[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Brian Holtz Impossible Faith
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 Creationism
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.
Dave Matson Young Earth Additional Topics Coal And Oil
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 […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Geologic Column Assumes Evolution
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. […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Specific Arguments Meteor
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 […]
Dave Matson Young Earth Specific Arguments Stalactites
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 […]
Debates Secularist Abortion Carrier5
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 […]
Debates Secularist Cryonics
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 […]
Debates Secularist Population
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 […]
Denis Giron Multiple
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 […]
Doug Jesseph Jesseph Craig Jesseph2
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 […]
Edwin Wilson Manifesto Ch10
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 […]
Edwin Wilson Manifesto Ch9
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 […]
Farrell Till Geisler Till Geisler1
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 […]
Farrell Till Horner Till Intro
Introductory Remarks (Jeff Lowder, Debate organizer) Our moderator for this evening is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of California at Davis, where he double-majored in both Greek and Latin. Although his journalism career started in broadcast news at KQED-TV in San Francisco, he quickly found his niche with newspaper journalism, and he […]
Reply to Robert Turkel
<<< Part 3 Part 4 TURKEL > rather than cite verses here we will call >upon the explication of Coogan [Coog.2K, 114], who >cites an example of an Akkadian concept of "friend of the >king" - a person who paid a tax for this designated >status and was able to pass it on […]
Helping God Help Us Help Ourselves
If you are looking for an answer to the nagging question of why religion persists, you can find it hanging on the walls in the homes of countless believers. It is the sappy Christian anecdote, “Footprints,” about a troubled soul who fears that God has left him when he looks back after a trying journey […]
Finngeir Hiorth Smart
Review of J.J.C. Smart & J.J. Haldane, Atheism and Theism (1997) Finngeir Hiorth Smart, J.J.C. & J.J. Haldane: Atheism and Theism, Blackwell Publishers, 108 Cowley Road, Oxford 0X4 1JF, UK, and 238 Main Street, Cambridge, Mass., 02142. USA, 232 PP., bibliography, index, paperback. In a review dated 4 April 1997 and entitled “Introduction […]
Fred Edwords Humanism
What Is Humanism? Frederick Edwords What is humanism? The sort of answer you will get to that question depends on what sort of humanist you ask! The word “humanism” has a number of meanings, and because authors and speakers often don’t clarify which meaning they intend, those trying to explain humanism can easily become a […]
Gary Posner Godccu
God in the CCU? A critique of the San Francisco hospital study on intercessory prayer and healing Gary P. Posner, M.D. [This article was originally printed in Spring 1990 issue of Free Inquiry.] The day of publication of the July 1988 issue of the Southern Medical Journal must have been one Hell of a busy […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chap18
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 18 – Isaiah and Micah OF the two Judaean prophets who were active in the eighth century, there can be little doubt that Isaiah was the more powerful. He lived in the capital city of Jerusalem and was brought into immediate association with […]
Gerald Larue Otll Chap32
Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 32 – Texts, Manuscripts and Translations THE task of the textual critic, to recover, insofar as possible, what the original writer wrote, is formidable. No autographs have been found, and in some instances our oldest manuscripts are separated by many centuries from the […]
Gordon Stein Answers
Review of "Answers to Tough Questions Skeptics Ask About The Christian Faith" by Josh McDowell and Don Stewart Gordon Stein, Ph.D. [NOTE: The following review appeared in the July/August 1982 issue of The American Rationalist.] I am puzzled by this book. Is it a sincere work, faulted by the fact that a little knowledge is […]
Graham Oppy Overman
Review of Dean L. Overman (1997) A Case Against Accident and Self-Organisation New York: Rowman & Littlefield To judge from the dust-jacket, this book has received a considerable amount of praise–and not just from the usual suspects. In particular, the publishers seem keen to promulgate the view that there is widespread support for the […]
Ilhan Arsel Din Adamlari Bolum06
Din Adamlarini Görüs Ayriliklarina Sürükleyen Sorunlar Insan Aklini Durdurmaga Yeterli Seylerdir: Ilahiyat Fakültesinden çikma ve çogunun adi’nin basinda “Profesör” ya da “Doçent” unvanlari bulunan “Üniversiteli ilahiyatçilarimiz” da dahil olmak üzere din adamlarimizin “bilim” diye ugrastiklari seylere söyle bir göz atiniz. Göreceksinizdir ki bunlar genellikle akli dislayan seylerden ve daha dogrusu batil inançlardan olusur; […]
Ilhan Arsel Din Adamlari Din Adamlari
Toplumsal Geriliklerimizin Sorumlulari Din Adamlari Ilhan Arsel “Eger (din adamlarina) karsi benim sahsimdan bir sey anlamak isterse niz, derim ki ben sahsen onlarin düsmaniyim. Onlarin menfi istikamette atacaklari bir hatfe (adim), yalniz benim sahsi imanima degil, yalniz benim gayeme degil, o adim benim millet imin hayati ile…, o adim milletimin kalbine havale edilmis zehirli bir […]
James Haught Spectatr
Far-Out Religious Right Comes Out of a Crazy Mold (The Washington Spectator, Sept. 15, 1995) "Think not that I come to send peace on earth; I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the […]
James Still Fernandes
Library: Modern Documents: James Still: Book Review: The God Who Sits Enthroned Book Review: The God Who Sits Enthroned James Still Fernandes, Phil. (1997): The God Who Sits Enthroned. Bremerton, WA: IBD Press. 164 pages. $10.00. Dr. Fernandes’s book touches on many of the major themes in Fundamentalist Christian apologetics and concentrates especially on three […]
James Still W Muddle
Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations: The Muddle of Understanding as a Mental Process James Still Wittgenstein writes that "perhaps you will say . . . understanding itself is a [mental] state" (PI, 146). Wittgenstein presents this supposition–that the demonstration or viable accompaniments to understanding are symptomatic of an underlying mental state–in order to reduce the notion to […]
Jim Lippard Is Jesus God
Critique of Maisel’s “Is Jesus God?” pamphlet Jim Lippard No reply to this letter was ever received. Jim Lippard Department of Philosophy University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 email removed June 8, 1993 John M. Maisel P.O. Box 795361 Dallas, TX 75379-5361 Dear Mr. Maisel: I am a doctoral candidate in philosophy majoring in epistemology […]