Modern Library

A1. Woodmorappe’s Collection of Bad Dates Eat one of those and your tummy will curl right up! Seriously speaking, a favorite attack on radiometric dating involves dangling "horror stories" about gross errors before the reader, thus giving the impression that radiometric dating is totally unreliable. Woodmorappe (1979), with his collection of some 350 bad radiometric […]

Dr. Hovind (G5): The assumed age of a sample will dictate which radiometric dating method is used. One method will only give results for a young age; another will only give results for a very old age. Thus, the assumed age of a sample dictates the method which, in turn, gives the assumed age! G5. […]

Young-earth "proof" #11: Since the earth’s magnetic field is decaying at an exponential rate, its strength would have been unrealistically high 25,000 years ago. Thus, Earth is less than 25,000 years old. 11. Dr. Hovind is almost certainly talking about Barnes’s magnetic field argument (1973) or some echo of it. Henry Morris, himself, once praised […]

Young-earth "proof" #7: Space dust would be vacuumed out of our solar system by the Poynting-Robertson effect in a few thousand years. Since that is not the case, the earth is very young. The Poynting-Robertson effect is an effect that sunlight has on small dust particles orbiting the sun. The continuing absorption of sunlight robs […]

Abortion is not Immoral and Should not be Illegal by Richard C. Carrier It is always refreshing debating someone who is not fanatically attached to a bizarre worldview.  We always come to enlightened agreement on many issues.  This is one of the reasons I believe secularism is the correct view–whereas theism leads to greater dispute […]

On The Subject of Conscription: Conscription, or compulsory military service, has often found opposition from the religious community based on their belief. Some Americans suggest that the country would better off if it were restored, saying it would bring a better sense of duty and patriotism to the people. On the same side, are those […]

On The Subject of Nanotechnology: Nanotechnology, which will be able to cheaply replicate and modify virtually any object with atomic-scale precision, promises to radically change human society perhaps even more then all of the technological advances of the modern era combined. It also has the potential to become the most destructive weapon imaginable–far surpassing nuclear […]

Islamic Science: Does Islamic literature contain scientific miracles? Denis Giron Over the last decade growing numbers of Muslims have declared the Qur’an to be a book filled with alleged scientific miracles. Numerous web sites, books and videos have been produced that proclaim Islam to be truly a religion of divine origin, citing “scientifically accurate” statements […]

I do not believe in God and I am here to explain why. Any discussion of the discussion of the existence of God must, I think, begin with some preliminary definitions and points of principle. As commonly understood, atheism is the denial of the existence of God. I prefer a slightly different formulation, in which […]

About This Debate Drange’s Opening Statement: The Arguments from Nonbelief and Confusion for the Nonexistence of God Wilson’s Opening Statement: The Transcendental Argument for God’s Existence Drange’s First Rebuttal Wilson’s First Rebuttal Drange’s Second Rebuttal Wilson’s Second Rebuttal Drange’s Third Rebuttal Wilson’s Third Rebuttal Drange’s Closing Statement Wilson’s Closing Statement

CHAPTER 1 "A Humanist Manifesto" – A Historic Document When thirty-four individualists agree upon anything, it is an unusual event-especially when there is a preponderance of ministers involved. Even though "reasonable minds at work on the same or similar facts" are presumed to arrive at similar conclusions, this is not always the case. Yet in […]

CHAPTER 8 Unitarian Humanists Who Feared a Creed Some of the men who declined to sign "A Humanist" Manifesto" were active writers in the humanist movement before and after the publication of the document. Four of them were Unitarian in background and affiliation, and, of them, two were published in the same issue of The […]

Dr. Norman L. Geisler (author, educator, and Dean of Southern Evangelical Seminary, Charlotte, NC) and Mr. Farrell Till (editor of The Skeptical Review and English teacher at Spoon River College, Canton, IL) met for public debate March 29, 1994, at the Columbus College Fine Arts Hall (Columbus, GA). The proposition was "Jesus of Nazareth died […]

Readers wanting additional information on the resurrection controversy or other biblical issues may contact the participants in this debate at the following addresses:   Michael Horner Farrell Till Campus Crusade for Christ of Canada Skepticism, Inc. P.O. Box 529 P.O. Box 717 Suma, WA 98295-0529 Canton, IL 61520-0717 Email: michaelh Email: JF Till Phone: (604) […]

<<< Part 2 Part 3   Part 4 >>>   TURKEL > We will find that even then, Till's exegetical >construct is a highly substandard one. We will analyze, >in the following order (according to their length), >Till's responses to the remaining three items from >Miller: > >2. The killing of Ahaziah. > >7. The […]

Secularism in New Zealand (1998) Finngeir Hiorth   Cooke, Bill (1998) Heathen in Godzone. Seventy Years of Rationalism in New Zealand, New Zealand Association of Rationalists and Humanists, 64 Symonds Street, Auckland 1001, New Zealand, 240 pp., appendices, bibliography, other sources, index. Price paperback $NZ 34.95 + postage. This book gives introduction to and survey […]

Freethought Challenges Of The ’90s (1992) Frederick Edwords We live in a period of rapid technological and social change unparalleled in the history of the world. A significant number of trends, developments, and scientific discoveries have converged to create a situation today that many find confusing, others find threatening, and some even find thrilling. Whether […]

Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue Chapter 17 – Amos and Hosea NORTHERN prophecy was revived by two prophets whose oracles are included in the biblical collection often referred to as “The Minor Prophets,” a reference to the length rather than the importance of their utterances. Amos was a Judaean who believed […]

  Old Testament Life and Literature (1968) Gerald A. Larue   Chapter 31 – Development of the Canon THE idea of a canon rests upon belief in revelation and inspiration: the revelation of divine will to and through inspired persons. In Jeremiah’s day, those who opposed him referred to the three accepted channels of inspired […]

Christianity Untrue, Says Teacher Church Wants to Stop Him from Training Students for Ministry   By Ray Waddle, Religion Editor, The Tennessean [This article was originally published in The Tennessean, August 29, 1998, pp. 1B-2B.]   Gerd Luedemann no longer believes in Christianity, and he suspects a lot of Christians secretly agree with him. The […]

Curriculum Vitae   Name: Graham Robert Oppy Date of Birth: October 6, 1960 Place of Birth: Benalla, Victoria, Australia Citizenship: Australian Education: Primary:  1966-1972, Wendouree Primary (#1813), Wendouree       1972: Dux, Full Scholarship to Wesley College Secondary:  1973-1978, Wesley College, Prahran, Melbourne       1978 HSC: General Distinction; Special Distinctions: English, Chemistry Tertiary:   1979-1985, Melbourne University, Parkville, Melbourne       1985: B.Sc./B.A. […]

Din Adami Insanlarimizi, Seriat’in Resim, Heykeltrasçilik, Musiki, Si’ir Gibi San’at Konularindaki Yasaklariyle Fikren ve Ruhen Gelisemez Durumda Tutar Bilindigi gibi güzel san’at’larin her dali insan varliginin ruhen ve fikren gelismesinde son derece önemli bir rol oynar. Her ne kadar bazi gayretkes seriatçi’lar Islam’da resim yasagi, heykel yasagi, musiki yasagi ya da si’ir yasagi vb… diye […]

  Uluslarin Mutlulugu Din Adami’nin Pençesinden Kurtulmakla Mümkün; Din Adami’nin Kötülükleri Son Bulacaktir Mutlaka Bir Gün! Daha önceki bölümlerde belirttigimiz gibi Bati’da aydin siniflarin en büyük amaci insan aklini din kitaplarinin köleliginden ve fakat ayni zamanda din adami’nin pençesinden kurtarmak olmustur. Bir yandan “Kutsal” diye bilinen kitaplarin akli dislayan yönlerini sergiliyerek kisi’yi ve toplumu bu […]

Argument Against God From Evil James Still One thing to remember when discussing the existence or non-existence of God is that we are limited by our language. The paradox is that by even suggesting the variable "God" we are forced to assume its existence for the sake of the discussion. This paradox was first recognized […]

Wittgenstein’s Philosophical Investigations: The Grammatical Fiction of PI §307 James Still In §307 Wittgenstein is accused of denying that mental processes are an essential element within the individual who experiences a sensation S; only the expressions of S exist while S itself if a fiction. Wittgenstein counters that the only fiction involved in the discussion […]

Page Moved This page has moved. Please update your links. This page has been moved to:   https://infidels.org/library/modern/james_still/reliability.html

Critique of Moreland and Habermas’s Immortality Jim Lippard Department of Philosophy University of Arizona Tucson, AZ 85721 May 19, 1993 Gary R. Habermas Dept. of Philosophy and Theology Liberty University 3765 Candlers Mountain Road Lynchburg, VA 24502 J.P. Moreland Talbot School of Theology Biola University 13800 Biola Ave. La Mirada, CA 90639 Dear Drs. Habermas […]

Review of Atheism, Morality, and Meaning (2005) John L. Perkins   Review: Michael Martin. 2003. Atheism, Morality, and Meaning. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. 330 pp. This article was originally published in the Australian Humanist No. 74 (Winter 2004), the quarterly publication of the Council of Australian Humanist Societies. This version contains new editorial changes. It […]

Second Rebuttal for the Affirmative (Saladin, 5 minutes) Moderator: We now have one more set of rebuttals. These rebuttals will be five minutes and we will begin with Dr. Saladin. Saladin: Well in the mere five minutes remaining I can only answer a small fraction of Dr. Gish’s comments but I would [inaudible word] if […]

Conclusion (2001) Kyle J. Gerkin   A Suspect Approach The Case For Faith suffers from dishonesty in its approach. The book fancies itself as "a journalistic investigation into the toughest objections to Christianity." But the aim of the author, Lee Strobel, is not an objective, journalistic investigation, but rather an apologetic refutation. Strobel is an […]