[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Michael Moore Holy Fools
Holy Fools (2017) Michael Moore That strange and sickly world into which the Gospels lead us—a world apparently out of a Russian novel, in which the scum of society, nervous maladies and ‘childish’ idiocy keep a tryst (Nietzsche 1895/1918, p. 96). The jury is still out on the correlation between religiosity and psychopathology. Several studies […]
Niclas Berggren Belief
A Note on the Concept of Belief (1998) Niclas Berggren “Ratio omnia vincit” (“Reason defeats everything”) – Manilius, Astronomica 4, 931 The purpose of this note is to proffer a needed clarification as to what determines beliefs. Particular attention will be devoted to the idea that it is possible to choose beliefs, i.e., that beliefs […]
Nontheism Atheism Evil
Evidential Arguments from Evil The argument from evil (or problem of evil) is the argument that an all-powerful, all-knowing, and perfectly good God would not allow any—or certain kinds of—evil or suffering to occur. Unlike the logical argument from evil, which holds that the existence of God (so defined) is logically incompatible with some known […]
Nontheism Atheism Nonbelief
The Argument from (Reasonable) Nonbelief 1993 was a watershed year in the philosophy of religion generally and for atheological arguments specifically. In that year, Cornell University Press published J.L. Schellenberg’s now classic book, Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason. Schellenberg’s book contained the first book-length analysis and defense of the idea that the weakness of evidence […]
Paul Obrien Gentle
Gentle Godlessness A Compassionate Introduction to Atheism (1995) Paul O’Brien Introduction Part One: Atheism Part Two: The Cosmological Argument Part Three: Arguments for the nonexistence in God Part Four: Real Arguments Part Five: Atheism Reassessed Part Six: William James Part Seven: The Pragmatic Theist Reassessed Part Eight Part Nine: Pragmatic Atheism Part Ten: Atheism Part […]
Paul Obrien Gentle Atheism9
As I proceed to bury myself further into controversial theological issues, the issue of hell is something to be considered as well. Heaven provides some assurance that there will be life after death, and it also assures us that a heavenly life will be a fantastic one. But what about hell? I was concerned about […]
Peter Kirby Tomb Silence
Argument from Silence I titled this section “Argument from Silence” because I am well aware that these are arguments from silence. Whenever an argument from silence is made, the objection invariably comes “that is just an argument from silence,” perhaps accompanied by the dictum, “absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.” I am recognizing […]
Quentin Smith Self Caused
A Cosmological Argument for a Self-Caused Universe (2008) Quentin Smith Introduction: The Meaning of “The Universe Causes Itself” Part One: The Entailment Argument for a Self-Caused Universe Part Two: A Universe that Causes Itself to Begin to Exist Part Three: Complete Explanations Appendix: The Abbreviation Argument for a Self-Caused Universe Introduction: The Meaning of […]
Richard Carrier Atheism
What is Atheism Really All About? (1996) Richard Carrier "He who decides a case without hearing the other side, even if he decides justly, cannot be considered just" — Seneca What is an Atheist? An atheist is a person who does not believe that any gods exist. Why don’t you believe in God? There […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Oconnell Oconnell3
O’Connell’s Second Rebuttal (2008) The Meaning of “Resurrection” First, to clarify my original point, the word anastasis does not always refer to resurrection. It can simply mean “to rise up” in a mundane sense (e.g. rising up out of bed). But my intended point was that in those cases in which anastasis does refer […]
Richard Carrier Cause
Was Christianity the Cause of Modern Science? Sources of the Claim (as of 2000) Richard Carrier Was Christianity the Cause of Modern Science? This is a list of all known places where the claim is made that Christianity was in some sense the cause of modern science. I am eagerly seeking others that […]
Richard Carrier Foster9
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) 9. The Odds of Life Evolving by Chance Richard Carrier Advance to: Shuffling Cards Advance to: Typing Monkeys Advance to: Hemoglobin and the T4 Genome I have surveyed most of the strangeness of Foster’s book. But I have […]
Richard Carrier Improbable Galilee
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction] Richard Carrier 2. Who Would Follow a Man from Galilee? 2.1 Two Key Problems 2.2 Getting the Context Right 2.3 Working Class Rabbi 2.4 The Galilean Connection 2.5 The Gospel of John 2.6 The Role of Messianic Prophecy 2.7 Why a Virgin Birth? 2.8 Conclusion 2.1. Two Key Problems James […]
Richard Carrier Indef 3a
The Problem with Miracles and the Shaky Groundwork of Corduan and Purtill (1999, 2005) Richard Carrier [Part 3A of a larger Review of In Defense of Miracles.] Defining “Miracle” Purtill defines a miracle as “an event brought about by the power of God that is a temporary exception to the ordinary course of nature […]
Richard Carrier Laupot
Severus Is Not Quoting Tacitus: A Rebuttal to Eric Laupot (2006) Richard Carrier In “Tacitus’ Fragment 2: The Anti-Roman Movement of the Christiani and the Nazoreans,” a paper that was originally published in Vigiliae Christianae (54.3, 2000: pp. 233-47), Eric Laupot argues that a passage in Sulpicius Severus actually comes from the lost section […]
Richard Carrier Resurrection
Why I Don’t Buy the Resurrection Story (6th ed., 2006) Richard Carrier I don’t buy the resurrection story. That would normally be all I need say. But I am routinely asked why. This collection of short essays serves to answer that question. There are many reasons I am not a Christian. My atheism is based […]
Richard Carrier Resurrection 2j
This file has been relocated: it is now Section XI of Probability of Survival vs. Miracle: Assessing the Odds.
Richard Carrier Resurrection 4b
This file has been relocated: it is now Section II of Rebutting Lesser Arguments.
Richard Carrier Theory
Proving a Negative (1999) Richard Carrier I know the myth of “you can’t prove a negative” circulates throughout the nontheist community, and it is good to dispel myths whenever we can. As it happens, there really isn’t such a thing as a “purely” negative statement, because every negative entails a positive, and vice versa. […]
Robert Price Beyond Born Again Chap1
________________________________________ 9 Beyond Born Again Section I– The Born Again Experience: A Brave New World? ________________________________________ 10 Chapter 1: A Might Fortress Is Our Mentality “Hey, wouldn’t you like to be born again Live a new life that’s free Without sin, no ties to philosophy.” — Anne Herring and Matthew Ward, “Learn a Curtsey” “You’ll […]
Robert Price Hamblin
Reply to Professor Hamblin (2004) Robert M. Price This article was originally published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 37, No. 3 (Fall 2004). Reprinted with permission. I am gratified and delighted that my modest piece “Prophecy and Palimpsest” was of sufficient interest to call forth the remarks of Professor Hamblin in Dialogue […]
Robert Price Son
A Rejoinder to Josh McDowell’s Evidence That Demands a Verdict "Jesus– God’s Son" (1997) Robert M. Price Introduction | Commentary on McDowell’s Introduction | Trial of Jesus | Equality with the Father? | "I Am" | "He Who Has Seen Me" | "I Say Unto You" | Bibliography | Related Resources This chapter is […]
Shlomi Tal Saga
Genealogical Saga of Judaism (2001) Shlomi Tal Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One, it is written in Deuteronomy 6:4. Judaism is essentially the story of the relation between one human race and their deity. The tragic consequences of racial hatred in the past century do not retract from the […]
Steven Conifer Ar
The Argument from Reason for the Nonexistence of God (2001) Steven J. Conifer [The following essay is derived from my forthcoming book, The Plausibility of Atheism: Eight Essays in the Philosophy of Religion, which shall be available via amazon.com by June of 2001.] 1. Prefatory Comments I shall herein propound an evidential atheological argument which […]
Testimonials Daniels
From Missionary Bible Translator to Agnostic (2003) Ken Daniels Contents 1. Purpose of this testimonial 2. Life as an Evangelical Christian 2.1 2.1 Early years: Unquestioned faith 2.2 Crisis #1 2.3 Crisis #2 2.4 Marriage and missions 2.5 Crisis #3 2.6 Crisis #4: Return from the mission field 2.7 A brief recovery of […]
Theism Bible Scientology
Argument from Holy Scripture: Scientology Aleister Crowley (Off Site) by Jeff Jacobsen “Hubbard had connections with the occult. He was, at one time, Aleister Crowley’s pal. It shows in his work, too. Apart from that, the idea put forward in the OT’s–to have control over matter, energy, space and time–is very much indebted to gnosticism.” Dianetics […]
Theism Christianity Resurrection
Resurrection The Argument from the Bible (1996) by Theodore Drange “Almost all evangelical Christians believe that the writing of the Bible was divinely inspired and represents God’s main revelation to humanity. They also believe that the Bible contains special features which constitute evidence of its divine inspiration. This would be a use of the Bible […]
Theism Experiences
Religious Experience Craig’s Holy Spirit Epistemology (1998) by Michael Martin “In Reasonable Faith, William Lane Craig makes a sharp distinction between knowing that God exists and being able to show this. He maintains that one knows that Christianity is true ‘by the self-authenticating witness of God’s Holy Spirit.’ … I will argue that Craig fails […]
Theism Ontological
Ontological Arguments Ontological arguments contend that we can know that God exists in the same way that we know that 2 + 2 = 4: through reason alone. In other words, they claim to show that God exists without ever consulting experience or observation. Anselm provided the first ontological argument for the existence of God […]
Travis Denneson Power
Society and the Individual in Nietzsche’s The Will to Power (1999) Travis J. Denneson I. Introduction In The Will to Power, specifically the section entitled "The Will to Power as Society and Individual," Nietzsche’s ideas concerning how his doctrine of the will to power is manifested in both societies as a whole and in individuals […]