought Book for Children and Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher To Atheist are published by the Foundation. A graduate of Azusa Pacific University with a degree in Religion, Dan now puts his knowledge of Christianity to effective freethought use. A professional pianist and composer, Dan is featured in the Foundation's musical cassettes, "My Thoughts Are Free" and "Reason's Greetings," and performs freethought concerts.


Published on the Secular Web


Kiosk Video

Interview with Dan Barker on Future Directions

Tune in to Freethinker Podcast with host Edouard Tahmizian in this roughly 20-minute interview with Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF) co-director Dan Barker about his recent trip to India and the Atheist Centre there, FFRF's legal victory to display a secular nativity scene with a manger holding a copy of the Bill of Rights in Texas' state capitol, the FFRF's involvement in the formation of the Thomas Paine Memorial Association to establish a permanent Thomas Paine memorial statue in Washington, DC, and Barker's latest books, including the (Richard-Dawkins-inspired) title God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction (available in paperback in May 2023). In Dawkins' The God Delusion, the first sentence of chapter two characterized the biblical God as "the most unpleasant character in all fiction; jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving, control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully." In Barker's forthcoming (and expanded) paperback edition of God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction, each of the 19 chapters in part 1 ("Dawkins was Right") lays out the biblical verses (especially those in the Old Testament) backing up each of Dawkins' characterizations of Yahweh. In part 2 ("Dawkins was Too Kind"), Barker adds eight additional chapters on the personality flaws of the biblical God that Dawkins could have mentioned: pyromaniacal, angry, merciless, curse-hurling, vaccicidal, aborticidal, cannibalistic, and slavemongering. On an FFRF companion website to the book, Barker lists a sampling of verses on all of these characteristics, adding three more still: homicidal, evil, and terrorist. Barker also dives into what to expect from his longer-term book project (slated for 2024), The End of Worship, which in part 1 ("What is Worship?") just allows religious believers to speak for themselves long enough to incriminate themselves (so that Barker can't be accused of straw manning them). In part 2 ("Why Do We Worship?"), Barker lays out his hypothesis that some human beings voluntarily subjugate themselves to a "master" or king-like higher power for biological reasons instilled in us over the generations by those in power. In part 3 ("Should We Worship?"), Barker adds his personal take on whether worship is a desirable behavior for us to engage in. Check out this quick overview of the shape and direction to look forward to in Barker's future projects!

Interview with Dan Barker on Freethought Activism & Religious Arguments

Join host Edouard Tahmizian in this 40-minute interview with Dan Barker, co-director of the Freedom from Religion Foundation and co-founder of The Clergy Project, about his over 35 years of freethought activism, his forthcoming projects, what improbable events would meet the theological definition of a miracle, how to weigh evidence and what extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence actually means in the context of miracle claims, the tendency of some Christian debaters to argue for a generic "mere theism" rather than the existence of the Christian God, and more! Check out this easygoing discussion with a funny and all-around personable freethought icon.

Dan Barker (Freethought Radio) and Edouard Tahmizian (Board Member of The Secular Web) Interview!

Join Edouard Tahmizian in this nearly half-hour interview with Dan Barker, co-president of the long-running Freedom from Religion Foundation, about how the fine-tuning argument for a designer fallaciously equivocates order/organization with intentional design, the best evidence for evolution, the historical reliability of the canonical Gospels and their divergent resurrection accounts, the historicity of Jesus, and more! Check out this fantastic interview with a preacher-turned-atheist who’s done his homework on a wide range of issues.