Modern Library

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

What Is Agnosticism? (1981) H. J. Blackham [This article was originally published in "Free Inquiry," Summer, 1981, pp. 31-33.] Winds of Doctrine As a definition of the limits of knowledge, "agnosticism" needs to be understood historically. Summarily and roughly, philosophy at the time of Plutarch (first century A.D.) offered six positions: on the one hand, […]

Seriat’in Çelismeli ve Tutarsiz Hükümleriyle Körletilen Zekalar: Din Adami’nin Olumsuz Rolü I) Seriat hükümlerindeki çeliskiler, ve tutarsizliklar konusunda din adami’nin olumsuz tutumu: II) Çeliskilerin nedenleri ve din adami’nin bu nedenlerden habersizligi: III) Din adami tartisma ve soru sorma yollarini kapali tutmakla çeliskili düsünme aliskanligini sürdürür. Seriat ortaminda ve din adami’nin elinde yetisen kisilerin ortak özelligi, […]

  Toplumsal Geriliklerimizin Sorumlulari: Din Adamlari DIPNOTLAR 1 Atatürk’le konusanlarin kullandiklari sözcük bu degil fakat çok daha agir bir sözcüktür. Bunun yerine yukardaki deyimi koyduk 2 Gerek bu alinti ve gerek biraz yukarda belirttigimiz hususlar için Atatürkün Ocak 16-17, 1923 tarihli konusmalarini içeren su yapita bakiniz: Gazi Mustafa Kemal-Atatürk’ün 1923 Eskisehir-Izmit Konusmalari, (Türk Tarih Kurumu […]

Library: Modern Documents: James Still: What Is a Gospel? What Is a Gospel? James Still Gospel is derived from the Greek word euaggelion and means “good news.” The genre of gospels include the four canonical books of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John as well as some extrabiblical gospels written in the second century. The good […]

Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations: Obeying a Rule On Only One Occasion in §199 James Still Wittgenstein argues that meaning and use should not be conflated; the whole use of the meaning of a word (the steps to be taken) cannot be understood in a flash nor can the use fit the meaning simultaneously in that flash […]

The Historicity of Jesus’ Resurrection The Debate between Christians and Skeptics Jeffery Jay Lowder (1995) Related documents: “Historical Evidence and the Empty Tomb Story: A Reply to William Lane Craig” (2001) Lowder provides a point-by-point rebuttal to Craig’s case for the empty tomb. Along the way, Lowder defends a naturalistic explanation of the empty tomb. […]

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“Secular” Does Not Mean “Atheistic” Jeffery Jay Lowder June 20, 2000   Yesterday the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6-3 in a Texas case that public schools cannot allow student-led prayer before high school football games. Reaction to this ruling among believers has been mixed. While some believers (especially those who belong to minority faiths) welcomed […]

Man and Creation Review of Michael Bauman, editor, Man and Creation: Perspectives on Science and Theology, 1993, Hillsdale, Mich.: Hillsdale College Press, 306 pp., $9.95. (This was originally posted in four parts to the talk.origins newsgroup between January 2 and February 9, 1994.) Before Christmas I mentioned that I had recently obtained a copy of […]

Opening Statement John C. Rankin   Bob, thank you very much. It’s interesting, when I was a young boy, I remember listening to the radio and these debates over labor unions, and about the rank and file. And I would listen to this as an 8- or 9-year old. And I finally asked my father, […]

Revelation’s Place in the Christian Bible (2007) Keith Gilmour   “A repulsive film in which intellectuals have found acres of social and political meaning; the average judgement is likely to remain that it is pretentious and nasty rubbish for sick minds who do not mind jazzed-up images and incoherent sound.[1] This was Leslie Halliwell’s assessment […]

About the Debate RESOLVED: THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION IS SUPERIOR TO THE THEORY OF SPECIAL CREATION AS AN EXPLANATION FOR THE SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE RELATED TO ORIGINS. A DEBATE HELD AT: AUBURN UNIVERSITY AUBURN, ALABAMA 10 MAY 1988 SPEAKING FOR THE AFFIRMATIVE: Kenneth S. Saladin, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Biology Georgia College Milledgeville, Georgia SPEAKING FOR […]

Objection #1: Since Evil & Suffering Exist, A Loving God Cannot (2001) (Interview w/ Peter John Kreeft, PH.D.) Kyle J. Gerkin   A Bear, A Trap, A Hunter, And God The idea here is that God must allow some short term suffering in order to achieve a greater good. The analogy employed by professor Kreeft […]

Best-Selling Errancy An Essay on Inconsistencies in the Bible Mark D. Ball, Ph.D. Introduction The Goodness of God The Requirements for Salvation Vowing The Relationship Among Fear, Love, and Punishment Endnotes Bibliography Introduction “The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is reason,” says Thomas Paine in the preface to his treatise on religion, […]

Notes on Christianity and the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics (1998) Mark I. Vuletic   Philip Dorrell (1995) makes a number of claims about Christianity and “Many Worlds Interpretation” (MWI) of quantum mechanics. I find some of those claims objectionable, and some of them worth adding to. Rejection of MWI as Christian Doctrine? Dorrell […]

Copan’s Critique of Atheistic Objective Morality Michael Martin   Related documents: Atheism, Christian Theism, and Rape (1997) by Michael Martin “One of the more dramatic debating maneuvers used by Christian apologists against atheists is to argue that atheists can provide no objective reason for not raping people. This startling claim follows from the apologists’ wider […]

Patrick Glynn’s God: the Evidence Michael Martin   Patrick Glynn, a former atheist with a Ph.D. from Harvard, argues in God: The Evidence[1] that new scientific discoveries in cosmology, psychology, and medicine add up “to a powerful–indeed, all-but-incontestable–case for … the existence of soul, afterlife and God (p. 2).” Written in a breezy popular style […]

Final Response to Frame Michael Martin   I would like to thank John Frame for the courtesy and care with which he has carried on the discussion. Our discussion has been stimulating and has raised many important issues in the philosophy of religion which believers, atheists, and agnostics must take seriously. Although it would be […]

Human Suffering and the Acceptance of God (1997) Michael Martin   Why is there so much human suffering in the world if God is all good and all powerful? As I have shown elsewhere although there have been many answers to this question none are successful.[1] However, an answer has been offered by William Craig […]

Religion and Violence (2017) Michael Moore There is no greater social evil than religion. It is the cancer in the body of humanity. — A. C. Grayling (2005, p. 34) The connection between religion and violence is a long-standing one. Its roots can be found in Edward Burnett Tylor’s description of the “murderous practices” found […]

Atheism About Atheism [ Index ] Various introductions to atheism, including its definition; its relationship to agnosticism, theism, and noncognitivism; and its value. Arguments for Atheism [ Index ] In this section, “arguments for atheism” means “arguments for the nonexistence of God.” In the jargon of the philosophy of religion, such arguments are known as “atheological arguments.” The argument […]

Without God, What Grounds Right and Wrong? Adams’s Open-Question Argument Against Ethical Naturalism (2006) by Stephen Sullivan In Finite and Infinite Goods, Robert Merrihew Adams offers an interesting variation on G. E. Moore’s famous open-question argument against ethical naturalism. In giving causal-explanatory reasoning the last word in ethical inquiry, he says, ethical naturalists negate a […]

Why Should Atheists Be Moral? Does the Christian Theism Advocated by J.P. Moreland Provide a Better Reason to be Moral than Secular Humanism? (1998) by Richard C. Carrier Carrier refutes Moreland’s claim that theism offers more and better reasons to live a moral life than atheism or secular humanism. Doing the Right Thing (1998) (Off Site) […]

I want to discuss some emotional issues that religious beliefs serve to address and accommodate. Although it seems obvious that a belief should be concerned with the truth, it is less obvious to some that a belief’s implications help determine its worth. It is even less obvious that a belief needs to conform to one’s […]

Appearance Traditions The first appearances were to Peter and his associates. The first appearance recounted in the formula found in 1 Corinthians 15 is the one to Kephas. This is widely acknowledged to be the earliest and best evidence that is available. The Gospel of Mark, the oldest of the four, alludes to the appearance […]

The Anthropic Coincidences, Evil and the Disconfirmation of Theism (1992)   Quentin Smith   The following article was originally published in RELIGIOUS STUDIES in 1992 (Volume 28, pp. 347-350).   The anthropic principle or the associated anthropic coincidences have been used by philosophers such as John Leslie (1989), William Lane Craig (1988) and Richard Swinburne […]

Internal and External Causal Explanations of the Universe (1995) Quentin Smith   The following article was originally published in PHILOSOPHICAL STUDIES in 1995 (Volume 79, pp. 283-310). PART ONE: THE FORMULATION OF THE CONTROVERSY I A certain controversy about explaining all contingent beings erupted in the 18th century and has continued up to the present […]