[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Mark Vuletic Ntse
Methodological Naturalism and the Supernatural (1997) with post-conference notes (updated 4-7-1997) Mark I. Vuletic [The following paper was presented on Saturday, February 22, 1997, 9:15 a.m., at Naturalism, Theism, and the Scientific Enterprise – an interdisciplinary conference at the University of Texas, Austin. Please consider this paper a work-in-progress. Although its reception at the […]
Mathew Intro Russian
Я№хфшёыютшх Фрээрџ ёђрђќџ тћ№рцрхђ ёюсющ яюяћђъѓ фрђќ ёрьюх юсљхх я№хфёђртыхэшх юс рђхшчьх. п ёђр№рыёџ я№шфх№цштрђќёџ ъръ ьюцэю сюыхх эхщђ№рыќэющ яючшішш яю ёяю№эћь тюя№юёрь, юфэръю ёыхфѓхђ яюьэшђќ, їђю т фрээюь фюъѓьхэђх тћ№рцхэр ышјќ юфэр шч ђюїхъ ч№хэшџ. п фры сћ їшђрђхыў ёютхђ тюёя№шэшьрђќ я№юїшђрээюх яю тючьюцэюёђш јш№юъю ш фхырђќ ёюсёђтхээћх тћтюфћ; эхъюђю№рџ чэрїшьрџ ышђх№рђѓ№р яю №рёёьрђ№штрхьћь […]
Michael Martin Education
Atheistic Education Michael Martin [This article was originally published in The American Rationalist.] In discussing atheistic education it is necessary to draw a couple of important distinctions. The first is between getting someone to be an atheist and educating an atheist. One can accomplish the former in many different ways. For example, one might […]
Michael Martin Induction
Does Induction Presume the Existence of the Christian God? (1997) Michael Martin [The following article was originally published in Skeptic, Vol. 5, #2, pp. 71-75.] Readers of this journal may have heard of the Cosmological, the Teleological, and the Ontological Arguments for the existence of God. Indeed, many readers will know the basic problems […]
Michael Martin Meynell
Hugo Meynell’s Is Christianity True? (1998) Michael Martin In Is Christianity True? Hugo A. Meynell, a Cambridge Ph.D. who teaches at the University of Calgary, provides an affirmative answer to the question posed in the title of his book.[1] After a short introduction in which he gives reasons for believing in God, he devotes […]
Michael Martin Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein’s Lectures on Religious Belief (2001) Michael Martin In 1938 Wittgenstein gave a series of three lectures on religious belief at Cambridge. We do not have his own lecture notes but we do have twenty pages of notes taken down by one or more of his students.[1] Wittgenstein did not check their accuracy and they […]
Nontheism Atheism Confusion
Arguments from Confusion “There are two things,” your mother may have warned, “that you should never discuss over dinner: religion and politics.” Confusion about such fundamental issues as the nature of God or ultimate reality, the purpose of life, how one should live, what has been revealed to mankind, what constitutes right and wrong, what […]
Nontheism Naturalism Pluralistic
Pluralistic Naturalism There are two main kinds of naturalism: materialism and pluralistic naturalism. Materialism, or physicalism, is a “monistic” form of naturalism in that it maintains that only one basic kind of stuff exists–physical stuff. Pluralistic naturalism, by contrast, combines naturalism with ontological pluralism, the idea that there is more than just one basic kind […]
Paul Obrien Gentle Atheism16
The concern I have about the preceding discussion is that it makes the nonrational aspects of our religious beliefs sound like these ideas that we just "shop" for or choose easily, as if beliefs automatically obeyed the will. But oftentimes it is not at all clear that we can just pick and choose certain beliefs; […]
Peter Kirby Tomb Dependence
Dependence on Mark We have seen that there is no mention of the empty tomb story in early Christian writings outside of the four gospels. This situation is made worse if the evangelists do not demonstrate any independence in reporting this story. This would be somewhat strange because, were the story historical, it would […]
Quentin Smith Causation
[This article was originally published in Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191.] CAUSATION AND THE LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF A DIVINE CAUSE* (1996) Quentin Smith Western Michigan University 1. Introduction Some interesting light is thrown on the nature of causation, the origin of the universe, and arguments for atheism if we […]
Radio 2000
Produced for the Secular Web by T.J. Walker at TJWalker.com. § Infidel Interview with James Still Who are the Internet Infidels? Interview with James Still as president of the Internet Infidels, covering who we are, what we’re trying to accomplish, and our philosophy. [Listen] [Download RealAudio Player] Jan 31: Infidel Interview with Ed Buckner Ed […]
Addendum C: The First Life
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) Richard Carrier The following material was updated in 2006, in light of the publication of Richard Carrier’s article, “The Argument from Biogenesis: Probabilities against a Natural Origin of Life,” Biology & Philosophy 19.5 (November, 2004), pp. 739-64. An important discussion […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Oconnell Bios
Who We Are (2008) Welcome to On Paul’s Theory of Resurrection: The Carrier-O’Connell Debate. Here Richard and Jake explain who they are. Richard Carrier: Richard Carrier has a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University. He specializes in ancient science and religion, and has written on early Christianity both online and in print. He […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Wanchick Carrier3
Carrier’s Second Rebuttal (2006) Wanchick Gets It Wrong Basic Argument for Naturalism (BAN) Wanchick thinks I “beg the question” when claiming scientific methods are the most reliable ones known for resolving questions of fact. Evidence of the superiority of science in ascertaining the truth in every matter of fact is so vast and undeniable […]
Richard Carrier Foster2
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) 2. Some of Foster’s Strange Notions Richard Carrier I will begin with examples of the more trivial of Foster’s strangeness, simply to prepare you for the worst. To begin with, Foster makes several amateurish philosophical errors that betray […]
Richard Carrier Improbable
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) Richard Carrier Not the Impossible Faith: Why Christianity Didn’t Need a Miracle to Succeed Now available as a book, fully updated and reorganized. This is the definitive edition of “Was Christianity Too Improbable to Be False?” Even better than online, improved and revised throughout. Available at […]
Richard Carrier Improbable Radical
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction] Richard Carrier 16. Were Christian Teachings Too Radical for Anyone to Buy? Holding then throws in a hodgepodge of miscellaneous difficulties we might categorize under the general argument that “Christian teachings were too radical to be popular.” That may be true—after all, Christianity […]
Richard Carrier Indef I
Review of In Defense of Miracles (1999, 2005) Richard Carrier The material previously contained at this location has been moved into the combined Summary.
Richard Carrier Ntcanon
The Formation of the New Testament Canon (2000) Richard Carrier Contrary to common belief, there was never a one-time, truly universal decision as to which books should be included in the Bible. It took over a century of the proliferation of numerous writings before anyone even bothered to start picking and choosing, and then […]
Richard Carrier Resurrection 2d
This file has been relocated: it is now Section IV of Probability of Survival vs. Miracle: Assessing the Odds.
Richard Carrier Resurrection 3h
This file has been relocated: it is now Section VIII of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.
Richard Carrier Scilit
Test Your Scientific Literacy! (2001) Richard Carrier Do you think you know what science is? You may be surprised. Scientific literacy is hard to acquire and is not widespread. Science is, after all, a very complex and nuanced affair that can only be truly understood with wide experience and deep thought. It took the […]
Richard Packham Heart
The Man with No Heart: Miracles and Evidence Richard Packham The problem of evidence for miraculous occurrences has frequently been discussed in TSR. It sometimes takes the form of an exchange between Farrell Till and some inerrantist. Till: “Extraordinary events require extraordinary evidence.” Inerrantist: “Then miraculous events require miraculous evidence, and since you don’t […]
Why Come Out As An Atheist?
Prologue This essay originated as a post to the Ex-Tian mailing list, a mailing for ex-Christians. A common question among ex-Christians who become atheists is whether or not to “come out” as atheists, or to pretend to be a Christian when around friends and family. This essay is my answer to that question. Should ex-Christians […]
Robert Price Beyond Born Again Chap9
________________________________________ 109 Beyond Born Again Section III– Can Evangelical Theology be Born Again? Chapter 9: Theological Rhetoric In the last chapter we saw the ineffectiveness of the Evangelical attempt to disqualify Liberal theology as “unscriptural.” We noted that, contra J. I. Packer and company, it is not self-evident that the only way to take scripture […]
Robert Price Price Rankin Price1
Opening Statement Robert M. Price I remember a particular Superboy comic book in which the Boy of Steel somehow discovers that in the future, he is thought to be as mythical as Peter Pan and Santa Claus. Indignant at this turn of events, he flies at faster than light speed and enters the future […]
Science Creationism Dembski
William Dembski William Dembski, a mathematician and philosopher, is one of the leaders of intelligent design creationism. Chance, Necessity, and the War Against Science (2000) (Off Site) by Massimo Pigliucci A review of Dembski’s Design Inference by biologist Massimo Pigliucci. Response to Massimo Pigliucci’s Review of The Design Inference (1999) by Mark Vuletic Vuletic replies to […]
Testimonials
Testimonials From time to time, The Secular Web receives an interesting and well-written essay by a nontheist detailing how s/he became an atheist, agnostic, rationalist, and/or freethinker. These essays are often of interest to others who are challenging their own ideas, the dominant beliefs within their society, or who are simply curious to read the […]
The Fool Mere
The author has requested that he be referred to as “Gaunilo II.” We have therefore moved his files into a new directory. The address for his files is now: /library/modern/gaunilo2/late.html Please update your links. Thank you.