Modern Library

Naturalism vs. Evolution: A Religion/Science Conflict? (2007) Alvin Plantinga   Naturalism is the view that there is no such person as God or anything like God. So taken, it is stronger than atheism; it is possible to be an atheist without rising to the heights (or sinking to the depths) of naturalism. A follower of […]

Dostoevsky Did Say It: A Response to David E. Cortesi (2011) Andrei I. Volkov I recently read an old Secular Web article by David E. Cortesi titled “Dostoevsky Didn’t Say It” (2000). This essay is now widely cited and referenced across the Internet. When believers attribute to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (1880) the phrase […]

Understanding the Limits of Knowing Answering The False Claims of Creationists by Bill Schultz Table of Contents Introduction How We Come To “Know” Things Science Is The Organized And Methodical Accumulation Of Knowledge Why Science And Religion Might Disagree About What “Knowing” Entails Why Science Is “Biased” Towards Naturalism Dualism: The Essence Of The Disagreement […]

Why Doesn’t God Intervene to Prevent Evil? (1996) Bruce Russell   (This article was originally published in Philosophy: The Quest for Truth [third ed., ed. Louis P. Pojman, Belmont: Wadsworth, 1996], pp. 74-80.) Bruce Russell is professor and chair of the philosophy department at Wayne State University. He has published several articles in philosophy of […]

The Pledge of Allegiance “Under God” in Pledge of Allegiance [ Index ] (Off Site) A collection of resources from the Pluralism Project. Pledge of Allegiance Restoration Project [ Index ] (Off Site) This is the website of Michael Newdow, the atheist father who sued to have the words, "Under God," declared to be an unconstitutional insertion into the Pledge […]

The Book of Mormon and the King James Version (1999) Curt van den Heuvel   Introduction The King James Version of the Bible is, in all likelihood, the most successful of all the English translations. Volumes have been written on its distinctive and rhythmic style, and it is still regarded as a triumph of modern […]

References Alfven, Hannes, and Gustaf Arrhenius. 1976. Evolution of the Solar System NASA SP345, National Space and Aeronautics Administration, Washington, D.C. Aller, M. F. 1971. “Promethium in the star HR465” Sky & Telescope, vol.41, pp.220-222 Anderson, J. L. 1972. “Non-Poisson distributions observed during counting of certain carbon-14-labeled organic (sub) monolayers” Physical Chemistry Journal, vol.76, pp.3603-3612 […]

Specific Creationist Arguments Dave E. Matson It only takes one proof of a young earth to decide the issue. The Sun is Shrinking! Cosmic Dust Accumulation on the Moon and Earth Comet Burnout Meteorites, Fossil Craters and Geologic Strata The Moon is Receding and it Could Only Have Been So Close U-236 and Th-230, Both […]

Young-earth "proof" #17: Erosion rates limit Niagara Falls to an age of less than 10,000 years. Therefore, the earth is young. 17. If Dr. Hovind is right, then the Niagara Falls are less than 10,000 years old. What of it? Since when does the age of the Niagara Falls have anything to do with the […]

Asa and Archer: Does the Bible contain errors? David Zaitzeff   The Bible contains many passages which seem to contradict other passages. Unbelievers, skeptics and modernist Christians see these passages as evidence the Bible contains errors. Conservative or “fundamentalist” Christians respond with books on “Bible difficulties.” These books attempt to explain the contradictions. The usual […]

The Secular Case Against Abortion by Jennifer Roth It seems that I was premature in proclaiming that Mr. Carrier and I had reached agreement on a number of key issues. I had hoped to focus attention on the question of the definition of a person, since I believed (and still believe) that to be the […]

On The Issues of Gay & Lesbian Marriage: Gays and lesbians, along with heterosexual supporters, have been campaigning the government to legalize gay marriages. Society, for the most part, is still lobbying against such change. The issues involved are quite simple: homosexuals simply want the same rights that are afforded straight people. Opposing parties, however, […]

On The Issues Involved in Segregation: The issues involved in segregation closely parallel those involved in the subject of multiculturalism although there are some important differences. Having a separate debate on this subject also allows some of the arguments to be examined more closely. Segregation involves placing emphasis on the difference among peoples rather than […]

Theism or Atheism Krueger vs. McHugh A brief biographical sketch is available: Doug Krueger Christopher McHugh Opening Statement:    Doug Krueger    Christopher McHugh First Rebuttal:    Doug Krueger    Christopher McHugh Second Rebuttal:    Doug Krueger    Christopher McHugh Closing Statement:    Doug Krueger    Christopher McHugh

  CHAPTER 15 Responses from Individuals Comments on the manifesto received from individuals after publication were important to us because part of the motivation behind publishing the manifesto was to catalyze discussion and promote the development of humanism. Edgar S Brightman One valued letter came from Edgar S. Brightman, who was then teaching in the […]

Like Dr. Geisler, I want to express my appreciation for the opportunity to be here. I always consider it a privlege to speak on subjects like the issue under discussion tonight, and I certainly want to thank those who arranged this event for asking me to be a part of it. At the same time, […]

I brought with me a book that somebody inquired about, who came up to my desk to talk to me. I’m sure you’ve heard of it. It’s the Book of Mormon. Every version of the Book of Mormon that I have ever seen has, in the front of it, the "Testimony of the Three Witnesses." […]

The Religious Character of American Patriotism It’s time to recognize our traditions and answer some hard questions (1987) Frederick Edwords In the last few years, we have witnessed a number of patriotic celebrations in the United States — celebrations that have taken on an almost religious expression. In 1976, it was the glorious bicentennial of […]

Old Testament Life and Literature Gerald A. Larue Table of Contents Preface A Word to the Reader Part One: The Bible and How We Study It 1. What is the Old Testament? The development of the Canon. Why do we read? 2. How Do We Read? The problem of history. History and legend. Myth, fable […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 22 – Literature of the Middle Period ABOUT thirty years are embraced in the period which we are labeling for convenience "The Middle Period" of the Exile and which extends roughly from about 585 to 555. During these years a considerable body of […]

(1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 8 – Who Were the Hebrews? ACCORDING to biblical tradition, the Hebrews are peoples descended from Shem, one of Noah’s sons, through Eber, the eponymous ancestor, and Abraham. Gen. 7:22 f., reports that the flood destroyed all life except that in Noah’s ark; consequently, the whole human family descended from […]

Time, Successive Addition, and Kalam Cosmological Arguments Graham Oppy   Craig (1981) presents and defends several different kalam cosmological arguments. The core of each of these arguments is the following ur-argument: 1. The universe began to exist. 2. Whatever begins to exist has a cause of its existence. 3. (Hence) The universe has a cause […]

Review of: J. P. Moreland (ed.) The Creation Hypothesis Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press Graham Oppy This book is an interesting addition to the anti-evolution literature. (For a nice survey of this literature up until 1992, see Tom McIver’s Anti-Evolution: A Reader’s Guide to Writings Before and After Darwin Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992.) […]

Din Adami Insanlarimizi Seriat Öyküleriyle Uyutarak Akil Disi’liklara Inanan Kisiler Durumunda Tutar. Islam seriati’ni olusturan din verileri, genellikle öykülerle (masallarla) süslenmistir ki bazilari seriat dilinde “Kissa” diye tanimlanir. Bunlar din adami’nin elinde Müslüman halklari akilciliktan uzaklastirmak için is gören birer araçtir. Bu masal’lardan pek çogu genellikle Tevrat’dan bazilari da Hiristiyan geleneklerinden kaynaklanmis seylerdir ki, her […]

The Search for the Historical Jesus James Still Before the nineteenth century, when Christians sought to understand Jesus and the ancient world depicted in the gospels, they adhered to naturalistic literalism. Naturalistic literalism is the practice of reading the Scriptures and accepting the events that are described therein as the literal truth. No one had […]

The Miracle of the Resurrection Before we can even examine the evidence to determine whether the resurrection is a historical event, we must first deal with the problem of whether such an event is possible in the first place. We need to confront the problem of miracles. More skeptics reject the resurrection because of its […]

Free Advertising Isn’t the Point Jeffery Jay Lowder August 2, 2000   Related documents: “The Rest of the Story” (2002) by Jeffery Jay Lowder Lowder’s review of Lee Strobel’s The Case for Christ. On July 13, 2000, I happened to be flipping through radio stations when I stumbled upon a talk radio show with a […]

Examining Miracle Claims Joe Nickell [“Examining Miracle Claims” was originally published in the March 1996 issue of Deolog.] Today’s widespread scientific illiteracy, even an outright attitude of anti-science, is concurrent with the spread of magical thinking even in our own relatively enlightened culture. With the rise of the “New Age” movement has come a resurgence […]

Opening Statement for the Negative (Gish, 45 minutes) Certainly, I consider it a privilege to be here at Auburn University, this great campus, and to have this opportunity to present the scientific evidence for creation. I would say that the size of this crowd, you people here at Auburn are interested in something besides football. […]

Objection #5: It’s Offensive To Claim Jesus Is The Only Way To God (2001) (Interview w/ Ravi Zacharias, D.D., LL.D.) Kyle J. Gerkin For someone who is of a non-Christian religion, I suppose the claim of Jesus as a sole source of salvation is offensive. But maybe not. If your goal is not to become […]