Modern Library

About the Abortion Debate The topic for this debate is: Is There a Secular Case Against Abortion? The debaters have agreed to the following debate format: Opening statements, submitted independently of one another, 18 April, 2000 First rebuttals, submitted independently of one another, due 1 May, 2000 Second rebuttals, submitted independently of one another, due […]

On The Subject of Cannibalism as a Survival Strategy: Survival pushes humans to extreme measures. Cannibalism is one of the strategies taken that society has deemed extreme. Cannibalism is still practiced in many societies and was very common in civilizations of the past. Modern cases have surfaced showing that civilized people have resorted to cannibalism […]

On The Quest for Immortality: Today, many scientists are coming to the startling–some might say disturbing–conclusion that medical science will, in the foreseeable future, be able to extend the human lifespan indefinitely and thus put an end to physical death. Would the end of death be a net gain or loss? Here we present two […]

On The Utility of Religion in Individual Lives: Religion has been touted as offering several useful benefits to humankind. Included in those benefits are its ability to provide hope and comfort to the believer, give the strength and motivation to live life and cope with the harsh moments. It is considered an elixir of sorts […]

CHAPTER 4 "A Humanist Manifesto" – The Beginning Raymond B. Bragg, as the associate editor of The New Humanist, initiated the project that resulted in the 1933 publication of "A Humanist Manifesto." In a letter dated February 17, 1970, reminiscing about the early stages, Bragg wrote: "The fact is that my job as Secretary of […]

Thank you very much. I would like to begin by thanking the local ASSP and, in particular, Jeff Lowder, and the Seattle Bible Science Association for sponsoring the debate and inviting me to participate. I consider it a real privilege to be here at Seattle Pacific University and to be debating Mr. Till on such […]

PROPHECIES: IMAGINARY AND UNFULFILLED Farrell Till Prophecy fulfillment is a popular argument that bibliolaters rely on in trying to prove the divine inspiration of the Bible. They claim that the Bible is filled with recorded events that prophets foretold years and even centuries before they happened. They argue that there is no way to explain […]

Scrutinizing Propaganda By J. E. Hill Many of us are familiar with fallacies in logic. Even if you are not an active debater, it is good to know some of the more popular fallacies so you can identify them when they come up in everyday conversations. Among the most common is the circular argument, which […]

Cosmology for Beginners Finngeir Hiorth   1) Felix Pirani and Christine Roche: The Universe for Beginners, Icon Books, 52 High Street, Trumpington, Cambridge CB2 2LS, UK, 1993, reprinted 1996, 174 pp., paperback, notes, references, glossary, biographical index, bibliography. 2) J. P. McEvoy and Oscar Zarate: Stephen Hawking for Beginners, Icon Books, 1995, 175 pp., paperback, […]

Earliest Christianity (1999) G.A. Wells   Professor G.A. Wells continues the debate about the origins of Jesus and the development of Christianity. Drawing on the writings of recent theologians and historians and alluding to his latest book, The Jesus Myth, he throws light on the early history of Christianity. [This article was originally published in […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 13 – J and the Law IT has been noted that Solomon’s time was marked by great literary activity and, if one can generalize from the Gezer Calendar, literacy may have been widespread.1 In addition to the material pertaining to the monarchy, the […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 28 – Wisdom Writings EARLIER we discussed possible relationships of Hebrew wisdom to the court of Solomon and to wisdom writing in the ancient Near East. We also considered some characteristics of wisdom literature, but we have not examined the words of the […]

Positive Humanism Gerald A. Larue, Ph.D. There is a certain aspect of Humanism that inspires a Humanist to debunk the superstitious and simplistic assumptions of pseudoscience and organized religion. Perhaps through overemphasis, Humanism may project a negative image and be seen as a joyless put-down of everything that does not represent cold, hard rationalism or […]

On “The Ontological Argument”: A Response To Makin (1991) Graham Oppy   [This article was originally published as “Makin On The Ontological Argument”, Philosophy, 66, 255, January 1991, pp.106-114] In “The Ontological Argument”, (Philosophy 63, 1988, pp.83-91) Stephen Makin offers a defence of what he calls “Anselm’s Ontological Argument”. I am not much interested in […]

Critical Notice: Frank J. Tipler (1995) The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead London: Macmillan pp.xxvi+528 Some people have wondered whether this book is an elaborate joke.[1] Others have suggested that it is merely a cynical attempt to cash in on the current craze for pop physics treatments of […]

Iki Sorumlu: “Din Adami” ve “Aydin” I. “Din adamlari sinifi” konusunda. A) Islam’da “Ruhbanlik” (Din adamlari sinifi) olup olmadigi konusunda. B) Islam’in geri kalmis olmasi sorumlulugu’nun Din adamlari sinifi’na ait bulunduguna inananlar: C) Insan beynini islemez hale getirmede din adam’larinin sorumlulugu. II. Din adamlarina Karsi Savasim Görevi. III. Din Adami’na Karsi Savasabilmek Için Her Seyden […]

Din adami’nin Seriat Verilerine Dayali Olarak Bellettigi “Korkutucu” ve “Keyfi” Tanri Anlayisinin, Insanlarimizin Karakterleri ve Yasantilari Üzerindeki Olumsuz Sonuçlari : I) Özgür ve haysiyetli insan olmanin tek yolu “Korku” ile savasimdir; Tanri’yi “Korkutucu” degil “Sevgi Kaynagi” olarak tanimlamaktir. II) Din Adamindan Kurtuldugumuz An Içimizdeki Korkuyu Yenecek, böylece Hosgörü’ye Yönelecek ve Tüm Insanligi Sevgi Denizi Olarak […]

Reliability and Belief (1999) James Still   Introductory Remarks Christianity is a religion built upon faith. Faith is central to the Apostle Paul’s vocabulary and intertwined within his theology as a whole. For Paul, to become a Christian is to believe in one’s heart that God has acted through the risen Christ to bring about […]

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Media & Reviews Nonfiction Books The following are selected works for further study. While space constraints prevent listing every possible book under each category, this bibliography attempts to list what the editor considers the best contemporary books for each topic. While this bibliography is slanted in favor of atheism, the editor has selected one or […]

Review of "The Resurrection Factor" by Josh McDowell (1982) Jerry Wayne Borchandt [Note: the following review originally appeared in the July/August 1982 issue of The American Rationalist.] Josh McDowell is fundamentalism’s popular apologist, proselyter, and propagandist. He is said to be a persuasive speaker on the secular college campus as well as a favorite writer […]

Question-Answer Period Moderator: We’ll now have a 30-minute question and answer session, with audience members asking the questions. We’ll probably need some lights out in the audience, and we’ll recognize you, raise your hand, and address your question to one speaker or the other. And the next questioner should ask a question of the other […]

MessiahGate A Tale of Murder and Deception by Larry A. Taylor Originally printed in HUMSIG newsletter, Number 7, August 1987; Larry A. Taylor, ed. Lecture delivered at Humanist Society of Friends (Los Angeles), August 27, 1987. Larry A. Taylor 5671 S. Newlin Ave. Whittier, CA 90601 Copyright HUMSIG, 1987. Jerusalem; it’s a tough town, but […]

A Representative Example of Intellectual Dishonesty in the pathlights.com Creation-Evolution Encyclopedia (1997) Mark I. Vuletic   The pathlights.com Creation-Evolution Encyclopedia may very well have the dubious honor of being the worst piece of creationist literature ever written. In this paper, I will examine a passage representative of the lack of integrity and low intellectual caliber […]

Columns for Massimo Pigliucci Rationally Speaking (Off Site) A monthly column of thoughts about skepticism, humanism, science, and pseudoscience.

More on Einstein and Quantum Mechanics mathew [ Traducción al Español / Spanish translation ]   There is nothing inherent in Quantum Theory which requires randomness. In the 1950s, Bohm developed a deterministic nonlocal theory which is consistent with all the predictions of quantum mechanics. Einstein sought a theory which was “locally causal” or “locally […]

I am grateful to Dr. Fernandes for the courteous tone he has adopted in this debate and his thoughtful attempt to answer my criticisms. Response to Misunderstandings of Atheism In my opening statement I said that Dr. Fernandes misunderstood atheism because he claimed that atheism is committed to materialism, epistemological relativism, epistemological skepticism, ethical relativism, […]

Does Logic Presuppose the Existence of the Christian God? (2000) Michael Martin   The Transcendental Argument for the Existence of God (TAG)–the argument that logic, science, and objective ethical standards presuppose the existence of the Christian God–has been repeatedly used by a small group of Christian apologists operating within the Orthodox Presbyterian tradition. In the […]

Reply to Butler, Ventrella, and Fields (1996) Michael Martin   Introduction On the evening of October 26, 1994 a debate on the existence of God was scheduled between the late Greg Bahnsen and me at Rhodes College. This debate was canceled when SCCCS and I could not agree on whether the debate was to be […]

God Doesn’t Punish? (2019) Michael Moore The claim that “God doesn’t punish” appears about 100,000 times on Google; another 150,000 hits can be found when French, German, Russian, and Spanish equivalents are also added. Haven’t the authors of this phrase heard of the Flood (Genesis 6:7): “So the LORD said, “I will wipe from the […]