[ 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 Wittgenstein
Wittgenstein’s Lectures on Religious Belief (2001) Michael Martin In 1938 Wittgenstein gave a series of three lectures on religious belief at Cambridge. We do not have his own lecture notes but we do have twenty pages of notes taken down by one or more of his students.[1] Wittgenstein did not check their accuracy and they […]
Nontheism Atheism Confusion
Arguments from Confusion “There are two things,” your mother may have warned, “that you should never discuss over dinner: religion and politics.” Confusion about such fundamental issues as the nature of God or ultimate reality, the purpose of life, how one should live, what has been revealed to mankind, what constitutes right and wrong, what […]
Nontheism Naturalism Pluralistic
Pluralistic Naturalism There are two main kinds of naturalism: materialism and pluralistic naturalism. Materialism, or physicalism, is a “monistic” form of naturalism in that it maintains that only one basic kind of stuff exists–physical stuff. Pluralistic naturalism, by contrast, combines naturalism with ontological pluralism, the idea that there is more than just one basic kind […]
Paul Obrien Gentle Atheism16
The concern I have about the preceding discussion is that it makes the nonrational aspects of our religious beliefs sound like these ideas that we just "shop" for or choose easily, as if beliefs automatically obeyed the will. But oftentimes it is not at all clear that we can just pick and choose certain beliefs; […]
Peter Kirby Tomb Dependence
Dependence on Mark We have seen that there is no mention of the empty tomb story in early Christian writings outside of the four gospels. This situation is made worse if the evangelists do not demonstrate any independence in reporting this story. This would be somewhat strange because, were the story historical, it would […]
Quentin Smith Causation
[This article was originally published in Philosophical Topics, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 1996, pp. 169-191.] CAUSATION AND THE LOGICAL IMPOSSIBILITY OF A DIVINE CAUSE* (1996) Quentin Smith Western Michigan University 1. Introduction Some interesting light is thrown on the nature of causation, the origin of the universe, and arguments for atheism if we […]
Radio 2000
Produced for the Secular Web by T.J. Walker at TJWalker.com. § Infidel Interview with James Still Who are the Internet Infidels? Interview with James Still as president of the Internet Infidels, covering who we are, what we’re trying to accomplish, and our philosophy. [Listen] [Download RealAudio Player] Jan 31: Infidel Interview with Ed Buckner Ed […]
Addendum C: The First Life
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) Richard Carrier The following material was updated in 2006, in light of the publication of Richard Carrier’s article, “The Argument from Biogenesis: Probabilities against a Natural Origin of Life,” Biology & Philosophy 19.5 (November, 2004), pp. 739-64. An important discussion […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Oconnell Bios
Who We Are (2008) Welcome to On Paul’s Theory of Resurrection: The Carrier-O’Connell Debate. Here Richard and Jake explain who they are. Richard Carrier: Richard Carrier has a Ph.D. in ancient history from Columbia University. He specializes in ancient science and religion, and has written on early Christianity both online and in print. He […]
Richard Carrier Carrier Wanchick Carrier3
Carrier’s Second Rebuttal (2006) Wanchick Gets It Wrong Basic Argument for Naturalism (BAN) Wanchick thinks I “beg the question” when claiming scientific methods are the most reliable ones known for resolving questions of fact. Evidence of the superiority of science in ascertaining the truth in every matter of fact is so vast and undeniable […]
Richard Carrier Foster11
Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: the Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (2000) 11. Conclusion Richard Carrier Religionists are faced with the daunting sophistication, accuracy, and success of science, which can predict and explain everything it can study in terms so mathematically precise that nowhere can be found those ambiguities which […]
Richard Carrier Howto
What Do We Do When Some Theist We Don’t Know Sends Us E-mail? (1997) Richard Carrier The Basic Guidelines 1) Always respond. 2) If the letter was abusive or childish, politely but curtly say so, and that you wish to have no further contact with such a rude and immoral person, or else you […]
Richard Carrier Improbable Persecuted
Was Christianity Too Improbable to be False? (2006) [See Introduction] Richard Carrier 8. Who Would Want to be Persecuted? 8.1 Social Foundations of Martyrdom 8.2 Paul and Tertullian 8.3 Where Holding Gets It Wrong 8.4 Where Holding Gets It Right 8.1. Social Foundations of Martyrdom James Holding rightly downplays the issue of martyrdom, since legend and […]
Richard Carrier Indef 4e
Craig’s Empty Tomb & Habermas on Visions (1999, 2005) Richard Carrier [Part 4E of a larger Review of In Defense of Miracles.] The Resurrection of Jesus Two chapters are devoted to the resurrection of Jesus. First, Craig argues that Jesus was miraculously resurrected and that we can know this from an analysis of […]
Richard Carrier Nazarethlaw
The Nazareth Inscription (2000) Richard Carrier Several authors have advanced a particular inscription as early evidence of the empty tomb story in the Gospels. I will not attempt to trace all uses of this argument (I have encountered several), but I will note the two most important examples: it was used most recently by […]
Richard Carrier Resurrection 2c
This file has been relocated: it is now Section III of Probability of Survival vs. Miracle: Assessing the Odds.
Richard Carrier Resurrection 3g
This file has been relocated: it is now Section VII of General Case for Spiritual Resurrection: Evidence Against Resurrection of the Flesh.
Richard Carrier Sci
Scientific Studies (Bibliography of Skepticism in the Ancient World) (1998) Richard Carrier (copyright 1999) Scientific Studies Biddle, Bruce Jesse, and Marlin, Marjorie M., “Causality, Confirmation, Credulity, and Structural Equation Modeling,” in Child Development, Vol. 58, Feb., 1987, pp. 4-17. Bower, Bruce, “True Believers: the Thinking Person May Favor Gullibility Over Skepticism,” in Science News, […]
Richard Gale Theodicy
R. M. Adams’s Theodicy of Grace (1998) Richard Gale The following article was originally published in Philo, 1 (1998) pp. 36-44. Robert M. Adams, in a brilliant, thought-provoking essay, “Must God Create the Best?”[1], puts forth a theodicy for God’s creating inferior people to those he could have created or, in general, a less […]
Robby Berry Skeprayr
A Response To “The Skeptic’s Prayer” Robby Berry “The Skeptic’s Prayer” is a tract taken from the Handbook Of Christian Apologetics, by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli. I first learned of the tract when Jeff Lowder posted it to the Usenet newsgroup, alt.atheism. What follows is my response to the tract. Introduction The following prayer […]
Robert Price Beyond Born Again Chap8
________________________________________ 97 Beyond Born Again Section III– Can Evangelical Theology be Born Again? Chapter 8: Biblical Ventriloquism ________________________________________ 98 “Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be….” — I John 3:2a “Watch what you say They’ll be calling you a radical, A liberal, oh fanatical, […]
Robert Price Price Rankin Index2
Jesus: Fact or Fiction? A Dialogue With Dr. Robert Price and Rev. John Rankin About this Debate [ 3K ] Opening Statement by Robert Price [ 24K ] Opening Statement by John Rankin [ 26K ] Dialogue [ 27K ] Questions from the Audience [ 58K ] Closing Statement by Robert M. Price [ 3K ] Closing Statement by John Rankin [ 4K ]
Science Creationism Debates
Creationist Debates Is Creationism Science? (Gish-Zindler Debate) (1990) [ Index ] A debate between Duane Gish and Frank Zindler that was aired on a radio program hosted by Jim Bleikamp. Zindler tries to get Gish to move beyond merely attacking evolution and provide positive evidence for creationism. E-mail Conversation with a Creationist (Alan Hale vs. Anonymous) (1997) […]
The Fool Late
The author has requested that he be referred to as “Gaunilo II.” We have therefore moved his files into a new directory. The address for his files is now: /library/modern/gaunilo2/late.html Please update your links. Thank you.
Theism Christianity Codes
Bible Codes About Minimal Skip by Brendan McKay (1997) (Off Site) Assassinations Foretold in Moby Dick! by Brendan McKay (1997) (Off Site) The Bible Code: A Book Review by Allyn Jackson (1997) (Off Site) The Demise of Drosnin by Brendan McKay (1997) (Off Site) Hidden Messages and The Bible Code by David E. Thomas (1997) […]
Theism Cosmo Reviews
Cosmological Arguments: Reviews/Critiques Bad Science, Worse Philosophy: The Quackery and Logic-Chopping of David Foster’s The Philosophical Scientists (Book Review) (2000) by Richard Carrier The errors in David Becks’ arguments for God in the book In Defense of Miracles are examined. The first of three arguments is the modern incarnation of the cosmological “first cause” argument, which […]
Theism Moral
Moral Arguments Moral arguments for theism include attempts to establish the existence of God from some (alleged) fact about morality. Many people hold that objective moral values are required to make sense of certain facets of human life, for instance, and that God is the only possible source of such values. The metaethical moral argument […]
Timm Triplett Horner Triplett
Mr. Triplett’s Opening Remarks
Tyler Wunder Davis 6
Concluding Remarks: Return to DT and the Possibility of Rational Resurrection-Belief and Resurrection-Doubt On its barest interpretation, DT claims that both belief in and scepticism of the resurrection can be rational given an awareness of the most persuasive argumentative cases for both sides in the resurrection-debate; consequently, the truth or falsity of DT will […]
Andrei Volkov Dostoevsky
Dostoevsky Did Say It: A Response to David E. Cortesi (2011) Andrei I. Volkov I recently read an old Secular Web article by David E. Cortesi titled “Dostoevsky Didn’t Say It” (2000). This essay is now widely cited and referenced across the Internet. When believers attribute to Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov (1880) the phrase […]