[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Testimonials Price
From Fundamentalist to Humanist (1997) Robert M. Price Everyone is on a spiritual journey. Most of the time we are glad enough to admit this, but other times we want stability more than anything else, and at those times we are liable to fear religious change lest we fall away from hard-won truth. But […]
Theism Christianity
Christianity Biblical Criticism Biblical Errancy Bible Codes Character of Jesus Christian Worldview Christian Apologetics & Apologists’ Web Sites Criticisms of Christian Apologetics & Apologists Ex-Christians Historicity of Jesus Jesus Seminar Prophecy Resurrection Shroud of Turin Why I Am Not a Christian General Argument from Insufficient Knowledge of the Bible for the Nonexistence of the God […]
Theism Christianity Shroud
Shroud of Turin Special thanks to Steven Schafersman, author of the Skeptical Shroud of Turin Website for inspiring this page. New “Shroud” Claims Challenged as Spurious (Off Site) (1996) (CSICOP) Replies of skeptical scientists and investigators to “The Authentication of the Turin Shroud” (Off Site) Shroud of Turin Exhibition Renews False Claims of Authenticity (Off […]
Theism Judaism
Judaism Elucidation of Genesis 1 (Off Site) by Shlomi Tal This article is a secular-minded elucidation of the first chapter of the book of Genesis based on the original Hebrew text, with translation and commentary. Genealogical Saga of Judaism (2001) by Shlomi Tal According to Orthodox Judaism, nothing has value unless it is for the sake […]
Theism Reviews
Theistic Arguments: Reviews/Critiques Formal debates between theists and nontheists on topics relating to the theistic arguments: Scripture Miracles Design Cosmological Moral Experience Other To purchase related reading, go to the Secular Web Book Store. Argument from Holy Scripture: Book Review: The Jesus Puzzle (2000) by James Still Still reviews the work by Earl Doherty, […]
Thomas Sheehan Firstcoming One
The First Coming: How the Kingdom of God Became Christianity (1986–electronic edition 2000) Thomas Sheehan I How Jesus Lived and Died In popular Christian teaching, Jesus often comes across as a divine visitor to our planet, a supernatural being who dropped into history disguised as a Jewish carpenter, performed some miracles, died on a cross […]
Tyler Wunder Davis 2
II. Supernaturalism’s Best Case: Core Facts This section will outline the argument that will represent the supernaturalist’s best case for the resurrection: Habermas’ Core Facts. I think some initial justificatory comments are required to defend using Habermas in this manner, specifically focussing on how Habermas and Davis differ to determine whether any differences between […]
Wesley Robbins Moreland
Secular Humanism, Christian Theism, and the Meaning of Life J. Wesley Robbins In chapter Four of his 1987 book Scaling the Secular City,[1] J. P. Moreland poses a question which he says is the one that most people have in mind when they ask whether life is worth living or has meaning. The question is: […]
Alvin Plantinga Against Evil
Objections to Draper’s Argument from Evil (2007) Alvin Plantinga I. The Argument II. Challenges III. Is a Challenge a Problem? I. The Argument In his interesting and challenging paper, Paul Draper proposes to set out a “serious argument from evil against theism in which evolutionary theory plays a significant role.” He takes theism to […]
Were Humans Intelligently Designed?
Were Humans Intelligently Designed? Science Says No! by Bill Schultz Table of Contents Introduction Why You Can’t Exactly Copy Christy Brinkley Electronic Chips: Design vs. Evolution The Human Genome Is A Mess Correlating Evolutionary and Geological History My Conclusion: Science Denies “Intelligent” Design Further Reading Acknowledgements Footnotes Introduction As an officer of the Internet Infidels, […]
Brian Pietruszewski Gish
Some Questions for Duane Gish (1998) Brian Pietruszewski [Note: The following questions were written in preparation for a visit by Duane Gish to Rice University. They are meant to be confrontational and asked face-to-face with Gish.] 1. Why does your web page tout “research” that attempts to dispute potassium argon (K-Ar) dating at Mt. […]
Church State Flag
Flag Desecration Amendment Although the issue of flag desecration is normally thought of as a free speech topic, it is also a church-state separation topic. Proposals to outlaw desecration of the U.S. flag may reasonably be viewed as blasphemy laws. Is the American flag a secular symbol or a sacred icon? (1998) by Edward Tabash […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Additional Topics Problems
A5. A Couple of Ice Age Problems Dr. Hovind believes that there was only one ice age which began sometime after Noah’s flood ended, that being around 4300 years ago by his reckoning. Thus, the world moved from a warm, tropical climate to an ice age only a few thousand years ago. There are […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Geologic Column Out Of Place
Hovind (G4): Polystrata fossils, missing layers, layers out of order, misplaced fossils, and layers in reverse order all invalidate the geologic column. G4. None of these charges amount to a hill of discarded beans. We can’t examine every claim that has been made, but we can look at a few examples. a) Polystrata fossils. By […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Specific Arguments Moon Isotopes
Young-earth "proof" #6: The Moon contains considerable quantities of U-236 and Th-230, both of which are shortlived isotopes that would have expired long ago if the Moon were 4.5 billion years old. Thorium-230 is an intermediate decay product of uranium-238 which has a half-life of about 4.468 billion years (Strahler, 1987, p.131). Thus, it will […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Specific Arguments Topsoil
Young-earth "proof" #16: Topsoil takes only a few thousand years to form. The present thickness of topsoil indicates a young earth. 16. Those "scientific" creationists who trot this plum about must be delirious! Do they really believe that we should wind up with x miles of topsoil (or some such nonsense) after billions of years? […]
Debates Secularist Abortion Debators
Meet the Debators The topic for this debate is: Is There a Secular Case Against Abortion? Arguing For A Secular Case Against Abortion is Jennifer Roth Jennifer Roth works as a system administrator for the Academic Outreach divisions of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She sits on the board of directors of the Seamless […]
Debates Secularist Euthanasia
On The Issue of Euthanasia: The debate over euthanasia or assisted suicide has been raging within the media. Public awareness and opinion on the variety of issues involved has reached unprecedented levels. Also called "mercy killing", euthanasia evokes a great deal of emotional reaction and moral indecision, often at the expense of a rational investigation […]
Debates Secularist Porn
On The Subject of Pornography: Pornography, once considered a taboo subject, is now readily available for all to enjoy or rail against. Porn includes a variety of forms from mild to obscene to extreme and it is available in diverse media. Pornography has been blamed for a decrease in the morality of society, for the […]
Doug Jesseph Jesseph Craig Jesseph3
Eight minutes. A lot of ground to cover in eight minutes. Let’s return just a minute to the question of whether one belief excludes another. My point was that if you have certain theistic belief, a well-fleshed out, alright, a detailed theistic belief, what you are saying is everyone who believes in something different than […]
Edwin Wilson Manifesto Ch11
CHAPTER 11 Distinctions Between Literary and Religious Humanism In retrospect, I think it was inevitable that some persons would be overlooked who should have been asked to sign the manifesto and others asked whose positions were not fully known. We were, after all, working under pressure, with no budget, and with very little clerical help. […]
Edwin Wilson Manifesto Preface
Preface About the Author Edwin Henry Wilson was born on August 23, 1898, in Woodhaven, New York. He was raised in Concord, Massachusetts, where he attended the First Parish Church, a Unitarian fellowship. Wilson’s father had no use for the church; it was his mother who introduced him to Unitarianism, albeit of the conservative variety. […]
Farrell Till Geisler Till Geisler2
For the purposes of contrast and comparison, I’ll frame my response to Till over against the evidence I presented for the resurrection. First, I argued that the basic evidence for the New Testament is found in the fact that the New Testament documents are reliable, having more evidence for them than for any other book […]
Farrell Till Horner Till Questions
Questioner #1: My first question is to Mr. Horner. Mr. Till says that Christianity is so much like a lot of other, I’ll call them pagan religions, that were developing around the same time. My question to you is, why would you think that if this is so, why did Christianity flourish so much and […]
Finngeir Hiorth Teichman
Review of Jenny Teichman Social Ethics: A Student’s Guide (1997) Finngeir Hiorth Teichman, Jenny: Social Ethics, A Student’s Guide, Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford 0X4 1JF, UK, and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, Mass. 02142, USA, paperback, 193 pp., glossary, bibliography, index. In the preface of this book Jenny Teichman, a philosopher and […]
Fred Edwords Humart
Humanism, Reason, and the Arts (1992) Frederick Edwords [This is the text of a talk presented to various audiences in the 1990s. Its author was at the time executive director of the American Humanist Association.] We are the music-makers, And we are the dreamers of dreams, Wandering by lone sea-breakers, And sitting by desolate streams; […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chap19
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 19 – From Manasseh to the Deuteronomic Reform Read II Kings 21-35; II Chron. 33-36 WHEN Hezekiah died (687), his son Manasseh, still a young boy, was enthroned.1 The folly of adhering to a policy of antagonism toward Assyria was apparent, and Manasseh pledged loyalty […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chap4
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 4 -Other Methods of Approach OTHER patterns of approach to biblical literature have been developed and most of these supplement the historical-literary method. Each new methodology causes the scholar to reconsider familiar material in the light of new evidence or from a different angle […]
Gordon Stein Charade
Josh McDowell’s Charade (1982) Gordon Stein, Ph.D. [NOTE: The following article is copyright by Gordon Stein and is reproduced with his permission.] Josh McDowell is one of the most popular writers that fundamentalist Christianity has. He is also one of the least trustworthy. Almost nothing he says in his books (e.g., Evidence That Demands a […]
Graham Oppy P Wager
Pascal’s Wager Is A Possible Bet (But Not A Very Good One): Reply To Harmon Holcomb III (1996) Graham Oppy In “To Bet The Impossible Bet”, Harmon Holcomb III argues: (i) that Pascal’s wager is structurally incoherent; (ii) that if it were not thus incoherent, then it would be successful; and (iii) that my […]