[ Author Index | Subject Index ]
The Modern Library contains material written during or after 1970, which tends to be more scholarly than Kiosk material.
Michael Martin No Atheists
Are There Really No Atheists? (1996) Michael Martin Some Christians maintain that there are no atheists. They believe, of course, that some people profess to be atheists. But according to them these people suffer from a form of self-delusion. The doubters insist that in their heart of hearts people who profess not to believe […]
Michael Moore Church Wealth
Filthy Lucre: The Church and Wealth (2019) Michael Moore “Filthy lucre,” wrote Titus (1:11), and Matthew (6:19, 24) concurred: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth,” for “Ye cannot serve both God and mammon.” Luke (12:33) instructed his flock: “Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not […]
Nontheism Atheism Dispositions
On Naturalism, Why Do We Have Particular Moral Dispositions? Review of Darwinian Natural Right: The Biological Ethics of Human Nature by Larry Arnhart (2002) by Evan Fales It has become something of a leitmotif among evangelical apologetes to argue that morality can have no objective foundation if there is no God. Such is the argument […]
Nontheism Atheism Minds
Argument from Physical Minds The argument from physical minds (APM) is a strong but neglected argument in the case for atheism. Two versions of the argument have important implications for the philosophy of religion. The first is the mortalistic argument from physical minds, which runs as follows: If a nonphysical mind (rather than the brain) […]
Paranormal Healing
Faith Healing Archive of Medical Expert Gary Posner’s Essays on the Paranormal [ Index ] Can Science Prove that Prayer Works? by Hector Avalos (1997) (Off Site) Florida woman’s “miraculous” cure featured on “Unsolved Mysteries” by Gary P. Posner (Off site) God in the CCU? by Gary P. Posner If Looks Could Kill and Words Could […]
Paul Draper Serious
On the Plausibility of Naturalism and the Seriousness of the Argument From Evil (2007) Paul Draper Introduction Plantinga on Plausibility Plantinga’s Main Point Introduction In my opening case, I defended an argument from evil based on the following evidence statement: E: For a variety of biological and ecological reasons, organisms compete for survival, with […]
Paul Obrien Gentle Atheism5
Considering these arguments, assessments, and refutations, do they really play a crucial role in the acceptance or rejection of the belief in God? I do not think they do. One of the things I hope you take away from these arguments is a feeling that somehow they are all missing the point. Doesn’t it seem […]
Peter Kirby Tomb Paul
Testimony of Paul In the previous section, it was argued that the silence of several writers to mention the empty tomb constitutes an inductive argument against the historicity of the empty tomb. The absence of evidence for tomb veneration was also taken as evidence against the empty tomb. In this section, the evidence of Paul’s […]
Quentin Smith Hawking
Stephen Hawking’s Cosmology and Theism (1994) Quentin Smith The following article was originally published in ANALYSIS in 1994 (Volume 54, No. 4. pp. 236-243). 1. Stephen Hawking has recently argued that there is ‘no place for a creator’, that God does not exist. In his quantum cosmology there would be no singularities […]
Ramendra Nath Hindu
Why I Am Not a Hindu Ramendra Nath Originally published by Bihar Rationalist Society (Bihar Buddhiwadi Samaj) 1993. Electronically reprinted with permission. I have read and admired Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian. On the other hand, I have also read and disagreed with M.K.Gandhi’s Why I Am a Hindu. My acquaintance […]
Richard Carrier Addendag
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) Addendum G: Microbial Replication Richard Carrier Hoyle says in Our Place in the Cosmos: The Unfinished Revolution that “a typical time for replication under favorable conditions would be two or three hours” (p. 35) so that in a […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Oconnell Carrier4
Carrier’s Closing Statement (2008) The Stronger Case Prevails I remain convinced. More likely than not, Paul did not believe the corpse of Jesus rose from the dead, but that Jesus left his corpse behind and rose from the dead in an entirely new body. Therefore, Paul did not need to believe the tomb […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Wanchick Wanchick1
Wanchick’s Opening Statement (2006) Leibnizian Cosmological Argument It seems reasonable to believe that every substance[1] has an explanation for its existence: it was either caused by something else, or exists necessarily (it cannot not exist). This premise is evidently more plausible than its denial, for if confronted with a new substance, everyone would assume […]
Richard Carrier Foster5
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) 5. Why Foster Needs to Take a Basic Statistics Course Richard Carrier Foster’s book is entirely dependent upon statistics, and his equations and calculations look impressive. But how he came about the use of them is a serious […]
Richard Carrier Improbable Crisis
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction] Richard Carrier 10. Would Groupthinkers Never Switch Groups? 10.1 Getting it Backwards 10.2 What Do Malina & Neyrey Really Say? 10.3 How Christianity Fits the Malina-Neyrey Model 10.4 Malina & Neyrey on the Role of Revelation 10.5 Lack of Evidence for Holding’s View 10.6 Conclusion 10.1. Getting it […]
Richard Carrier Improbable Women
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction] Richard Carrier 11. Did No One Trust Women? 11.1 No Evidence Women Were a Problem 11.2 Testimony of Women Was Trusted 11.3 Why Mark Places Women at the Empty Tomb 11.4 Conclusion 11.1. No Evidence Women Were a Problem James Holding argues that “if Christianity wanted […]
Richard Carrier Islam
Cosmology and the Koran: A Response to Muslim Fundamentalists (2001) Richard Carrier Muslim Fundamentalists are fond of claiming that the Koran miraculously predicted the findings of modern science, and that all of its factual scientific claims are flawless. There are two important objections to this claim that I will make, one pointing to a general […]
Richard Carrier Quirinius
The Date of the Nativity in Luke (6th ed., 2011) Richard Carrier It is beyond reasonable dispute that Luke dates the birth of Jesus to 6 A.D. It is equally indisputable that Matthew dates the birth of Jesus to 6 B.C. (or some year before 4 B.C.). This becomes an irreconcilable contradiction after an examination […]
Richard Carrier Resurrection 2f
This file has been relocated: it is now Section VII of Probability of Survival vs. Miracle: Assessing the Odds.
Richard Carrier Resurrection 3k
This file has been relocated: it is now Section XI of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.
Richard Carrier Sup
Supplements (Bibliography of Skepticism in the Ancient World) (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999) Supplements Sage, Saint, and Sophist: Holy Men and their Associates in the Early Roman Empire, Graham Anderson, New York, Routledge, 1994, 289 p. Annas, Julia, “Doing Without Objective Values: Ancient and Modern Strategies,” in The Norms of Nature: Studies in Hellenistic […]
Richard Packham Why
Why I Left the Mormon Church Richard Packham I left the Mormon church in 1958, when I was 25 years old. That was a long time ago: David O. McKay was the prophet, seer and revelator. There were only eight temples, and none of them owned a movie projector. Every ward had its own […]
Robert Oerter Rising Gods
Review of The Riddle of Resurrection (2009) Robert Oerter Review: Tryggve N. D. Mettinger. 2001. The Riddle of Resurrection: “Dying and Rising Gods” in the Ancient Near East. Stockholm, Sweden: Almqvist and Wiksell International. 275 pp. The idea that Jesus’ death and resurrection connects to a wider pattern of “dying and rising gods” originated […]
Robert Price Beyond Born Again Intro Html
Beyond Born Again Introduction To The HTML Version Robby Berry History Of The HTML Version I first heard of Robert M. Price’s Beyond Born Again back in May ’95, when Ed Babinski sent me a copy as part of a package of freethought literature that he wanted me to have. Ed is an outspoken critic […]
Robert Price Prophecy
Prophecy and Palimpsest (2002) Robert Price This article was originally published in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought, Vol. 35, No. 3 (Fall 2002). Reprinted with permission. Resurrected Texts In 2 Kings chapter 22 the priest Hilkiah sends word to Josiah the King, “I have found a book.” Hilkiah had been busy locating certain funds […]
Science Physics
Physics and Religion The Anthropic Coincidences: A Natural Explanation (1999) (Off Site) by Victor J. Stenger Stenger argues that the fine-tuning argument is flawed because it assumes that only one kind of life, ours, is possible in every configuration of universes. Stenger also provides a naturalistic explanation for the anthropic coincidences. The ‘Big Bang’ Argument […]
Testimonials Berry
How I Became An Ex-Christian (n.d.) Robby Berry I was raised in a Christian home for most of my life, but I never took it very seriously until 1986. I was fifteen, and I had joined a youth group called Campus Life (a high-school division of the infamous Campus Crusade for Christ) in February. […]
Theism Arguments
Arguments for the Existence of a God Apologists rely on a variety of arguments to substantiate the existence of a God, or to support the claims of divinity by a particular denomination’s founder(s) or for its sacred texts. This section contains material that confronts and rebuts these theistic arguments. Links below are to the most […]
Theism Christianity Ex Christian
Ex-Christians Books for Ex-Christians Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist and Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America’s Leading Atheists by Dan Barker Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists by Edward Babinski Leaving the Fold by Marlene Winell Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell Farewell to God: […]
Theism Design Links
Argument to Design: Related Links Atheistic Teleological Arguments [Index] From the II Modern Library. Boston Review: Articles on Evolution [Index] (Off Site) Critiques, responses to critiques, and responses to responses, from Dennett to Behe to Orr. Design in God’s Creation (Off Site) This online creationist resource from the U.K. features ?? items such as “Creation […]