Wednesday, June 29, 2011

The End of Christianity--now available

The End of Christianity, a new anthology edited by John Loftus from Prometheus Press is out now.  It includes my chapter presenting the Salem Witch Trials argument against the resurrection of Jesus, and a long list of other interesting articles.

It's on Amazon here:  The End of Christianity

Here's the Table of Contents:


I. Why 2000 Years is Enough

1. Christianity Evolving: On the Origin of Christian Species, by Dr. David Eller
2. Christianity's Success Was Not Incredible, by Dr. Richard Carrier
3. Christianity is Wildly Improbable, by John W. Loftus

II. Putting an Ancient Myth to Rest  

4. Why Biblical Studies Must End, by Dr. Hector Avalos
5. Can God Exist if Yahweh Doesn’t?, by Dr. Jaco Geicke
6. God’s Emotions: Why the Biblical God is Hopelessly Human, by Dr. Valerie Tarico

III. Living on Borrowed Time

7. The Absurdity of the Atonement, by Dr. Ken Pulliam
8. The Salem Witch Trials and the Evidence for the Resurrection, by Dr. Matt McCormick
9. Explaining the Resurrection Without Recourse to Miracle, by Dr. Robert Price
10. Hell: Christianity’s Most Damnable Doctrine, by Dr. Keith Parsons

IV. Science Puts An End to Christianity 

11. Is Religion Compatible with Science?, Dr. David Eller
12. Neither Life nor the Universe Appear Intelligently Designed, by Dr. Richard Carrier
13. Life After Death: A Scientist Looks at the Evidence, by Dr. Victor Stenger
14. Moral Facts Naturally Exist (and Science Could Find Them), by Dr. Richard Carrier


And abstracts of the chapters.



Get it.  It'll be good for you.  

9 comments:

gnash said...

Please make available on the Kindle!

The Atheist Missionary said...

Ordered my copy last night and I'm pleased to see it making its way up amazon's bestseller rankings. I encourage everyone who reads this post to order a copy today. Best, TAM.

Unknown said...

Dr. Hector Avalos is made of awesome. I think he's one of the few peeps to be W.L. Craig.

Kriss

Fadefury said...

Just finished the chapter you contributed to this book. I must say it has me eager(as did other chapters) to read more written by the individual authors. I've read Richard Carrier and Hector Avalos' books in the past and always enjoy their stuff. Looking forwards to the book you are releasing.

One thing I do wish was done in these books is after the Conclusions in each chapter John should have put some information about the author. List the books they have written, blogs they may run etc. I know Micheal Martin did not do it in his books(at least I don't remember them) but it's something I've wished for in John's recent releases.

Matt DeStefano said...

I just finished the book. Although I was already familiar with your material, I thought it was presented really well. The rest of the anthology had some really interesting contributions as well.

Unknown said...

Definitely going to pick this up next time I go to the library. Thanks for your continuing efforts!

jeff B said...

Those who follow atheism are just running from something. But they don’t realize that they are running right into a dark place. Its happening. Just look at history. When people started complaining about schools having prayer, problems insued not longer after. Complaints about other things began as well. Over time, adults began losing control of children. And now it has become all too apparent that the present generation of children are completely lost. They are learning the things people were taught pre-90s. You can debate against Christianity all you want, but this is the same as debating against morality.

I always believed in science and not religion. Christianity and God never made any sense. I read the Bible many times and all I saw was a bunch of crude stories of authority. The reason I never “got it” was because I was busy soaking in my freedom. That’s the problem with society. We can’t have too much freedom, else we abuse it and get lost. There MUST be an ethical guide somewhere that keeps us in balance. And I have to say after more than 20 years of searching, you will NOT find it without religion.

So that brings up the next point. I have found that it is irrelevant whether or not Jesus rose from the dead or walked on water. This is unnecessary information. But to believe in a “God” that is mysterious enough to make you NOT question his authority is the first step to balance in life. The rest follows in the form of commandments. And the fear of consequence comes after that. This is enough to keep children conscious of what they do in life. If they make a mistake they WILL learn to make it right. And if they think they can hide the truth from mom and dad or their best pal, they know GOD is watching and they can’t hide it from him! It is irrelevant whether or not God is real. It is important that children believe he IS real. If they realized later in life that maybe he does not exist, by that time they would already been instilled with all the proper values and beliefs that make them good citizens that care about others and themselves.

Atheism is the removal of this process. A pointless and senseless society that gives no direction. It is IMPOSSIBLE for children to get direction any other way.

To go further. My wife was raised as a christian. I wasn’t. She wanted them in church. I didn’t. For ten years I watched my daughter grow into a preteen with so many problems. I also witnessed my two smaller children pick up bad habits and beliefs because society teaches sarcasm and materialism and self centeredness way too much. My personal life was never clear to me either. A year and a half ago I finally caved in. I told my wife that I was wrong. I spend some time reversing beliefs I had put into my daughter. Over time she became a believer in God. She goes to church twice a week. So do my other two children. At this time I still don’t attend church. But I have personally witnessed a complete turnaround in my kids. Mu daughter has become so loving and giving. Before then she was getting online and being michevious on websites, much like other non churchgoing kids she knew. This has all changed all because she gave in to believing in God.

So, as I stated before. Its not so much as what’s true and what is not. Its the PERCEPTION of truth that matters here. Children need the perception that an untouchable being watches over them. One that can love them or one that can be heavily disappointed in them. Combine that with loving parenting and you end up with the kind of kid every parent wants. But its too bad that atheism has entered society enough that many children in today’s generation will be lost and it’ll take who knows how long to pick up the pieces.

jeff B said...

Sorry. In the first paragraph, I meant to write "They arent learning the things taught pre-90s"

Shivankit said...

hey ! This was a real good one .
Congratulations on being awarded the best blog.
here is my atttempt on the same topic
http://rationale-atheism.blogspot.in/