What's New Archive ● 2005 ● April
What's New on the Secular Web?
See also: Events & The News Wire
April 26, 2005
Added "Human What?" by Jean Akouri to the Agora section of the Kiosk.
Pope John Paul II, who had just died, was being touted as a champion of human rights. Countless eulogies elevated him to near sainthood, with only an occasional mention of his "controversial" stands on issues related to "sexual morality." This, it seems, is the category under which the news reporters at least classified humanity's all-too-obvious need to control the destructive global population explosion, and the basic rights of people who happened to need love from others of the same gender.
April 17, 2005
Added A Disproof of God's Existence (1970) by Michael Martin to Logical Arguments for Atheism index page of the Modern Library, as well as the Articles: Atheism index page in Michael Martin's author directory.
"God" in one sense that is widely accepted in nonacademic circles is self-contradictory and thus that God in this sense cannot exist. Martin first gives a rather informal exposition of the disproof, followed by a more formal version. Finally, Martin defends the disproof against possible objections.
Added Review of George H. Smith's Atheism: The Case Against God (1982) Michael Martin to the Atheism Book Reviews index page of the Modern Library, as well as the Articles: Book Reviews index page in Michael Martin's author directory.
Added "Pope Leo I Weighs in on the Papacy" by Gary Sloan to the Agora section of the Kiosk.
Having visited the Vatican on the eve of the conclave to choose a new pope, Pope Leo I is appalled by the demise of the true faith.
April 15, 2005
Updated The Date of the Nativity in Luke by Richard Carrier (4th ed., 2001)
Various minor corrections and updates of fact and wording were made. The most significant: it is now noted that there were a few occasions of census taking in the OT after the time of David; and coin evidence dating the annexation of Judaea is included.
April 11, 2005
Added Review of Schroeder's The Science of God (1998) by Graham Oppy to the Book Reviews section of his Author Page, as well as to the Science and Religion, and Theism : Arguments for the Existence of a God : Reviews/Critiques pages in the Modern Library
Oppy reviews Gerald Schroeder's The Science of God, which claims that modern scientific discoveries converge with Old Testament wisdom on issues such as the Big Bang; the appearance of life after the appearance of water; the existence of archaeopteryx, dinosaurs, and prehuman hominids; quantum indeterminancy; the age of the universe and the origin of life. Oppy questions whether the Old Testament accounts really converge with modern scientific discoveries on any of these issues.
Added The Popes and Their Church (1918) [index] by Joseph McCabe [1867-1955] to his Author Page in the Historical Library
"THE chief paradox of our age is the survival of the Church of Rome. The choicest irony of that paradox is that, while the Church decays rapidly in the Latin countries, it seems to make material progress in England and the United States."
"The purpose of this book is to explain that its boast of primitiveness, of immutability, of flat defiance of the spirit of progress, of truculent refusal to compromise with the modern mind, is fully justified; and to explain the machinery by means of which such a boast can win any measure of success. I explain what Catholics really believe and do, and how they contrive to believe and do these weird things, yet survive, in the twentieth century."
April 8, 2005
Added Does The Evidence Confirm Theism More Than Naturalism? (1984) by Michael Martin to the Atheism section of his Author Page
A positive answer is given by George Schlesinger in Religion and Scientific Method to the question posed in the title of this paper. Martin first outlines Schlesinger's argument for this answer and then shows that his argument fails.
April 2, 2005
Added Davis on the Rationality of Belief in the Resurrection (2005) by Michael Martin to the Theism: Christianity: Resurrection subject index in the Modern Library
From 1998 to 2000, Michael Martin engaged Christian apologist Steven Davis in an exchange on the rationality of belief in the Resurrection in Philo. In a recent article in Philosophia Christi, Davis revisits the exchange and criticizes many of the arguments Martin raised earlier. Martin continues the exchange on the rationality of belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ for Christians in this latest installment on the Secular Web.
April 1, 2005
Current Feature: Is American Law Based on the Ten Commandments? (2005) by Chad S. Inman
Not only is God not mentioned in the Constitution, there is no mention of the Bible, Moses or the Ten Commandments. If the Ten Commandments are the basis for American law, it is peculiar that they bear no mention in the most important founding legal document of our nation.
Book-of-the-Month: Sense and Goodness without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism, (2005), by Richard Carrier
Carrier, former editor-in-chief of the Secular Web, draws on his extensive experience for over ten years defending the worldview of "metaphysical naturalism." As the central mission of the Internet Infidels and the Secular Web, this book is a flagship effort to articulate every aspect of what "naturalism" is, at least one coherent version of it.
Special Feature: Commandments Five to Eleven (2000) by David E. Cortesi
People who agitate for the display of the Biblical Ten Commandments in schools, courtrooms, and other public places demonstrate a limited knowledge of the Bible. To isolate and emphasize the first ten commandments of the Hebraic Law is contrary to the way in which the Law was understood, not only by Jews but by Jesus and St. Paul. One way to argue against posting the Ten Commandments in a public place is to quote scripture.