Chapter OneCreationism: The Theistic Hypothesis as Pseudoscience One of the more significant social movements of the past few years has been the revival of militant Protestant fundamentalism in the United States. Following the 1925 Scopes trial–a judicial victory but a public relations disaster for Biblical literalists–there came a period of retreat during which fundamentalism continued […]
Chapter Two Schlesinger on the Confirmation of Theism The first lesson to be learned from the failure of “scientific” creationism is that theism should not be presented in the guise of a scientific theory. Any such effort is bound to lapse into pseudoscience in just the way and for the same reasons as did creationism. […]
Chapter Three Swinburne and the Inductive Cosmological Argument Richard Swinburne, in his book The Existence of God, presents what is easily the most careful, comprehensive, and plausible set of arguments yet offered in defense of theism as an explanatory hypothesis.[1] He begins, admirably, with a detailed examination of the nature of inductive argument, the structure […]
This thesis examines various attempts to construe theism as an explanatory hypothesis and to defend it with arguments similar to those employed in the confirmation of scientific hypotheses. It is the aim of this work to show that such a construal fails to confirm theism and in actuality leads to its disconfirmation.
Introduction: Disagreement and the Resurrection of Jesus In his 1984 article “Is it Possible to Know that Jesus Rose From the Dead?” Professor Stephen T. Davis referred to a paradox facing any philosopher writing about the possibility of knowing the resurrection occurred: On the one hand, some believers in the resurrection hold that the evidence […]
(1982) Bibliography Keith Parsons The following thesis was originally written by Keith Parsons in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, 1982 Boden, Margaret A. “Miracles and Scientific Explanation.” Ratio, 11 (1969), 137-44. Burns, R. M. The Great Debate on Miracles. […]
(1982) Chapter 1: The Consistency of the Concept Keith Parsons This thesis was originally written by Keith Parsons in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, 1982. Chapter 1: The Consistency of the Concept The most potent sort of objection that […]
(1982) Chapter 2: Confirming the Occurrence of Apparent Miracles Keith Parsons This thesis was originally written by Keith Parsons in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, 1982. Once it is agreed that the miraculous is not an inconsistent concept, the […]
(1982) Chapter 3: Three Criticisms Keith Parsons This thesis was originally written by Keith Parsons in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, 1982. In the first two chapters of this thesis we have reached the following conclusions: First, we have […]
(1982) Keith Parsons The following thesis was originally written by Keith Parsons in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, 1982 Introduction Traditionally, a belief in the occurrence of miracles has been considered an important element of Christian faith. The miracles […]
(1982) Preface: Attempts to Avoid the Problems Keith Parsons This thesis was originally written by Keith Parsons in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree Master of Arts in the College of Arts and Sciences at Georgia State University, 1982. This section, Preface: Attempts to Avoid the Problems, was ommitted from the final thesis but […]
Various criticisms of this conception of the miraculous will be considered and the efforts of some Christian apologists to deal with these difficulties will be examined. The answer being sought by this thesis is whether the attempts to refute the philosophical criticisms of the miraculous succeed or fail--with the result that a cogent Christian apologetic cannot be produced. In other words, if the miraculous is an indispensable element of Christian doctrine, it might generate philosophical problems so great that it renders impossible the entire apologetic enterprise. The purpose of this thesis will simply be to determine whether or not this is the case.
Crooked evangelists fleece their flocks.
Reviewed “In Behalf of the Fool” (1980) Hal Lindsey came to town not long ago. The Fool was unable to attend his lecture at a local church and thought from the little bit he read in advance about his appearance, that responsible people would probably not be going–let alone being taken in by Lindsey’s mischievous […]
reviewed “In Behalf of the Fool” (1980) The Fool recently had the pleasure of hearing Josh McDowell entertain a packed house, mainly of college students, on the topic of “Maximum Sex.” The audience was snuggled together on the rug of a college cafeteria and listened attentively as he did a mildly suggestive stand-up night club […]
reviewed “In Behalf of the Fool” (1979) It was suggested to the Fool some time ago that C.S. Lewis’ book Mere Christianity is a good book for an unbeliever to read to establish a rational basis for belief in Christianity. The Fool had been told that Lewis is an example of a great scholar and […]
Smith discusses what atheism is, why it's important, and how best to defend it successfully.
Young-earth "proof" #10: Jupiter and Saturn are cooling off rather rapidly. Since they still give off internal heat, they cannot be billions of years old. 10. Jupiter is not cooling off that rapidly! Based on the fact that Jupiter is radiating twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun, and given its mass […]
Young-earth "proof" #9: Saturn’s rings are unstable which indicates that they are less than millions of years old. If Saturn’s rings are less than millions of years old, then what of it? That doesn’t prove that the planet is less than billions of years old. Recent study suggests that the rings are not older than […]
by Richard C. Carrier Fundamentals of Agreement and Disagreement Jen Roth has composed her case well, and I can see this debate will be of great value to everyone, not only secularists. I will begin with the major points of fundamental agreement and disagreement between us. Roth is quite right when she identifies the two […]
About the Capital Punishment Debate The topic for this debate is: Is There a Humanist Case For Capital Punishment? The debaters have agreed to the following debate format: Opening statements, submitted independently of one another, 1 January 2001 First rebuttals, submitted independently of one another, due 1 February 2001 Second rebuttals, submitted independently of one […]
On The Subject of Memetics: Memes began as a metaphor in Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene for the promulgation of ideas and information. It was later taken on as a serious idea by Susan Blackmore, Aaron Lynch and others. Critics of memetics think the idea has gone too far and that there is no basis […]
Over the years I have been confronted by numerous bibliolaters: people who take the Bible to be inerrant and, thus, put it beyond intelligent criticism. Since theirs is a particularly pernicious religion (absurdly claiming that certain antique documents are divinely inspired), it has seemed important to me to develop strategies for dealing with such manifest foolishness
Moderator’s Comments Dr. Jesseph’s Opening Arguments Dr. Craig’s Opening Arguments (Off Site) Dr. Jesseph’s First Rebuttal Dr. Craig’s First Rebuttal (Off Site) Dr. Jesseph’s Second Rebuttal Dr. Craig’s Second Rebuttal (Off Site) Dr. Jesseph’s Third Rebuttal Dr. Craig’s Third Rebuttal (Off Site) Related Articles on Craig’s Arguments | Atheism Articles | GODEXIST Mailing List
The Krueger-McHugh Debate: Theism or Atheism (2003) Christopher McHugh Closing Statement by Christopher McHugh In my first rebuttal, I made the point that Krueger’s opening statement only argued against a very narrow God-concept, and did not account for mystical notions of God like the one that I proposed. I wrote that I could, […]
The Genesis of a Humanist Manifesto by Edwin H. Wilson CONTENTS PREFACE 1. A Humanist Manifesto–A Historic Document 2. The Background of Religious Humanism 3. The New Humanist–Sponsor of the Manifesto 4. “A Humanist Manifesto”–The Beginning 5. The Editing Process 6. Early Responses from Signers 7. Critiques from Humanists Who Did Not Sign 8. Unitarian […]
CHAPTER 6 Early Responses from Signers Dr. E. A. Burtt Dr. E. A. Burtt of Cornell University’s Sage School of Philosophy, was one of the most prompt and thorough critics of the proposed manifesto. Six years later, in the first edition of his excellent book, Types of Religious Philosophy, Dr. Burtt placed religious humanism in […]
Well, this may seem to you like a long, drawn-out event, but I guarantee that to us we’re thinking more time, I need more time. I want to use my outline as my outline for what we’re going to do here. I said I’m going to make two main points: there are good reasons to […]
Part 1 Part 2 >>> Reply to Robert Turkel Farrell Till TILL James Patrick Holding is the pseudonym used by a would-be apologist whose real name is Robert Turkel. Perhaps I should say that Holding has SAID that his real name is Robert Turkel, but I have no way to confirm this. […]
Review of Tony Davies’ Humanism (1997) Finngeir Hiorth Davies, Tony (1997) Humanism, Routledge, 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE and 29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001, 152 pp., bibliography, index, paperback GBP 6.99, hardback also available. Anybody who knows anything at all about humanism knows that there are many humanisms. So […]
