Modern Library

Those who closely study the origin, development, and structure of the universe tend to disbelieve in any spiritual dimension to it. Science has inadvertently discovered that religious pictures of the world are false; when speaking to the same questions, science and religion invariably get different answers. Cosmology has no need for a First Cause since the Big Bang might simply be a transitional phase in an infinitely old universe or, alternatively, there may be no "before" the Big Bang anymore than there is a "north" of the North Pole. Appeals to alleged fine-tuning are presumptuous: physicists extrapolating from the earliest well-understood moment after the Big Bang using the laws of physics alone would erroneously deem our universe inhospitable to life. How, then, can we reliably anticipate the likelihood of life arising in hypothetical universes with different laws? Even supposing that physical constants are in fact "tunable" (which they may not be), constants might take on different values in other universes; and as Carroll puts it, "intelligent observers will only measure the values which obtain in those regions which are consistent with the existence of such observers." Finally, cosmology betrays unintelligent design: entire classes of fundamental particles exist that would have no impact on life in they had never existed. Evidently, a simple materialist formalism could offer a complete description of the universe.

A Critique of Fundamentalism (II) Steven J. Conifer [Author’s Note: The following is an extension of my essay “A Critique of Fundamentalism,” in which I critique chapters 1 and 5 of Henry M. Morris’ and Martin E. Clark’s The Bible Has the Answer. The essay is located on the Secular Web at https://infidels.org/library/modern/steven_conifer/fundamentalism.html.]   4.1. […]

From Taoist to Infidel (2001) Richard Carrier My experiences with religion as a child were all good. My mother was a church secretary at a First Methodist Church only a block from our home, and I attended Sunday School fairly regularly, but my parents rarely insisted that I attend any sermons. The religion sold at […]

Argument from Holy Scripture: Mormon Scripture Book of Abraham [ Index ] In 1835, Joseph Smith acquired a collection of papyrus fragments from a traveling Egyptian show. He claimed to be able to translate these fragments, and the Book of Abraham is the result. The articles selected here confront the origins and “divine” nature of this text. […]

Prophecy The Argument from the Bible (1996) by Theodore Drange “Almost all evangelical Christians believe that the writing of the Bible was divinely inspired and represents God’s main revelation to humanity. They also believe that the Bible contains special features which constitute evidence of its divine inspiration. This would be a use of the Bible […]

Religious Experience According to the argument from religious experience (ARE), the “self-authenticating witness of God’s Holy Spirit” or other mystical experiences constitute direct evidence of communion with God or other supernatural beings. In “The Will to Believe” (1896) William James distinguishes between strong and weak versions of the argument. The strong version contends that religious […]

The Bible in the Book of Mormon (1999) by Curt van den Heuvel “The Book of Mormon was written by someone who either had a KJV Bible in front of him, or was intimately familiar with its contents. When we add to this phenomenon other Book of Mormon problems, such as the lack of any […]

Review of Skeptics and True Believers (2005) Thomas Clark   Review: Chet Raymo. 1998. Skeptics and True Believers: The Exhilarating Connection Between Science and Religion. New York: Walker and Company. 288 pp. This article was originally published at naturalism.org in 1998, home page of the Center for Naturalism. This version contains minor editorial changes. Science […]

Nietzsche’s The Antichrist (1999) Travis J. Denneson I. Introduction In his book, The Antichrist, Nietzsche sets out to denounce and illegitimize not only Christianity itself as a belief and a practice, but also the ethical-moral value system which modern western civilization has inherited from it. This book can be considered a further development of some […]

The Functional Equivalent of God (1998) Victor J. Stenger   Review of The Creator and the Cosmos: How the Greatest Scientific Discoveries of the Century Reveal God. Colorado Springs, CO: Navpress 1995. In Chapter 1, the author of The Creator and the Cosmos tells us of a meeting he attended in which a distinguished philosopher […]

Chapter 3: Why I Believe in God (Non Causa Pro Causa) The first two chapters dealt with Biblical history as it relates to prophecy and archaeology. This chapter veers away from history and enters the realm of theology, a much more nebulous subject. As theology, I cannot address the main thrust of this chapter: that […]

Evolution Science and Creation Theology Anthony J. M. Garrett 63 High Street, Grantchester Cambridge CB3 9NF England (This paper is dedicated to the memory of David Stove.) In writing an article on the theology of human evolution I must first declare that I have no expert knowledge, either as theologian or as evolutionary scientist (I […]

Induced Religious Conversions: An Affront To Hindus (2002) Balgrim Ragoonanan   After reading the Rev. Pat Robertson’s appeal for converting Hindus to Christianity, the information below was developed. It is most important for Hindus to respond with correct information when disparaging comments are made about their religious beliefs. Hindus must also be prepared to increase […]

Religion And The U. S. Supreme Court – Cases (3 of 4) by Bill Schultz From 1961 through 1980 Table of Contents Main Text The Law as Things Stand Now Links To Supreme Court Opinions, Etc., Founding-1942 Links To Supreme Court Opinions, Etc., 1943-1960 Links To Supreme Court Opinions, Etc., 1961-1980 (this file) Links To […]

About This Transcript Jeffery J. Lowder   This is a transcript of a debate on the existence of God, between Dr. William Lane Craig and Dr. Corey Washington, which took place on 9 February 1995 at the University of Washington, before an audience well over 1500 people. I have taken the time to transcribe this […]

Rejoinder to Cliff Hanlon’s “Three R’s” Dave E. Matson   August 3, 1998 Cliff Hanlon, President The Berea Foundation Dear Mr. Hanlon, Your rebuttal of my article relating to the speed of light was forwarded to me via the Internet Infidels, a fine organization which carries a web copy of my book “How Good Are […]

Dr. Hovind (R1): The atmospheric C-14 is presently only 1/3 of the way to an equilibrium value which will be reached in 30,000 years. This nullifies the carbon-14 method as well as demonstrating that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. The above is offered as a simple fact of research. Knowing how faulty […]

Young-earth "proof" #28: The oldest historical records go back less than 6000 years. 28. What does the age of the oldest known historical records have to do with the age of the earth? If, in fact, they go back 6000 years, what of it? Records couldn’t be kept until writing was invented. Of course, we […]

Young-earth "proof" #24: Given the rate of salt influx to the oceans, they should be much saltier than they are if the earth were billions of years old. 24. Dr. Hovind is assuming that salt cannot be removed from the oceans. The more sophisticated creationists, such as Melvin Cook, know better than to make that […]

Abortion is not Immoral and Should not be Illegal by Richard C. Carrier   Introduction This opening argument against the immorality and illegality of abortion is simple, short and largely unoriginal: the arguments have all been voiced and heard a thousand times before. As will become apparent, the present argument leaves numerous fundamental assumptions as […]

On The Issue of Capital Punishment: Capital Punishment is still used in the US Penal System as punishment for serious crime. Great controversy exists on whether it is a just solution, a moral one, and an effective one. Arguments are many and varied both for and against capital punishment. It is often assumed that the […]

On The Issues Involved in Intelligence and IQ: The Intelligence Quotient has been under scrutiny for decades yet it continues to be used in testing within our educational institutions. What is intelligence? How advanced is our understanding of the concept and how applicable are IQ tests in generating worthwhile results? Many people believe intelligence is […]

On The Issues Involved in Vegetarianism: Vegetarianism is a chosen lifestyle for a variety of reasons. Common among those reasons is the opposition to the meat industry and the techniques and treatment involved. Other reasons include health and nutrition, the cost of meat and meat by-products, the humane alternative, and more. Critics also employ a […]

The Krueger-McHugh Debate: Theism or Atheism (2003) Christopher McHugh   Second Rebuttal by Christopher McHugh In this second rebuttal, I will offer refutations (limited by the length restrictions) of Krueger’s objections to the version of the ontological argument that I have presented. It will be shown that Krueger’s comments are nugatory because they are based […]

CHAPTER 5 The Editing Process That there was no one writer of "A Humanist Manifesto" becomes clear as one reviews the editing process. Following the receipt of Dr. Sellars’ first draft and some initial correspondence, the meetings of an editorial committee-Curtis Reese, A. Eustace Haydon, Raymond Bragg, and myself-were convened by Bragg and held in […]

Okay., this concept of extraordinary proof that’s required here is critical, and so I’m going to touch on that first. This statement, "extraordinary events require extraordinary evidence," creates a phantom standard that virtually nothing could meet. It amounts, as Dr. Till… [Turning to Till] Dr. Till, I just gave you an honorary doctorate. As Mr. […]

Reply to Robert Turkel (1998) Farrell Till   [Editor’s Note: We publish here in its entirety Farrell Till’s series of replies to Robert Turkel, the anonymous apologist of Tekton Apologetics Ministries also known as James Patrick Holding. Although the Internet Infidels have known Mr. Turkel’s real name for over a year now, he requested that […]

Imaginative Atheism (1997) Finngeir Hiorth   Michael Martin: The Big Domino in the Sky and Other Atheistic Tales, Prometheus Books, 59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, New York 14228-2197, U.S.A., 1996, paperback, 244 pp.   With his massive book Atheism, a Philosophical Justification (Temple Univ. Press, Philadelphia 1990, 541 pp.) Michael Martin established himself as a […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 14 – The History of the Kingdoms THE record of Solomon’s greatness fails to indicate the seething bitterness and resentment that must have been developing among the people. Only when Rehoboam appeared for succession rites were the feelings expressed by those who bore […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 29 – The Period of Jewish Independence Read I Macc. Chs. 1-14 THE story of Jewish Independence recorded in I Maccabees reads like an adventure story. Jewish resistance to Antiochus’ proscription of Judaism began in 168 at Modin, a village in the hill […]