[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Andrew Moroz Incoherence Theism
The Incoherence of Theism (1998) Andrew Moroz A glance at the 1998 World Almanac reveals that over 1.1 billion people (19 percent of the world) are either atheists or nonbelievers; a stark difference with North America, where only 7 percent are atheists or nonbelievers. [1] The atheist position is perhaps founded on a principle […]
Religion And The U. S. Supreme Court
Religion And The U. S. Supreme Court by Bill Schultz Table of Contents Introduction The Legacy of the Founding Fathers The “Sleeping Dog” 14th Amendment An Era Of Religious Orthodoxy The Great Change The Changed Law Evolves New Laws Against Religious Discrimination The Modern Teeter-Totter The Law as Things Stand Now The Law on School […]
Charles Echelbarger Nonbelief Sbtest01
Review of Nonbelief and Evil (2005) Charles Echelbarger Review: Ted Drange. 1998. Nonbelief and Evil: Two Arguments for the Nonexistence of God. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 403 pp. This article was originally published in Philosophy Now Issue 47 (August/September 2004). This Secular Web version contains minor editorial changes. Theodore Drange is one of a […]
Church State Vouchers
School Vouchers Pro Education Vouchers: America Can’t Afford to Wait (1991) (Off Site) by Tom Tancredo “The shortcomings of government schools in America resemble those of the former Soviet Union.” The Legal Case–and the Fairness Case–for Vouchers (1996) (Off Site) by Clint Bolick “This is not about the establishment of religion. It is about fulfilling a guarantee […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Carbon 14 Contamination
Dr. Hovind (R4): It is very difficult or impossible to prove that a given sample has not been contaminated. Parent or daughter products could have leached in or out of the sample. In the case of carbon-14 dating, the daughter product is ordinary nitrogen and plays no role in the dating process. We are […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Specific Arguments Coral Reef
Young-earth "proof" #26: The oldest coral reef is about 4200 years old. 26. What does the age of a coral reef have to do with the age of the earth? If, in fact, the oldest coral reef is 4200 years old, so what? There is no argument here for a young earth, but such a […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Specific Arguments River
Young-earth "proof" #19: The size of the Mississippi River delta divided by the sediment accumulation rate gives an age of less than 30,000 years. 19. Since when does the age of the earth have anything to do with the Mississippi delta? If the Mississippi delta is, in fact, 30,000 years old, what of it? Because […]
Dean Stretton Oconnor
Book Review: David O’Connor, God and Inscrutable Evil: In Defense of Theism and Atheism, Lanham/London, Rowman & Littlefield, 1998, pp. xiii + 273, $28.95 paper, $78.50 cloth. (To purchase the book, click on the image of the book cover to the right.) “There is a great deal of evil in the world, much of […]
Debates Secularist Adaptation
On The Evolutionary Adaptation of Religious Belief: Does religious belief have survival value? Was it naturally selected for in the environment of our ancestors or is it an example of cultural selection? Some people claim that if religion were completely maladaptive and useless, it never would have stuck around so long and became a dominant […]
Debates Secularist Guns
On The Issue of Gun Control: The subject of Gun Control captures the interest of many Americans, not to mention other people living in our global community.. The diversity of laws, or the lack of law enforcement in the United States, surrounding the issues of gun control are being questioned by government and the public, […]
Debates Secularist Space
On The Subject of Space Exploration: Space exploration is affording us a window into the universe. Governments are spending a lot of money on the research and construction of space vehicles and instruments. Some people argue that the money is wasted and we should concentrate more on the problems in our societies like hunger and […]
Edwin Wilson Manifesto Ch17
CHAPTER 17 Twenty Years Later: Symposium-Parts I and II While the first manifesto was never revised, debate over the need for revision or for a new document continued. So much so, that twenty years later, a symposium was published containing the views of the twenty-seven surviving signers (John Dewey, Bernard Fantus, William Floyd, Maynard […]
Farrell Till Geisler Till Till3
I’ll use this time to refer to some things that I didn’t have the oppurtunity to refer to during the regular speeches. Dr. Geisler made the statement that the pagans saviors were not like Jesus because they did not experience bodily resurrection. But I want to assure you, my friends, that that is not so. […]
Farrell Till Index Twilight
Articles: Journeys to the Twilight Zone "Journeys to the Twilight Zone" was the name of a regular column authored by Farrell Till for The Secular Humanist Bulletin from 1995?-1997. Given that some articles refer to the previous article, articles are listed in chronological order. Pioneers of Loophole Religion (1995/1996) (Off Site) Even in the heyday […]
Features 2000 Au2
Christian Coalition Grills Judicial Candidates The Idaho Christian Coalition’s religiously based survey of judicial candidates is an "outrageous stunt that smacks of the Inquisition," according to Americans United for Separation of Church and State. The Coalition, the state affiliate of TV preacher Pat Robertson’s political group, has distributed a 31-question survey that asks candidates for […]
Is Creationism Science? Zindler/Gish Debate
Is Creationism Science? Jim Bleikamp, host: I would suspect that a few fireworks may find their way into the skies over us in the next hour – if I might be permitted that prediction. We’re going to talk about one of those subjects that keeps coming up again and again and again, no matter how […]
Fred Edwords Promise
The Promise Of Humanism (1989) Frederick Edwords Every religion has its promise, the special reward it offers to the faithful. Such a promise is often the main feature that attracts outsiders in. As such, it can become a primary selling point and motivator. The ancient promise of Christianity is eternal life in heaven. I can […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chap1
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 1 – What Is the Old Testament? THE Old Testament is a collection of selected writings composed and edited by members of the Hebrew-Jewish community between the twelfth century B.C. and the beginning of the Christian era. It includes such diverse materials as […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chap24
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 24 – Life and Literature of the Early Period ONLY limited information is available concerning the Jews in the Persian period. Apart from Biblical sources and a few Persian inscriptions, contributions coming from archaeological studies or literary documents from other parts of the […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chart
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chart of Central Events in the Ancient Near East CHART XVIII. Chart of Central Events in the Ancient Near East Aegean and Greece Egypt Asia Minor Syria and Palestine Assyria Babylonia Iran 2800 Egyptian writing Early Bronze Walled Cities Cuneiform writing 2800 2600 Old […]
Graham Oppy Godel
Godelian Ontological Arguments (1996) Graham Oppy [This article was originally published as “Godelian Ontological Arguments” Analysis 56, 4, October 1996, pp.226-230] There is now a considerable secondary literature on Godel’s ontological arguments; in particular, interested readers should consult Sobel (1987), Anderson (1990) and Adams (1995). In this note, I wish to draw attention to […]
Graham Oppy Smith1
On Some Alleged Consequences Of ‘The Hartle-Hawking Cosmology’ (1997) Graham Oppy [This article was originally published as “Some Questions About ‘The Hartle-Hawking Cosmology'” Sophia, 36 (1997), 1, pp.84-95] In [3], Quentin Smith claims that `the Hartle-Hawking cosmology’ is inconsistent with classical theism in a way which redounds to the discredit of classical theism; and, […]
Ilhan Arsel Din Adamlari Bolum13
Din Adami Insanlarimizi Hosgörüsüz, Acimasiz Ve Kindar Ruhla Yetistirir I) Din adami insanlarimizi kötülügü kötülükle, hatta iyiligi dahi kötülükle karsilamak gerektigi zihniyeti içerisinde yetistirir: A) Din adami “Kisasta hayat vardir” hükmünü fazilet örnegi bir kural olmak üzere belletir: B) Din adami insanlarimiza, farkli inançta iseler ana, baba, kardes gibi yakinlara karsi dahi yabancilik ya da […]
God and Moral Autonomy
God and Moral Autonomy* James Rachels Kneeling down or grovelling on the ground, even to express your reverence for heavenly things, is contrary to human dignity. — Kant God, if he exists, is worthy of worship. Any being who is not worthy of worship cannot be God, just as any being who is not omnipotent […]
James Still John Context
Library: Modern Documents: James Still: John Context Contextual Problems with the Gospel of John James Still The Johannine material (Gospel of John) is a radical departure from the synoptics of Mark, Matthew, and Luke. John’s psuedepigraphical author relied solely on the Greek Septuagint, did not have a Semitic-language background, and Colwell (Greek of the Fourth […]
Jeff Lowder Jesus Resurrection Chap5
Conclusion I think there are three distinctive characteristics about the contemporary debate between Christians and secularists over the resurrections. First, both sides tacitly assume that the material understanding of the resurrection is the proper understanding of the issues involved. Second, both sides fail to discuss the background probability of the resurrection from their critic’s point […]
Ken Saladin Saladin Gish2 Gish3
Second Rebuttal for the Negative (Gish, 5 minutes) Moderator: Five-minute rebuttal with Dr. Gish. Gish: Ladies and gentlemen, again you have heard this charges. Dr. Saladin said that you can do this and you can do that. Why didn’t he do it here tonight? He made these charges, why didn’t he document it? Because nobody’s […]
Kyle Gerkin Objections Sustained Obj7
Objection #7: Church History Is Littered with Oppression and Violence (2001) (Interview w/ John D. Woodbridge, Ph.D.) Kyle J. Gerkin This objection is a statement of fact, which cannot be avoided. Woodbridge acknowledges this, and instead tries to provide context to soften some of the tyranny. We will get to that in a moment, […]
Mark Vuletic Dembski
Response to Massimo Pigliucci’s Review of The Design Inference Mark I. Vuletic Massimo Pigliucci’s review of William Dembski’s The DesignInference puzzles me. What puzzles me most is lack of substantive comment about the book itself–Pigliucci’s "review" reads for the most part like an extended diatribe against the intelligent design (i.e. creationist) movement. Do not […]
Mark Vuletic Perry
Book Review: Dialogue on Good, Evil, and the Existence of God (2000) Mark I. Vuletic Book Review: John Perry. 1999. Dialogue on Good, Evil, and theExistence of God. Indianapolis: Hackett. ix+71 pp. In 1978, philosopher John Perry published a well-received little book in which three fictional friends engaged in a series of stimulating but easy-to-understand […]