Site MapHelpFeedbackThought Probes
Thought Probes
(See related pages)

Biblical Truths: Does the failure to find confirming evidence for many of the Bible's historical claims undercut the credibility of its non-historical claims?

Archeology vs. the Bible
(http://artemis.austincollege.edu/acad/hwc22/Rome/Archaeology_vs._the_Bible.html)
Article by Haim Watzman describing the archaeological findings that seem incompatible with the Biblical accounts

Minimalism, Ancient Israel, and Anti-Semitism
(http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Minimalism.htm)
Article by Phillip Davies (University of Sheffield) on Biblical minimalism

Contra Davies
(http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/Contra_Davies.htm)
Response to Davies article by William G. Dever (University of Arizona)

Deluded Believers: How do you know you're not part of the 75% of the world's population who are mistaken about the true nature of god and reality?

God's Debris: A Thought Experiment
(https://www.strategicnetwork.org/index.php?loc=kb&view=v&id=19559&fto=1049&)
Interview with Scott Adams by Dan Wooding in which Adams raises the question about deluded believers.

Major Religions of the World
(http://adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html)
Major religions of the world ranked by number of adherents.

Which religion is the true one?
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/reltrue.htm)
Discussion of how one might go about discovering the one true religion at religioustolerance.org.

Do all paths lead to the same destination?
(http://www.leaderu.com/wri/articles/paths.html)
Article by Keith Johnson against the view that all religions are getting at the same thing.

Holy Scripture: How can you tell that a book was written by the one true god?

How do I know that the Bible is really from God?
(http://www.comereason.org/cmp_rlgn/cmp005.asp)
Defense of the divine origin of the Bible from comereason.org.

Is the Bible the Word of God?
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/emmett_fields/word_of_god_debate.html)
Lecture by Emmet Fields on the problems with taking the Bible to be the word of God.

The Baha'i Faith
(http://www.bahai.org/)
Homepage of the Baha'i faith which teaches that all religions are expressions of the one true god.

Do all religions lead to god?
(http://www.wcg.org/lit/gospel/pluralism.htm)
A critique of the view that all religions are equally valid by the Worldwide Church of God.

The Wrath of God: Can natural disasters be considered to be the wrath of God?

Tsunami Theology as Wrath of God
(http://polisat.com/DailyPoliticalSatire-Commentary/du20y05m01d08-01.htm)
Discussion of the tension between medievalism and modernism by Jim Wrenn.

Does God control earthquakes or other natural disasters?
(http://jmm.aaa.net.au/articles/14227.htm)
Analysis of the Bible's view of natural disasters by Charles Henderson.

Natural disasters could be God's judgment
(http://christiannews.christianet.com/1215711636.htm)
Report of an opinion poll on God's relation to natural disasters.

Weather is weather—not the wrath of God
(http://www.opednews.com/articles/Weather-is-JUST-Weather----by-Dennis-Diehl-080615-444.html)
Discussion of the wrath of God hypothesis by former Pastor Dennis Diehl.

Why a Universe? If God is infinitely old, why did He create a universe 15 billion years ago?

Why Did God Create the Universe?
(http://www.philosophos.com/knowledge_base/archives_9/philosophy_questions_927.html)
Discussion by Brian Tee (University of Sheffiled) from philosophos.com

The Leibniz-Clarke Correspondence
(http://www.ucl.ac.uk/sts/gregory/215/handouts/h16_lcc.doc)
Excerpts from the debate between Newton and Leibniz on the nature of God from Andrew Gregory (University College London)

Why Did God Create Us with Sin in the World?
(http://www.carm.org/questions/whydidGodcreateus.htm)
Article by Christian Apologetics and Research Ministry arguing that God created the world to show his love for us

Intelligent Design : If life on Earth is the result of intelligent design, who are the designers?

Raelism
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raelism)
Wikipedia entry on Raelism

Show Me the Science
(http://ase.tufts.edu/philosophy/people/dennett_showme.shtml) New York Times op-ed by Daniel Dennett on intelligent design

His Holiness Rael endorses Intelligent Design
(http://www.pandasthumb.org/archives/2004/03/his_holiness_ra.html)
Blog entry on Rael and intelligent design

Intelligent Design
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligent_design)
Wikipedia entry on Intelligent Design

Flying Spaghetti Monster
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster)
Wikipedia entry on the Flying Spaghetti Monster, an intelligent design theory competing with Raelism

Human Design Flaws: Does the fact that humans are poorly designed provide evidence against the intelligent design theory?

Bad Taste in Bodyscape
(http://www.positivehealth.com/permit/Articles/Regular/joel70.htm)
Article by Joel Carbonnel arguing that humans are built for extended life

Intelligent Design Theory
(http://www.cse.msu.edu/~weinshan/Intelligent%20Design%20Lecture%20Notes.031902.htm)
Notes for a debate on Intelligent Design Theory between Dr. Tom Woodward and Dr. Tom Weinshank

Parting the Red Sea: Does the fact that the Red Sea can be parted by natural forces undercut the notion that is was parted by God?

The Miracle of: the Parting of the Red Sea
(http://www.amazingchange.org/mormirapartredsea.htm)
Description of the parting of the Red Sea from Exodus 14: 21-31

Biblical Miracles: Did They Happen?
(http://www.escmedia.org/wires/miracles.html)
Article by Charles Colson arguing that even if the parting of the Red Sea can be explained in natural terms, its timing is miraculous

Jesus's Miracles: Given the fact that Jesus's "miracles" are similar to those performed by other magicians at the time, can they be considered to be real?

Was Jesus a Magician?
(http://www.colorado.edu/philosophy/vstenger/RelSci/Magician.html)
Article by Vic Stenger (University of Hawaii) examining the magician hypothesis

Hellenistic Magic and Jesus
(http://www.askwhy.co.uk/christianity/0618Magic.html)
Article by M. D. Magee analyzing the references to magic in the Bible

Jesus: Magician, Maniac, or Master
(http://ministryblue.com/studies/Jesus.html)
Article by Rob Lamont citing Biblical evidences for Jesus's divinity

The Fivefold Challenge: Five major miraculous events are unconfirmed by modern archaeology: the parting of the Red Sea by Moses; the stopping of the sun by Joshua; the reversal of the sun's course by Isaiah, the feeding of thousands of people by Jesus using only five loaves of bread and two fishes; and the resurrection of the saints. Does this provide good reason for believing that these miracles never occurred?

The Five Fold Challenge
(http://www.infidels.org/library/magazines/tsr/1995/4/4five95.html)
Robby Berry's challenge to present extra-Biblical evidence for these miracles

What About the Five Fold Challenge?
(http://www.christian-thinktank.com/5felled.html)
Article from the Christian ThinkTank explaining why it is unlikely we will find evidence for Biblical miracles

Argument from Miracles
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/miracles.html)
Set of links regarding the argument from miracles from the Secular Web

Examining Miracle Claims
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/joe_nickell/miracles.html)
Article by Joe Nickell (Center for Inquiry) on alternative explanations for various miraculous claims

Science and Miracles
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/miracles.html)
Article by Theodore Drange on the relation between science and miracles

Religious Experience: Does the fact that religious experiences can be produced electronically undercut the claim that they are produced by a supernatural being?

This is Your Brain on God
(http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/7.11/persinger.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=)
Article by Jack Hitt for Wired reporting on Michael Persinger's spiritual experience machine

Tracing the Synapses of our Spirituality
(http://www.maps.org/media/vedantam.html)
Article by Shankar Vedantam for the Washington Post reporting on recent research into the biological basis of religious experience

Mystical Experience, Hallucination, and Belief in God
(http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/articles/1978_mystical.htm)
Article by Alastair I. McIntosh defending the argument from mystical experience

Religious Experience
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/experience.html)
Set of links to articles regarding the argument from religious experience from the Secular Web

One More God: If monotheists are rationally justified in not believing in thousands of other gods, are atheists equally justified in not believing in the god of the monotheists?

The Crucible
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Sparta/1019/Posts/Post26.htm
Inquiry into the principle by which a monotheist rejects belief in other gods by Anton Thorn.

The Atheism Pages
http://www.ebonmusings.org/atheism/intro.html
Comparison of atheistic and theistic beliefs from Ebonmusings.org.

Introduction to Atheism
http://www.abarnett.demon.co.uk/atheism/intro_page.htm
Clarification of atheist beliefs by Adrian Barnett.

Atheism
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/nontheism/atheism/)
Secular Web's page on atheism

The Natural History of Religion
(http://www.sacred-texts.com/phi/hume/natural.txt)
David Hume's classic essay on religion

The Best Bet: Which wager, Pascal's or Silverman's, do you think is the best?

Pascal's Wager
(http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal-wager/)
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy article

Pascal's Wager
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theism/wager.html)
Set of links to articles on Pascal's wager from the Secular Web

The End of Pascal's Wager: Only Nontheists Go to Heaven
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/richard_carrier/heaven.html)
Article by Richard Carrier

Pascal's Wager Refuted
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/theodore_drange/wager.html)
Article by Theodore Drange (West Virginia University) outlining objections to Pascal's wager

Pascal's Wager
(http://brindedcow.umd.edu/236/pascal.html)
Lecture notes by Alan Stairs (University of Maryland) examining the reasoning behind Pascal's wager

Alien Religion: Suppose that we are visited by aliens from outer space and find that they have no religion and have never heard of any of the gods worshipped by humans. Would this undermine the credibility of our religions? Would it be appropriate to try to evangelize the aliens and convert them to one of our religions?

Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?
(http://www.beliefnet.com/story/35/story_3519_1.html)
Brother Guy Consolmagno's take on alien religion

Do space aliens have souls?
(http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0506301.htm)
Article about Guy Consolmagno and his book on the issue

Alien Religion
(http://www.blog.speculist.com/archives/000530.html)
“The Speculist” speculates about what we might find in an alien religion

Extraterrestrial Life
(http://www.123infinity.com/extraterrestrial_life.html)
Page answering questions about extraterrestrial life. Scroll down for the question of alien religion

The Source of Meaning: Can one make one's own life meaningful or must it be part of a divine plan?

What is the Meaning of Life?
(http://pespmc1.vub.ac.be/MEANLIFE.html)
Article from the Principia Cybernetica Web arguing that the meaning of life is to increase fitness

The Meaning of Life
(http://www.update.uu.se/~fbendz/philo/meaning.htm)
Article by Fredrik Benz arguing that meaning is something that one creates

Why are We Here?
(http://www.purposeforlife.org/)
Article by Rick Brown from purposeoflife.org

Adam and Eve: If Adam and Eve didn't know that it was wrong to eat the apple, was it right to punish them?

Adam and Eve: Set Up?
(http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Academy/2850/Eden.html)
Article claiming that since Adam and Eve didn't know the difference between right and wrong, they shouldn't be held responsible for their actions

Women were Considered to be Sinful
(http://www.womenpriests.org/traditio/sinful.htm)
Article by John Wijngaards explaining how women became blamed for the fall of humanity

Eve and Adam Resources Online
(http://www.webwinds.com/thalassa/adameve.htm)
Set of links compiled by Tracey Marks dealing with Adam and Eve

Moving the Moon: Does the fact that a good deal of natural evil could have been eliminated if the Earth had a different orientation show that the world was not created by God?

The Problem of Natural Evil
(http://www.update.uu.se/~fbendz/library/bm_evil.htm#conclusion)
Article by Brian Marston arguing that natural evil cannot be justified

Assessing the Problem of Evil and the Existence of God
(http://sguthrie.net/evil.htm)
Article by Shandon L. Guthrie arguing that the existence of natural evil is not incompatible with the existence of God

God's Answer to Job
(http://stripe.colorado.edu/~morristo/phil2job.html)
Article by Wes Morriston (Colorado University) from Religious Studies (1996) exploring various interpretations of the Book of Job

Is there free will in heaven? If there can be no free will without evil, can there be free will in heaven?

The Dilemma of Heaven
(http://www.secweb.org/asset.asp?AssetID=265)
Article by Doug Wetzel on reasons for believing that there can be no free will in heaven

Will There be Free Will in Heaven?
(http://www.truthwalk.com/Q%20and%20A/sin%20in%20heaven.html)
Article from truthwalk.com claiming that we cannot sin in heaven

Is There Free Will in Heaven?
(http://www.ewtn.com/library/ANSWERS/FRWILL.htm)
Article by Fr. William Saunders claiming that the notion of free will in heaven is a mystery

Karma: Does the doctrine of Karma provide a plausible solution to the problem of evil and inequality?

Karma: the Problem of Evil in India
(http://www.friesian.com/karma.htm)
Article by Kelly Ross explaining the role that Karma plays in solving the problem of evil in India

Suffering and Buddhism
(http://www.counterbalance.net/scisuff/suffe-body.html)
Article by Paul Ingram on the Buddhist solution to the problem of evil

God's Goodness: Given the actions reported in the Bible, is it reasonable to believe that God is all-good?

Bible Passages that Seem Immoral by Today's Standards
(http://www.religioustolerance.org/imm_bibl1.htm)
Article from religioustolerance.org listing some seemingly immoral bible passages

Bible Atrocities
(http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/donald_morgan/atrocity.shtml)
List of seemingly immoral acts portrayed in the Bible compiled by Donald Morgan

What If God Died? Suppose God died. How would the universe be different? How would we tell that God no longer existed?

Jim Morrow's Home Page
(http://www.sff.net/people/Jim.Morrow/index2.html)
Homepage of James Morrow, author of the Godhead Trilogy.

God Is Dead
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead)
Wikipedia entry on Nietzsche's famous quote.

Interview with James Morrow
http://www.strangehorizons.com/2001/20011203/morrow.shtml
Interview with James Morrow by Faith Justice.

Blanshard's Beliefs: Are Blanshard and Clifford correct in claiming that our duty to proportion beliefs to the evidence is absolute?

Evidentialism
(http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/evidenti.htm)
Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy entry on Evidentialism

Opiniatrety: Evidentialism
(http://mattweiner.net/blog/archives/000251.html)
Blog entry discussing the Fantl and McGrath article

A Flawed God: Could a being that was neither all-knowing, all-powerful, nor all-good still be God?

Things God Cannot Do
(http://www.letusreason.org/Apolo2.htm)
List by Mike Oppenheimer (Let Us Reason Ministries)

God, Evil, and the Holocaust
(http://www.probe.org/docs/evil-holo.html)
Article by Jimmy Williams exploring many reponses that have been proposed by Jewish scholars to the problem of evil raised by the holocaust

The Problem of Suffering
(http://allanturner.com/ss10.html)
Article by Allan Turner critiquing various versions of the finite God argument








Doing PhilosophyOnline Learning Center

Home > Chapter 6 > Thought Probes