[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Who Was the Historical Jesus?
The Pre-Canonical Synoptic Transmission:Who Was the Historical Jesus? The biblical tradition places Jesus’ birth in Palestine at the town of Nazareth “in the days of Herod, king of Judea” (Lk. 1:5). We do know that Herod reigned from 40 BCE to his death in 4 BCE, so Jesus was born no later than 4 BCE […]
Jeff Lowder Jesus Resurrection Chap1
Introduction I am an agnostic at a Christian university. Since enrolling at Seattle Pacific University, I have been challenged by several of my Christian friends to investigate the historical evidence for Christianity. In particular, they challenged me to investigate the evidence for the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, as a historical event. Although I was […]
Jeff Lowder Jury Chap8
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Jim Meritt Bible Contradictions
Note: Jim Meritt’s “A List of Biblical Contradictions” is no longer available. It has been superseded by Donald Morgan’s “Bible Inconsistencies – Bible Contradictions.” You will be automatically redirected there in a few seconds–or click here to go there now.
Ken Saladin Saladin Gish2 Feedback
Response to Feedback (1996) Ken Saladin Dear Friends, I’ve had a number of questions ever since my 1988 debate with Gish was posted on the Web. It’s been difficult getting time to answer, partly because of a giganormous publishing commitment with a tight deadline that I’m under right now, and partly because a lot […]
Kyle Gerkin Objections Sustained Obj3
Objection #3: Evolution Explains Life, So God Isn’t Needed (2001) (Interview w/ Walter L. Bradley, Ph.D.) Kyle J. Gerkin This objection is extremely poorly phrased. From a reading of the chapter, it is clear that Strobel’s phrasing, "Evolution Explains Life" means more specifically, evolution explains the origin of life or how evolution was able […]
Mark Vuletic Bigbang
Does Big Bang Cosmology Prove the Universe Had a Beginning? (2000) Mark I. Vuletic There are a number of arguments for the existence of God which depend, at least in part, upon the notion that the universe had a beginning. Sometimes apologists appeal to Big Bang cosmology to support that notion. For instance, according to […]
Mark Vuletic Natures Destiny
Book Review: Michael J. Denton. 1998. Nature’s Destiny: How the Laws of Biology Reveal Purpose in the Universe. New York: The Free Press. xix+454 pages. Mark I. Vuletic 1. Introduction. Michael J. Denton argues for many things in his most recent book, but the thesis which occupies center stage is the thesis that the cosmos […]
Mathew Intro
An Introduction to Atheism (1997) mathew Traducción al Español / Spanish translation (Off Site) Português / Portuguese translation (Off Site) | Danish translation (Off Site) | Russian translation Foreword This article attempts to provide a general introduction to atheism. Whilst I have tried to be as neutral as possible regarding contentious issues, you should always remember that […]
Matthew Green Resurrection
Review of The Resurrection of Christ (2008) Matthew Green Review: Gerd Lüdemann. 2004. The Resurrection of Christ: A Historical Inquiry. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 248 pp. I am always pleased to read of people who have left the Christian faith and why they have left it. Of particular fascination are scholars who once considered […]
Michael Martin Disproof
[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Darshana 10 (1970): 22-26. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 22 A Disproof of God’s Existence (1970) Michael Martin In this paper I present a disproof of the existence of God. Such a disproof does not disprove the […]
Michael Martin Meaningless
Positive Atheism and the Meaninglessness of Theism (1999) Michael Martin In Part I of Atheism: A Philosophical Justification I argued that sentences about the existence of God are factually meaningless, hence, they are neither true nor false. However, in Part II of this book I maintained that if the sentences about God are not […]
Michael Martin Wager
[Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in Religious Studies 19 (1983): 57-64. The page numbers below show the position of the text within that pagination scheme.] ________________________________________ 57 Pascal’s Wager as an Argument for Not Believing in God (1984) Michael Martin Can Pascal’s wager for the existence of God be turned against the religious […]
Michael Moore Weak
We Are Too Weak to Walk Unaided A Family Therapist View of the Pathogenic Aspects of Prayer (2000) Michael Moore Technion — Israel Institute of Technology Daniela Kramer Oranim Teachers’ College Israel Author Note Michael Moore, Department of Education in Science and Technology; Daniela Kramer, Division of Psychology. The quotation in the title comes from […]
Nontheism Atheism Arguments
Arguments for Atheism In this section, “arguments for atheism” means “arguments for the nonexistence of God.” (Worried about the logic of “proving a negative”? Click here.) In the jargon of the philosophy of religion, such arguments are known as “atheological arguments.” The argument from evil (sometimes referred to as ‘the problem of evil’) is by […]
Nontheism Atheism Language
Meaningfulness of Religious Language The atheism section of the Modern Library is maintained by Jeffery Jay Lowder <Jeff Lowder>. No essays available at this time
Nontheism Naturalism Materialism
Materialism Materialism (or physicalism) can signify either a broad metaphysical view, or, more narrowly, a type of theory of mind. Metaphysical materialism is a specific kind of naturalism which contends that everything that exists is either physical or dependent upon the physical. Broadly understood, reductionist materialism maintains that everything is strictly physical; more narrowly, it […]
Paul Draper Intro2
Introduction to Section Two: Evil and Evolution (2007) Paul Draper Do the claims of evolutionary biology conflict with theistic religion? According to one very popular view about the relationship of science to religion, they cannot or at least should not because the proper relationship of science to religion is one of isolation. On this […]
Paul Obrien Gentle Atheism15
The last main need for a world view, as I see it, is a conception of good and evil. Evil is an especially challenging concept, one that theists often use more than atheists. But perhaps it can be broken down into more commonly understood terms as wrongness, badness, negativity, or perhaps even as the more […]
Peter Kirby Tomb Burial
Burial Traditions So we have established as our best historical reconstruction that the burial of Jesus was carried out by those opposed to Jesus (responsible for his crucifixion) and that they would have given him a dishonorable burial. This stands in distinction to the idea in the four gospels that Jesus was given a proper […]
Quentin Smith Bigbang
A Big Bang Cosmological Argument For God’s Nonexistence (1992) Quentin Smith The following article was originally published in FAITH AND PHILOSOPHY in April 1992 (Volume 9, No. 2, pp. 217-237). The big bang cosmological theory is relevant to Christian theism and other theist perspectives since it represents the universe as beginning to exist […]
Radio 1999
Produced for the Secular Web by T.J. Walker at TJWalker.com. § Infidel Interview with Jeffery Jay Lowder Lowder was the president of the Internet Infidels from 1995 until the beginning of 2000. He discusses the God question, atheism, and the purpose of the Secular Web. [Listen] Dec 14: Infidel Interview with Robert Price Price is […]
Addendum B: Are the Odds Against the Origin of Life Too Great to Accept?
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) Richard Carrier The following material examines arguments officially and formally refuted in Richard Carrier, “The Argument from Biogenesis: Probabilities against a Natural Origin of Life,” Biology & Philosophy 19.5 (November, 2004), pp. 739-64. Note the clarification added to Addendum C […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Wanchick Carrier2
Carrier’s First Rebuttal (2006) Wanchick’s Case Is Insufficient I don’t have room to rebut every false or dubious claim Wanchick makes in his opening statement, so I will focus only on essentials. Leibnizian Cosmological Argument (LCA) Wanchick proposes that (i) “the universe does not exist necessarily,” so (ii) it must have an “external cause,” […]
Richard Carrier Foster10
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) 10. Foster’s Biggest Blunder Richard Carrier I have refuted Foster’s first argument, his claim that life is too improbable to have evolved through natural selection. But about half of Foster’s book is concerned with establishing or drawing conclusions […]
Review of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark
Review of The Homeric Epics and the Gospel of Mark (by Dennis R. MacDonald; Yale University, 2000) By Richard Carrier An Incredible Book This is an incredible book that must be read by everyone with an interest in Christianity. MacDonald’s shocking thesis is that the Gospel of Mark is a deliberate and conscious anti-epic, an […]
Richard Carrier Improbable New
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction] Richard Carrier 4. Was the New Always Bad? James Holding argues next that for the Romans, “Old was good. Innovation was bad,” and “this was a big sticking point for Christianity, because it could only trace its roots back to a recent founder.” […]
Richard Carrier Musoniusreply
Was Musonius Better than Jesus? (2006) Richard Carrier In “Two Ancient Teachers, Two Bad Analogies” and “The Real Jesus: A Brief Portrait,” Amy Sayers responds to my essay “On Musonius Rufus: A Brief Essay” (1999), but she reads far too much into what I say there, and essentially argues against positions I never affirmed. […]
Richard Carrier Resurrection 2b
This file has been relocated: it is now Section II of Probability of Survival vs. Miracle: Assessing the Odds.
Richard Carrier Resurrection 3f
This file has been relocated: it is now Section VI of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.