Modern Library

Does the Free-Will Defense Constitute a Sound Theodicy? Niclas Berggren 1. Proem A strong argument against the existence of the Christian god (henceforth referred to as God) is contained in the theodicy problem, which can be stated in the following manner: If God exists, he is all-knowing, all-powerful, and perfectly good.[1] The existence of suffering […]

Argument from Evolution Many conservative Christians and lay atheists alike claim that if biological evolution is true, then God does not exist. Ironically, while many conservative Christians have attacked evolution because it supposedly entails atheism, no contemporary atheist philosopher has used evolution as evidence for atheism. Indeed, the only philosopher who has formulated an argument […]

Book Reviews Lively Answers to Theists: Review of Robin Le Poidevin’s Arguing for Atheism (1998) by Keith Parsons The Many Forms of Atheism (Off Site) by Massimo Pigliucci Review of Antony Flew’s God, Freedom, and Immortality (1985) by Michael Martin Review of George H. Smith’s Atheism: The Case Against God (1982) Michael Martin Review of Gordon Stein’s […]

Now I will address a very sensitive point in this book, but one I feel very heartfelt about. I am going to make a bold, arguably arrogant assertion: Atheism better reflects the world we live in than theism. Now let me explain. Let me illustrate what I mean through the use of a potent example. […]

Naturalistic Inquiry This essay is written in response to those who have questioned me about ‘naturalism’, what it means to me, and why I am a naturalist. It is the product of several informal exchanges. First off, I would note that ‘naturalist’ is a title that I adopt with some hesitancy. It is amazing how […]

God, Atheism and Incompatibility: The Argument from Nonbelief (2001) Philip Kuchar   The Argument from Nonbelief against God’s existence (ANB) has been used by a number of writers, such as Theodore Drange [1] and J. L. Schellenberg [2], to show that the mere existence of nonbelievers or the presence of sufficient evidence for nonbelief in […]

Swinburne’s Explanation of the Universe (1998) Quentin Smith The following review of Richard Swinburne, Is There a God? (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996, pp. vi + 144) was originally published in Religious Studies 34 (1998): 91-102. I Swinburne’s Is There A God? presents a brief, updated version of his book, The Existence of God, in […]

Faith and Reason Agnosticism Freethought Logic FAQ Do Religious Life and Critical Thought Need Each Other? by Richard Carrier Text of a paper published in the Fall (1996) issue of Inquiry: Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines, addressing why and how religious experience is to be approached critically, using Buddhist meditation as the central example. “Happy […]

Two Examples of Faulty Bible Scholarship (1999) Richard Carrier   In response to remarks by Douglas Wilson in a debate with Ted Drange (see Wilson’s first rebuttal), I have written on two examples of how some Christians don’t understand the importance of scholarship in truly understanding the New Testament, centering around 1 Timothy. The first […]

Naturalism vs. Theism: The Carrier-Wanchick Debate (2006)   Does God exist? Or is nature all there is? Richard Carrier and Tom Wanchick debate this question below. Who We Are What We Are Debating The Rules We Followed Wanchick’s Opening Statement Carrier’s Opening Statement Carrier’s First Rebuttal Wanchick’s First Rebuttal Wanchick’s Second Rebuttal Carrier’s Second Rebuttal […]

Response to James Hannam’s ‘In Defense of the Fine Tuning Design Argument’ (2001) Richard Carrier   In his essay “In Defense of the Fine Tuning Design Argument” (2001) published here on the Secular Web, I do not believe Hannam has addressed the full range of issues and problems with the Fine Tuning Argument as discussed […]

The End of Pascal’s Wager: Only Nontheists Go to Heaven (2002) Richard Carrier   The End of Pascal’s Wager: Only Nontheists Go to Heaven The following argument could be taken as tongue-in-cheek, if it didn’t seem so evidently true. At any rate, to escape the logic of it requires theists to commit to abandoning several […]

Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction]   Richard Carrier   9. Was the Idea of an Incarnate God Really Repugnant? James Holding cites Earl Doherty for the argument that Jews would never believe “that a human man was the Son of God,” much less deserved “all the titles of divinity and […]

Beck’s Argument for God (1999, 2005) Richard Carrier   [Part 3D of a larger Review of In Defense of Miracles.]   Here I will point out the errors in Becks’ argument for God. Because they are typical of those used by Christians everywhere, sophisticated or not, I think this survey will be of use on […]

Defining Our Mission Richard C. Carrier From our inception in 1995 the mission of the Internet Infidels has always been to defend and promote Metaphysical Naturalism, a term coined by philosophers for any worldview that holds that nature is all there is. Philosophers call this a “closed” system because nothing more is needed to explain […]

This file has been relocated: it is now Section II of General Case for Insufficiency .

This file has been relocated: it is now Section II of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.

This file has been relocated: it is now the first half of the new Introduction.

Why I Am Not a Christian (2006) Richard Carrier   Introduction The Top Four Reasons I Am Not a Christian Are… 1. God is Silent 2. God is Inert 3. The Evidence is Inadequate      A Digression on Method      Hero Savior of Vietnam 4. Christianity Predicts a Different Universe      Origin and Evolution of Life      The Human […]

________________________________________ 48 Beyond Born Again Section I– The Born Again Experience: A Brave New World? Chapter 3: Devil’s Advocates In Chapter 1, I had occasion to mention the common Evangelical belief in the reality of Satan and his demons. I showed how this belief fit into the set of “combat” coping mechanisms that are part […]

The Great Preposterous (1997) Robert M. Price   Ant-Man | Prophetic Ventriloquism | Immaculate Misconception | Pregnant Silence | Strike the Harp and Join the Chorus | Christianity Bastardized | Was Jesus sinless? | Paranormal Phenomena | Uniqueness of Jesus’ Teachings | Conclusion | Notes | Related Resources If oxen and horses or lions had […]

The Case for Cosmic Design (2008) Robin Collins             The Evidence                   Fine-Tuning of Laws for Life                   Fine-Tuning of Constants                   Other Types of Fine-Tuning for Life                   Summary of Fine-Tuning for Life Argument                   Beauty and Elegance of Laws                   Intelligibility and Discoverability           Summary of Argument: Method of Inference                   Elaboration of Likelihood Principle           Objections to the Fine-Tuning for Life […]

Clergy in the Classroom: The Religion of Secular Humanism By David A. Noebel, J.F. Baldwin, and Kevin Bywater Manitou Springs, Colorado: Summit Press, 1995 135 pages, (no price listed on the book) Reviewed by Sally Morem Clergy in the Classroom is the latest attempt by Christian fundamentalists to claim victim status under the Establishment Clause […]

Reply to Melnyk’s Objections (2007) Stewart Goetz and Charles Taliaferro   We thank Andrew Melnyk (hereafter, M) for his thoughtful response to our essay and begin with his suggestion near the end of his response that in principle theists can provide a good explanation of the emergence of consciousness. Our position is that theists can […]

How I Walked Away Kenneth Nahigian I confess it now, my sin, my crime, the cancer on my soul. I am a backslider. If you didn’t wince, you aren’t in the club. A backslider is an ex-Christian, one who accepted his savior and then fell from grace. One who stood on the threshold of his […]

Christian Science A Skeptic Looks at Christian Science (1999) (Off Site) by Jeffrey Shallit An old joke has it that Christian Science is like grape nuts–it is neither “Christian” nor “science.” The author critically analyzes Christian Science health claims from a scientific and philosophical frame of reference, offering along the way some fascinating information on […]

Jesus Seminar Jesus Seminar Forum (Off Site) [ Index ] The Westar Institute (Off Site) (Off Site) by Robert J. Miller Robert J. Miller assesses this 1995 criticism of the Jesus Seminar & the author’s claims that Jesus was an apocalyptic preacher & embodiment of divine wisdom [Journal of Higher Criticism 4.1 (Spring 97) 120-137]. […]

Related Sites The Holy Koran (Off Site) A searchable English translation of the Koran provided by the University of Virginia. Apostates of Islam (Off Site) “We are ex-Muslims. We committed the ultimate sin of thinking and questioned the belief that was imposed on us and we came to realize that far from being a religion of truth, […]

Argument from Reason The Argument from Cognitive Biases (2018) by Aron Lucas A family of theistic arguments contends that the human ability to reason is to be expected under theism, but is surprising under metaphysical naturalism, and thus provides evidence favoring theism over naturalism. One common line of argument is that unguided evolution favors traits […]

Introduction: Disagreement and the Resurrection of Jesus   In his 1984 article “Is it Possible to Know that Jesus Rose From the Dead?” Professor Stephen T. Davis referred to a paradox facing any philosopher writing about the possibility of knowing the resurrection occurred:   On the one hand, some believers in the resurrection hold that […]