Agnosticism

Sir David Attenborough on God - youtube.com - Agnosticism is not neutral and neutrality is not possible. Attenborough eloquently comes down just on the God side of agnosticism.

NOVA: The Bible's Buried Secrets -.pbs.org - Current homepage with transcript. The evidence displayed in this program is overwhelmingly positive and complementary to the Bible, however, the experts pursue other devices thus demonstrating their prejudices.

• Original Program Website | Senior Executive Producer's Story | The Foundation of Judaism | Archeology of the Hebrew Bible | Writers of the Bible | Moses and the Exodus | The Palace of David | Origins of the Written Bible | Ask the Experts | Archeological Evidence 

• Who Wrote the Flood Story? by Richard Elliott Friedman - Dividing up the flood story as a demonstration of the Documentary Hypothesis. Contains the following quote that is easily contradicted by the Tablet Hypothesis as presented in Redeeming Asimov:

One cannot just say that this is the work of clever scholars who divided up the text to come out this way. Just try doing it with any other work of comparable length to the Five Books of Moses. No scholar is clever enough to make all of this come out so consistently.

• Religious Perspectives | Behind the Scenes | Video Extras | Radiocarbon Dating

Atheism

"A Point of View: Does atheism have to be anti-religious?" by John Gray - bbc.com

Why I Am Now a Christian (2023) by Ayaan Hirsi Ali - thefp.com  

"Is Atheism Irrational?" - bigquestionsonline.com - Kelly J. Clark

Differences Between a Psychopath vs Sociopath - psychcentral.com 

Critical Theory

The Incompatibility of Critical Theory and Christianity MAY 15, 2019  |  NEIL SHENVI • PAT SAWYER - thegospelcoalition.org - Helpful overview of Critical Theory and its incompatibility with Christianity. 

• [W]e should reconsider our use of the phrase “cultural Marxism.” This term is used at times in academic literature to refer to “critical theory” because of the work of a number of 20th-century Marxian theorists who problematize hegemonic power, including Antonio Gramsci, T. W. Adorno, Georg Lukacs, Max Horkheimer, Walter Benjamin, Terry Eagleton, Jurgen Habermas, and Paulo Freire (the latter two being qualified Marxists). Similarly, the term “cultural Marxism” has been employed by respected public figures like David Brooks and Albert Mohler. However, it also has shown up recently in the manifestos of mass shooters and makes frequent appearances on neo-Nazi websites. Because “critical theory” is the more common scholarly term and has none of the negative associations of “cultural Marxism,” it will convey our intended meaning more effectively. 

Eugenics

Retrospectives: Eugenics and Economics in the Progressive Era by Thomas C. Leonard - princeton.edu - Journal of Economic Perspectives, Volume 19, Number 4, Fall 2005, Pages 207–224 - Excellent summary highlighting "race suicide" and how eugenics was so attractive to the progressives of the time. 

Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement - eugenicsarchive.org

• • Eugenic Sterilization Laws - Creation of sterilization laws from Harry Laughlin's model.

"Harry Hamilton Laughlin (1880-1943)" by Rachel Gur-Arie - embryo.asu.edu 

Teaching the Difficult Past of Statistics to Improve the Future (2024) by Lee Kennedy-Shaffer - www.tandfonline.com - Much of the development of modern statistics was in service to Eugenics. This paper highlights the case of three famous statisticians: "Francis Galton’s use of conditional probabilities to demonstrate “hereditary talent,” Karl Pearson’s attempt to quantify the intelligence of Jewish immigrant students, and Ronald A. Fisher’s creation of the analysis of variance to de-emphasize environment in human development..."

Eugenics and Transhumanism in Isaac Asimov’s Robot Series and Nancy Kress’ Novel Beggars in Spain (2014) by Dušan Spasić - researchgate.net -  

"The essence of evolution is natural selection; the essence of eugenics is the replacement of 'natural' selection by conscious, premeditated, or artificial selection in the hope of speeding up the evolution of 'desirable' characteristics and the elimination of undesirable ones." (American Advisory Bioethics Comission-Eugenics, retrieved May 15, 2013 from http://www.all.org/abac/eugen02.htm) 

For:

The Pivot of Civilization by Margaret Sanger (1922) - gutenberg.org - Introduction by H.G. Wells.

Against:

"Lecture 36: Eugenics and Other Evils" by Dale Ahlquist - chesterton.org 

Eugenics and Other Evils by G. K. Chesterton - gutenburg.org 

Brave New World (1932) by Aldous Huxley

Humanism

Humanist Manifesto II - Signed by Isaac Asimov among many others. 

"The Humanist Manifestos (1933, 1973, 1999)" - First Things March 2000 by J. Budziszewski

THE NON-ELITE: A BRIEF MEDITATION ON THE NATURE OF ATHEIST HUMANISM by R. Joseph Hoffmann, an elitist humanist.

Two Cheers for Capitalism (1978) by Irving Kristol - contemporarythinkers.org - Although capitalism has been extremely successful, the title of this collection is not "three cheers" because capitalism has never sought three cheers. Furthermore there is a negative aspect, capitalism acts as a solvent on culture - breaking apart the ties that bind and turning everything into competition. A religious culture and modest welfare system is needed to bring culture back to meaning and compassion. Thus, Irving Kristol is the father of the Neoconservatives that were so influential in the 90s and 00s in the United States.

• A Liberal Critique: Two Cheers for Capitalism (1978) by Michael Novak - commentary.org - 

• Retro Review: Irving Kristol’s “Two Cheers for Capitalism” (2020) by Richard Morrison - cei.org

Knowledge

The surprising downsides of being clever - bbc.com by David Robson

All The Things #83 MLK vs. BLM || 2/13/2021 - youtube.com - Dr. Aaron Preston: Is Black Lives Matter a natural progression of Martin Luther King's brand of civil rights? MLK's PHD was in philosophy from Boston University. Much of his attractive thinking was Boston Personalism. MLK regarded Marxism as a Christian heresy. Must care for the whole person body and soul. 

Personalism - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - plato.standord.edu 

Jordan Peterson | Full Address and Q&A (2018) | Oxford Union - youtube.com (1:15 hour) - I discovered JP for myself on 9/18/21, three years after the famous critical interview that catapulted his fame. Considering my parallel interests and his fame, I'm surprised it took so long. I haven't yet found anything particularly disagreeable in his thought and quite a bit that is constructively challenging and encouraging. Most of the "controversy" surrounding him seems to be related to how effectively he bats down strawmen arguments that some leftist movements are clearly depending on. In doing so he shows his major concern is to help people at a personal level and battle totalitarianism in all its methods and forms from the bottom up.

• Jordan Peterson: From the Barricades of the Culture Wars - The Aspen Institute (2018) - youtube.com (1:32:02)

• How dangerous is Jordan B Peterson, the rightwing professor who 'hit a hornets' nest'? (2018) by Dorian Lynskey - theguardian.com -  Take out the prejudices, weasel words, and unsupported claims - "But his arguments are riddled with ‘pseudo-facts’ and conspiracy theories" - and this turns into a ringing endorsement. I do agree with the author that any endorsement of Donald Trump, even a tepid one, should be subject to criticism. Given the article's tenor, were Peterson's quotes taken in context?

• Jordan Peterson's BEST and MOST MISSED interview about the Channel 4 Cathy Newman Controversy (2019) - youtube.com - With responses to Guardian articles.

• Jordan Peterson: “There was plenty of motivation to take me out. It just didn't work" (2018)| British GQ - youtube.com - One of the paradoxes of JP's thought is that it doesn't shrink from contention and therefore can lead to situations that are not necessarily wise to be in.  Part of his fame is his success when being critically interviewed by someone who is in the driver's seat of questions and responses - a situation he routinely pulls off. Still, for most people, it would be a foolish endeavor.

• Jordan Peterson: "The collapse of our values is a greater threat than climate change" | Off Script (2021) - youtube.com 

Rational Mysticism

"Rational Mysticism and New Testament Christianity" by Henry W. Clark - jstor.org  

Let Reason Be Your Guide? A Brief Introduction to Reformed Epistemology. (2001) by Randal Rauser - Leicester: Religious & Theological Students Fellowship, 2001. Pbk. ISBN: 1870137302. pp.51.

A well-put-together book evaluating what Nicholas Wolterstorf, William Alston, and Alvin Plantinga had to say on the subject in major works. While a worthy evaluation of worthy authors, I was expecting to find something more solid in Middle Foundationalism. The Presuppositional approach seems to be much stronger on most accounts. It seems if one took the Presuppositional first and then alongside the Middle Foundational all would be solved. I'm also a little concerned that there was no discussion of answered prayer with the reliability of mystical perception. Answered prayer may not establish general reliability, but it can establish personal reliability.

The mysticism of William Law : a study (1914) by S. Harvey Gem - hathitrust.org 

The Problem of Nature

The Problem of Evil

Logical Problem of Evil - iep.utm.edu - Overview of the Problem of Evil as many modern atheists take it - as an objective logical problem. An answer: if death is only evil for the evil and the bland, then POE quickly reduces to the Problem of Pain. The Problem of Pain is by definition subjective - pain is a sensation or feeling, not a thing.

The Problem of Pain

Hermeneutics of Suffering by John J. Parsons - hebrew4christians.com - 

Theodicy

Augustine on Evil - str.org - "The evil is momentary. The good that results is eternal."

Genesis 1-11 as Theodicy by James Keifer - elvis.rowan.edu - Genesis 1-11 as a substantial answer to POE.

Jastrow, M.. (1906). A Babylonian Parallel to the Story of Job. Journal of Biblical Literature, 25(2), 135–191. http://doi.org/10.2307/3260156

The Ludlul-Bel-Nimeqi - Not Merely a Babylonian Job

(Eastern) Orthodox Church

Lessons on Christian Dogmatics - oodegr.com - Course notes from John Zizioulas. Highlights: A 2. The term: «Dogma» and its significance; B I 3. Cognizance through the Son and Logos; C II 1. The period prior to the Cappadocian Fathers; C II 2. The contribution of the Cappadocian Fathers;  C II 5. Existential Interpretation; 

John Zizioulas Foundation - zizioulos.org 

Eternal Memory

Volume II - Worship, The Sacraments, Funeral - oca.org

Eternal Memory - acrod.org

DOSTOEVSKY AND MEMORY ETERNAL: An Eastern Orthodox Approach to the Brothers Karamazov by Donald Sheehan - dartmouth.edu

Theosis

Theosis: Partaking of the Divine Nature - antiochian.org

Reformed

Voddie Baucham: The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (2015) - youtube.com - 58:31 mins - Presentation of the Gospel based in the Reform tradition using the book of Ephesians 2.

Ligonier Ministries - Reformed Theology - ligonier.org - Organization founded by R.C. Sproul.

Presuppositional Apologetics

The Great Debate: Does God Exist? - bellevuechristian.org (audio) - Influential debate between Greg Bahsen and the naive atheist Gordon Stein.

Greg Bahnsen quotes and books - Goodreads.com

Articles on Apologetics and Christian Reconstructionism by Greg Bahnsen - cmfnow.com 

• Prolegomena To Apologetics

• A Critique of "Classical Apologetics"

• Inductivism, Inerrancy, and Presuppositionalism

A Conflict of Rationalities by Lee Farnsworth - dartmouthapologia.org - Basic summary of presuppositionism, especially pretended neutrality.

Our Theology in Our Apologetics by SCOTT OLIPHINT - faculty.wts.edu (video 8 mins)

"Understanding Cornelius Van Til", K. Scott Oliphint, PhD. - youtube.com (1 hr 21 mins)

“Transcendental Arguments” by John M. Frame - frame-poythress.org - Yes, Van Til can break naturalism towards God, but the move from “intelligible universe” to “theistic universe” requires a traditional argument. The traditional argument is based on a better foundation in this case which alleviates criticisms and thereforeappears self evident.

The Map of Mathematics by Dominic Walliman - youtube.com - Map Widescreen Version

Sumerian/Babylonian Mathematics - storyofmathematics.com

The Discovery That Transformed Pi - youtube.com

How Imaginary Numbers Were Invented - youtube.com

Smith, David Woodruff, "Phenomenology", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.)

https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_phenomenology.html

https://www.iep.utm.edu/phenom/

Existentialism

Existentialism Is a Humanism - marxists.org - Lecture by Jean-Paul Sartre in 1945 that has served as an introduction to the atheistic branch of existentialism. Later he apparently disavowed it. I can't help but think his atheistic existentialism is a recipe for misplaced activism, such as Communism throughout the twentieth century. At any rate, the three families of criticism he wished to demolish seem alive and well, precisely because of his atheism.

David Hume

David Hume - Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2009)

An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding and Selections... - David Hume & Adam Smith compilation. (1907)

www.davidhume.org - Hume's work in digital form. Highlights: Hume’s Argument concerning Induction in Treatise 1.3.6; Oxford Lectures on David Hume, 2021-22 by Peter Millican 

Certainty

Veritasium: Is Most Published Research Wrong? - youtube.com 

"Lies, Damned Lies and Medical Science" - theatlantic.com - November 2010, Excellent summary of John Ioannidis' work and prospects for the improvement of certainty in science.

"Why Most Published Research Findings Are False" (2005) by John P. A. Ioannidis - plosmedicine.org - This is the paper that got the ball rolling on the replication crisis, laying out a statistical argument for his hypothesis.

"Contradicted and Initially Stronger Effects in Highly Cited Clinical Research" (2005) John P. A. Ioannidis - jamanetwork.com - Review of replicated studies with conclusions supporting Ioannidis' hypothesis.

Breaking The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle - youtube.com - Manipulating complementary variables such that you get a high uncertainty in one and low in the other.

Replication Crisis

Everything is f---ed: The syllabus - hardsci.wordpress.com - Sanjay Srivastava creates a fake class syllabus citing the research on why the social sciences are...well, see for yourself.

"What Is Wrong With Social Psychological Science?" - psychologytoday.com - Lee Jussim describes the reasons the social sciences are going through a time of epistemic crisis.

In Meta-Analyses, Weak Inclusion Standards Lead to Misleading Conclusions. Here’s Proof. (2020) by Robert Slavin and Amanda Neitzel - robertslavinsblog.wordpress.com - The Meta-Analysis is one of the main way research is condensed into something educators can actually use. Unfortunately inclusion of low quality studies can completely derail a Meta-analysis.

• How Can You Tell When The Findings of a Meta-Analysis Are Likely to Be Valid? - 5 basic standards.

• John Hattie is Wrong - Most meta-analysis contain studies with biases that inflate the effect size. Therefore a meta-meta-analysis that is not selective will merely be aggregating bias and hiding that which is truly effective.

• “But It Worked in the Lab!” How Lab Research Misleads Educators

Policymaking Is Not a Science (Yet) - Freakonomics Radio ep. 405 - freakonomics.com - Why do so many promising solutions — in education, medicine, criminal justice, etc. — fail to scale up into great policy? 

http://www.fallacyfiles.org/whatarff.html

Natural Selection

Genetic Algorithms

Simulating Natural Selection - youtube.com 

• Minute Lab: Interactive Evolution Simulator

• Interactive Evolution Simulator - youtube.com

OpenAI Plays Hide and Seek…and Breaks The Game! - youtube.com - 

Intelligent Design

Uncommon Knowledge: Mathematical Challenges to Darwin’s Theory of Evolution with Berlinski, Meyer, and Gelernter - hoover.org - Excellent example of an ID criticism hitting its mark. In general, criticisms coming from ID have been valid, but they are also answerable and over time have largely been answered. The challenge for ID has always been philosophical - it has never really offered much more than a God of the Gaps with a small version of God - which is doomed to failure. In contrast, a strong Logos theology need only point out Darwinism's ultimate presuppositions, clear away claims of neutrality, and otherwise, does not have a strong need to criticize the sciences. After all, in our orderly universe, what standard is there higher than God by which we can judge God?

Uncommon Knowledge with David Berlinski on “The Deniable Darwin” - hoover.org - "Life appears to offer at least a temporary rebuke to the second law of thermodynamics. If the complexity of living creatures is increasing, the entropy that surrounds them is decreasing." For his criticisms, Berlinski is a very interesting agnostic.

Stephen Meyer: God and the Origin of the Universe - Discovery Science - Perhaps ID is moving toward a Logos theology, but Meyer is still heavily reliant on a causality argument which inherently implies a small God.

Sparks Fly Over Intelligent Design (2002) Karl Giberson, Jonathan Wells, Michael Ruse, Michael Behe, William Dembski, Robert Pennock, and Eugenie Scott - genesisproclaimed.org - An exchange elucidating the main triumphs and failings of ID. The upshot is that the criticism of Irreducible Complexity coming from ID is sound, but also answerable. ID is a philosophical/theological stance that does not offer any science of its own. Inevitably ID criticisms will receive answers. This leads to a god of the gaps which makes ID a failure as a philosophy.