Conclusion Works highly critical of theism sometimes end on a note of hesitancy. After carefully criticizing theism, skeptics sometimes feel an onus to offer alternative forms of spirituality or at least to argue that life in a godless universe need not be meaningless. Such doubt and hesitancy are hardly surprising. Although the tide of secularism […]
Introduction The philosophical defense of theism has taken many different directions in recent years. The effort to produce strictly demonstrative theistic proofs has not been completely abandoned, but it has long since moved from centre stage. Some of the new modes of philosophical theism are quite ingenious, such as Alvin Plantinga’s effort to construe belief […]
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.
A Formal Justification of Agnosticism by Bill Schultz Introduction There has long been a trend among some strong atheists to savagely attack any who declare themselves to be agnostics. The usual mode of attack is to bifurcate the decision, claiming that if you fail to assert that God exists (and to thereby become a theist), […]
PHILOSOPHICALTOPICS Volume XVI, No. 2, Fall 1988 The “Inductive” Argument From Evil: A Dialogue* BRUCE RUSSELL Wayne State University STEPHEN WYKSTRA Calvin College The following is a conversation between Beatrice Leaver, Athea Ist, and Agnes Tic. Bea and Athea teach philosophy–Bea at a Christian college, and Athea, at a large midwestern university. Agnes is […]
Church-State Separation Subtopics: Boy Scouts Church, State, & Creationism Flag Desecration Amendment Is America a Christian Nation? Pledge of Allegiance School Prayer Supreme Court Decisions Vouchers
A6. The Distance to Supernova SN1987A and the Speed of Light When supernova SN1987A exploded, its light soon struck a ring of gas some distance from the star and illuminated it. As viewed from Earth, the ring appeared around the supernova about a year after it exploded. Its angular size combined with the time […]
I will round out this work with some miscellaneous arguments which, with one exception, are from Dr. Hovind’s notebook. Dr. Hovind (A): If the universe is not billions of years old, then we need not bother with the other arguments supporting evolution. A . The presently accepted history of evolution on Earth would be in […]
Young-earth "proof" #5: The Moon is receding a few inches each year. Less than a million years ago the Moon would have been so close that the tides would have drowned everyone twice a day. Less than 2 or 3 million years ago the Moon would have been inside the Roche limit* and, thus, destroyed. […]
Young-earth "proof" #27: The oldest tree in the world is 4300 years old. 27 . What does the age of a tree have to do with the age of the earth? If, in fact, the oldest tree is 4300 years old, so what? Perhaps Dr. Hovind is impressed by the fact that such a tree […]
Second Rebuttal Jennifer Roth Before getting to the main subjects of dispute which remain between us, let me quickly summarize the surprising number of points on which Mr. Carrier and I seem to agree. We agree that both the mother and father of a child have obligations toward that child. (Assuming that a "child" is […]
On The Issues Involved in Feminism: Feminism has expanded in meaning over the past few decades, incorporating many different viewpoints, some often contradicting one another. Feminism ranges from mild to extreme and employs a variety of strategies and methods to secure equal rights for women within our societies. What approaches should be taken? Which should […]
On The Issues Involved in Intelligence and Race: Each decade, the controversy over intelligence and race rears its ugly head and public opinions on the subject increase in number. For some, the ideas involved in the subject of intelligence and race are largely misunderstood with the question being helplessly flawed from the onset. Some consider […]
Copin’ with Copan The Defense of Zacharias that Fails Doug Krueger Some time ago I roasted Ravi Zacharias’ book A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism in a review posted here on the Secular Web. Paul Copan, a graduate student pursuing a degree from Marquette University, has attacked my review, and, for good measure, […]
CHAPTER 14 Reactions from the Media Concurrent to its appearance in The New Humanist, the manifesto was released to the media. Both Albert Dieffenbach of Boston and Charles Francis Potter of New York had expressed their willingness to help with publicity, and undoubtedly their expertise was useful. The press releases yielded some surprising results. […]
Is the Bible the Word of God? Emmett F. Fields 1983 This essay was written to be delivered as a lecture and is worded accordingly. It was part of a two day debate with a Fundamentalist minister. For each evening there are two parts, one of thirty minutes and a conclusion of ten minutes. This […]
[After the second round of speeches, Geisler and Till answered questions from the audience. All questions were submitted on cards and specifically addressed to one of the speakers. The speaker to whom a question was addressed had two minutes to answer the question; his opponent then gave a one-minute response.] Question for Till: What does […]
