Modern Library

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 […]

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: […]

The Poverty of Theistic Morality Adolf Grünbaum University of Pittsburgh   [This essay was originally published in Science, Mind and Art: Essays on Science and the Humanistic Understanding in Art, Epistemology, Religion and Ethics, in Honor of Robert S. Cohen. Boston Studies in the Philosophy of Science, vol. 165. Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers, […]

Last Appendix A Parable M. M. Mangasarian, 1909 Bank of Wisdom, Box 926, Louisville, KY 40201 Public Domain – copies may be given away, but not sold By education most have been misled, So they believe because they were so bred; The priest continues what the nurse began, And thus the child imposes on the […]

Is God A Criminal? – Appendix A: Bible Citations by Bill Schultz Appendix A: Bible Citations I am indebted to Donald Morgan for his essay, Bible Atrocities, which summarizes many of the most egregious of the so-called Acts of God from the Holy Bible. I will select a few of those atrocities as the basis […]

The Not-So-Impossible Faith (2002) Brian Holtz In “The Impossible Faith: Or How Not to Start an Ancient Religion“, Robert Turkel (aka James Patrick Holding) attempts to “explain why Christianity succeeded where it should have clearly failed or died out.” He attempts to identify a series of disadvantages that Christianity overcame and claims that it could […]

Church, State, and Creationism ACLU Position Statement on “Creation-science” (Off Site) The Wedge at Work: How Intelligent Design Creationism Is Wedging Its Way into the Cultural and Academic Mainstream (2001) by Barbara Forrest This essay by Barbara Forrest, of Southeastern Louisiana University, analyzes the political and religious currents within the Intelligent Design movement.

A3. Coal and Oil The amount of coal and oil existing today greatly exceeds what could have been produced by decaying plants and animals in a few thousand years. It is naive to think that today’s coal and oil came from the buried remains of Noah’s antediluvian world. Most creationists simply have no idea how […]

Dr. Hovind (G2): The entire geologic column is based on the assumption that evolution is true. G2. If Dr. Hovind would take the trouble to do a little reading from something other than creationist publications he would not make such an outrageous statement. I believe he has confused the use of index fossils with evolution. […]

Young-earth "proof" #4: There are no fossil meteorites in the geologic record. If the latter were laid down over billions of years we would expect to find at least a few fossil meteorites in the geologic strata. Therefore, the geologic record was deposited rapidly. Meteorites are hard enough to find on the surface of the […]

Young-earth "proof" #22: The largest stalactites and flowstones could have formed in about 4400 years. 22. Since when is the age of the earth related to the age of a stalactite? If, in fact, a fat stalactite can form in 4400 years, so what? However, it does seems a bit suspicious that the minimum age […]

Abortion is not Immoral and Should not be Illegal Closing Statement by Richard C. Carrier Conclusions on the Main Issues The present debate is about two things: what the facts are and what the universally shared values are that relate to those facts.  After all that has been said in this debate, there does not […]

On The Subject of Cryonics: The technology of cryonics seeks to cheat death by freezing people in the hope that future medical technology will revive them. Since its beginning in the 1960s, cryonics has not garnered much support from the general public or medical community. Even secular non-religious people, which should be more inclined to […]

On The Subject of Overpopulation: Whether or not our global community is overpopulated is a subject of great controversy. Many supporters of continued growth in the human population refer to the Bible’s teachings and God’s Master Plan. Among secularists, however, there are some who believe that our world is underpopulated or simply not overpopulated. What […]

Qur’an: A Work of Multiple Hands? Denis Giron [The Qur’an] is strikingly lacking in overall structure, frequently obscure and inconsequential in both language and content, perfunctory in its linking of disparate materials, and given to the repetition of whole passages in variant versions. On this basis it can plausibly be argued that the book is […]

Let me run down some preliminary points first. The question whether agnosticism or atheism…I think what we have here is a word allergy, perhaps. I claim that there is no rational justification for the belief in the existence of God. I also claim that the evidence is strongly against it; that the rational conclusion to […]

CHAPTER 10 The Search for Signers – Round Two With the editorial process completed, "A Humanist Manifesto" was ready to submit to a wider group of signers as a finished document. The considerations that went into deciding who to invite and who not to invite to endorse it were many. After much discussion, a list […]

CHAPTER 9 Style and Semantics It is my contention that those who signed "A Humanist Manifesto" in 1933 sought verbal integrity and a semantic change from traditional religious terms in order to clarify their naturalistic approach. However, as is the case with most editorial matters, a great deal of the response to the written word […]

It is an honor to be here. On the topic under discussion, I affirm that Jesus of Nazareth died and rose bodily from the grave. I offer two points in support of this claim. First, the New Testament documents are historically reliable accounts. Second, these documents reveal that Jesus really died on the cross and […]

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 […]

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 […]

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; […]

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 […]

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 […]