The nativity of Jesus is an event that carries much cultural recognition. However, is it a narrative which commands much support in the academic world? Is it a story which holds much historical truth? Or were the two biblical accounts of the birth of Jesus an opportunity for the authors to impart a theological truth or otherwise? These are the sort of questions that are often asked of the nativity accounts and questions which are answered in this concise and yet well-researched and informative book. Some twenty arguments are looked at and presented in a clear and detailed manner, building a cumulative case for the objection to the historical nature of the Gospel accounts. The author also questions what purpose these stories do serve if indeed they do carry little or no historical truth. With reference to a wide array of contemporary and iconic works on the subject, Pearce has created a compendium of critical arguments against the historicity of a story which still remains a vital piece of our collective cultural and religious tapestry. "For anyone beginning to doubt the reliability of the gospels as eyewitness accounts, Pearce's "The Nativity" will teach you everything you need to know to move past the limitations of biblical infallibility and explore the complicated process that went into the gospel narratives of Jesus Christ." - Derek Murphy, author of Jesus Potter Harry Christ

Why am I an agnostic? Because I don't believe some of the things that other people say they believe. Where do you get your religion, anyway? I won't bother to discuss just what religion is, but I think a fair definition of religion could take account of two things, at least, immortality and God, and that both of them are based on some book, so practically all of it is a book. As I have neither the time nor the learning to discuss every religious book on earth, and as I live in Chicago, I am interested in the Christian religion. So I will discuss the book that deals with the Christian religion. Is the Bible the work of anything but man? Of course, there is no such book as the Bible. The Bible to made up of 66 books, some of them written by various authors at various times, covering a period of about 1,000 years -- all the literature that they could find over a period longer than the time that has elapsed since the discovery of America down to the present time. Is the Bible anything but a human book? Of course those who are believers take both sides of it. If there is anything that troubles them, "We don't believe this." Anything that doesn't trouble them they do believe.

African Americans, Blacks, have long been associated with religious faith.Since the dawn of our time in America from 1619 to the present day. Do we see this.The Black Church has long been, and is still, seen as a bastian of hope in the Black Community.And for good reason: many of our Civil Rights champions came from the church.This fact, while brilliant and admirable, does not dismiss the evils associated with the church.Some of these evils include Jonestown, Waco, and 911. The appalling actions done "in the name of god" are highly capable of ruining lives on an epidemic scale.Not only can lives be lost but, lifestyles can be ruined as well. Entire fortunes have been squandered as well as childhood innosence all in the name of god.What is being done about this? Much of the ill-begotten deeds of religions squalid past are conveniently swept under the rug.From the pope to the small time country preacher, are the dirty deals kept hidden from the masses.Members are encouraged to "play along" and do everything the spiritual leader tells them to do.Members that seek answers are shunned by the spiritual leader and his/her brainwashed flock(maintaining that the will of god demands absolute trust and faith).This naturally sets the stage for confusion and betrayal.The pastor/preist is given a free pass to commit all kinds of bad things while the congregation looks on in confusion.And this same pastor/preist grants "special favors" to those who played along in a fitting and proper way in his eyes.All of this is done to achieve salvation and go to heaven when one dies.The time for change has come."The Black Atheist in America" by Jason Winn represents that change.Jason Winn, a former Christian himself, has seen the limited horizons and dirty deals done inside of the church.He struggled with faith for 34 years until he said,"enough is enough " The Black Church is seen as a haven of hope to most in the Black Community but, this is only a half thuth.The other half of truth regarding the Black Church is lack luster at best.The Black Community is still #1 in crime, AIDS, and low education but, the Black Church is still going strong.This is due to the Black Church not taking a stand against the negative elements within its community.The time, energy, and money used to build and support the church could be redirected to assist in supporting the community.Both the church and community are made up of people.And these people are needed to get things done."The Black Atheist in America" exposes this very basic truth along with many others.The reader will see the violent history of religion from The Crusades to the present day ethnic cleansings taking place in Africa.The reader will see the glaring hypocrisy running rampant in the church: faith healers and mega churches. The reader will also see how the church uses children(the most innocent among us)to fuel its turbo charged-high energy message to swell its membership.And finally, the reader shall see how a reason filled mind will triumph over a faith filled mind.A reason driven mind will be progressive in its function (forward moving). A religious driven mind will be retrogressive in its function(backwards moving). Jason Winn provides a simple example of this dynamic by explaining the passing of time.He states that, "Time is progessive and moves forward." He further states that this progression can be seen in technology throughout the ages: Stone to Bronze and Industry to Information.

C.S. Lewis' classic The Screwtape Letters is full of keen wit and wise counsel--if one is a Christian believer. Such a reader will find much to ponder in its pages. But suppose one begins to question whether it is the voice of mature reason that Lewis portrays as the wiles of Satan? The Needletoe Letters takes the other side, depicting the letters of advice and guidance from a veteran angel to his inexperienced nephew. Their common task? To keep Christian believers hoodwinked and flummoxed Read this book, and see if you don't begin to have second thoughts about your faith

As one accept the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior and begins the spiritual new birth, they would be faced with many situations and circumstances that cannot be handled by any human hands or flesh. These situations and circumstances are to be placed on the Lord, and ask him, to handle these circumstances for you. As a child of God Christians are admonish to cast their cares, circumstances and burdens upon the one and only person that is able to handle it and carry them through. A child of God must not trust in the arm of flesh, but fully trust in God, by faith and hope in God only. This book is written to shed light of some of the things that Christians go through, possible encouragements and spiritual enlistment. One is encourage to read this book thought fully, as in it, are words of wisdom and inspiration that will help you in your daily Christian walk in order that you can remain faithful to God. The birth of this book was a burden of my heart from God's Holy Spirit, who was with me in every step of the way in writing this book. This book was written; first of all to help sinners turn their heart to Christ, and to help and encourage Christians, significantly those who are struggling through their Christian life, to shed enlightenment on some of the persecutions, struggles, abuses, and accuses that one might encounter on their day to day living. I am persuaded that in this book, a sinner's heart will be geared towards serving God and a child of God heart would be stirred up to walk righteously and uprightly before him. For all its readers, this book will be a comfort to the hurting, a source of strength to the weak, healing for the sick, joy for those who are mourning and a garment of praise for those with a heavy heart. The words of wisdom that is shed in this book, is a must have and a must needed option. Be blessed. From the heart of God, to my heart, and transferred to your heart. -God's servant -Francine Lewis

Jesus Cries When You Touch Yourself is a comic monologue written in tribute to the late George Carlin on the topic of religious bullshit in America. Influenced by Carlin, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bill Maher, Monty Python, and the writers of South Park, the author uses constant mockery and absurdist humor on a tour of ridiculous beliefs in America. With devastating logic, Jesus, the most beloved character in all of history, is revealed to be the world's greatest pedophile. After all, if Jesus is God, then everyday he watches billions of children take off their clothes and hundreds of millions of others go poop. Well, the great Poop Inspector would be a pedophile, if only he wasn't merely our imaginary friend. From an invisible man in the sky that watches millions of people masturbate each day, to Jesus ascending into heaven and becoming an astronaut, to Catholics eating Jesus' penis every Sunday, Jesus Cries When You Touch Yourself contrasts intense realism with comical religious absurdity in the most ambitious ridicule of religion ever written.

Humanists are Atheists and Freethinkers are too is a book that discusses the issues facing the godless peoples of the world and the need for unity amongst us. Topics & persons mentioned in this book: Gene Roddenberry & Star Trek, Vashti McCollum V. Board of Education, CBN & the 700 Club, Ray Kurzweil's Theory of Accelerating Returns, Green technologies, Harold Camping & his May 21, 2011 Rapture Prediction and more.

Red Neck, Blue Collar, Atheist - Simple Thoughts About Reason, Gods and Faith follows in the footsteps of recent best-sellers such as Christopher Hitchens' God is Not Great, Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion, and Sam Harris' The End of Faith. Whereas Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris have written mainly about the rational basis, the WHY of atheism, this book looks at the HOW - how it feels, how it works, from the inside. Coming from a writer who grew up in Texas and worked as a real cowboy and draft horse teamster (the cover picture even shows the author riding a bull ), as well as a carpenter, roofer and truck driver, the book is based on decades of examining the process in his own mind as he moved from Christianity to atheism. Putting it simply, here are some of the things an atheist might think, and the way he or she might think them. More than once called a master of metaphor in the blogosphere, author Hank Fox tackles the subject of atheism with subtle humor and a friendly, informal tone, in two dozen chapters with names like Sundae Worship, The Parable of the M&Ms, Batman Almighty, The Wellspring of the Gods, Sucking Up to the Virgin Mary, The Evidence of True Things, The Headwaters of Reality, Hello Mr. Death, and Saying Goodbye to Gods. Primarily aimed at young adults, especially those from religious backgrounds and new to thinking about atheism and freethought, this book will also provide ammunition for those of a more intellectual bent faced with the necessity of explaining atheism in simple terms to friends and relatives. Best of all, the book focuses not just on the negatives of religion, but on the positives of atheism - the freedom and mental clarity for individuals, but also the hopeful future for our entire world as we proceed with a social revolution already in progress.

M. P. Cushing's scholarly study of the life and works of Paul Heinrich Dietrich, Baron d'Holbach, the noted eighteenth century Prussian-French polymath, includes the events of his life, his many and varied publications, many of which were published pseudonymously to avoid scandal, the controversies stirred up by has forthright atheism, examples of his correspondence and an extensive bibliography. The text of this new edition from Benediction Classics has been carefully hand-edited, and to assist the reader, translations of the many French quotations, and the long German passage from Goethe, have been added.

Ludwig Feuerbach (1804-1972), the immensely influential German philosopher of the 19th century, wrote his most important work "The Essence of Christianity" in 1841. Combined with his numerous other writings, "The Essence of Christianity" contributed to the development of dialectical materialism. Feuerbach is often considered the philosopher who bridged Hegel and Marx. Here is his sharp criticism of Christianity. A staunch atheist, Feuerbach argues that Christianity has wrongfully "projected" and "displaced" elements of the human mind onto nonexistent supernatural, religious objects. This displacement, he argues, fundamentally alters notions of consciousness. Feuerbach works his way through his tractate via the skepticism established by Hegel and Spinoza, among others. Like Nietzsche, Feuerbach made the claim that Christianity need be deconstructed and repudiated for true civil progress to occur. "The Essence of Christianity" shows Feuerbach in full force as an influential member of a new breed of German philosophers. This text, and this author, occupies a significant place in the history of modern philosophy.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone!

1930. Partial Contents: Lincoln the Freethinker; Lincoln the Soldier; Jefferson the Freethinker; Franklin the Freethinker; Burbank - the Infidel; Bible and the Public Schools; Small Children Receive Religious Instruction? a Debate Between Rev. Walter M. Howlett and Joseph Lewis; Mexico and the Catholic Church; Gems from Ingersoll.

1930. Partial Contents: Lincoln the Freethinker; Lincoln the Soldier; Jefferson the Freethinker; Franklin the Freethinker; Burbank - the Infidel; Bible and the Public Schools; Small Children Receive Religious Instruction? a Debate Between Rev. Walter M. Howlett and Joseph Lewis; Mexico and the Catholic Church; Gems from Ingersoll.

THIS 48 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: American Thought: From Puritanism to Pragmatism, by Woodbridge Riley. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766105679.

THIS 232 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Bible of Bibles, by Kersey Graves. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 1564592952.

208 pages, with extensive bibliography on theism and atheism. Atheism is more than a belief in no god or gods. Take the unbelief test. Do you believe: 1. humans have souls? 2. there is an afterlife? 3. humans have greater intrinsic value than other life forms? 4. objective free moral choice exists in humans apart from genetic or instinctual factors? 5. there is accountability after death? 6. there is objective meaning to human life? These are some of over 50 questions raised in "If There Is No God: Meditations On Believing." Whether or not you believe there is a god, this book will challenge you to think a little deeper than you have before. The author encourages every reader to search for the truth and meditate on fundamental questions of human existence.

There are two things which I have come to look upon as constituting the unpardonable sin of the father and mother against the helpless innocence of infancy. The one is in allowing their little children to run the risk of blood-poisoning--such as was once suffered by a child of mine--from the filthy fraud of vaccination. The other is in permitting the mind and soul of their children to be inoculated with the still more fatal virus of the old, false, orthodox dogmas and delusions, by allowing them to believe that the fables of ancient mythology are the sacred and solely true "Word of God," if they are found in the Hebrew Scriptures--the one book of the religiously ignorant. Generation after generation we learn, unlearn, and relearn the same lying, legendary lore, and it takes the latter half of all one's lifetime to throw off the mass of corrupting error instilled into us during the earlier half, even when we do break out and slough it off in a mental eruption, and have to find ourselves in utter rebellion against things as they are. Unfortunately, the mass of people never do get rid of this infection, nor of the desire to give their disease to others.

After teaching and ministering twenty two years as a Christian pastor and evangelist, author Dhungarvn the Grey became disillusioned with the self-righteous membership and church politics. He left the ministry and began searching for the truth. In his re-evaluation of his concept of God and prayer, he reconnected with nature and the idea of nature-based spirituality. His soul stirred with a yearning toward paganism. From Pulpit to Pagan is the story of Dhungarvn the Grey's journey from Christianity to paganism and his quest for truth. Horus, Mithra, Krishna, and Jesus all told their followers, "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." The truth about Christianity frees the pagan of the guilt-trips inflicted by well-meaning family members. It frees them from the tendency to credit Christianity, the Bible, and Jesus with more truth than is valid. It frees them from the missionary traps and ignorant attacks by evangelicals. Dhungarvn suspects that many in the pagan community are programmed by their family experience and Christian upbringing; they hold onto the Bible and Jesus out of unconscious fear and guilt. From Pulpit to Pagan details Dhungarvn's struggles, but also provides hope for other pagans to become truly free.