This little book is for those who believe and for those who no longer believe. It is an argument against organized religion. It is written in easy to read, easy to understand English. It is, if I may say so, an eraser for the mind. The topics discussed are these: Heaven and Hell; morals; absolute truth; the soul; creation myths; dogma; social control; consciousness; science; faith; evil; and absolute truth.This is not an academic treatment of those topics. It is thoughts of the author, who has been thinking about these things for over 50 years. If nothing else this book will challenge your thinking if you are a believer; it will support your thinking if you are not.Read it with an open mind, an open heart, and a desire to replace the scam with reason and rationality.

My intention for writing this book is that it will enhance people's lives so they spend more time doing good instead of praying and wishing something will come to be. To question all the stories, we have been taught through are church leaders and our government's. Think of all the time mankind has spent in churches, temples, mosque's and what they could have accomplished if they had put their energy into something that has been proven scientifically for the good of mankind. The money people have spent in the church to hear a bunch of nonsense. This time and money could have been spent on knowledge of science and helping out other people without the church. To learn the real truth about mankind instead of worshipping people like Jesus, Mohammad or a God that is make up with fictitious facts. How many people have been killed for the sake of religion and how many wars have we fought over religious dogma? Our civilization would be so advanced and maybe even civilized if we embraced science instead of religion. We might have even wiped out famine, war, diseases by now and be living on another planet. Our ancestors were ignorant of the world by no fault of their own, after all we haven't evolved that long compared to the universe and we couldn't evolve until the conditions were right. A world where we were one people instead of people divided my countries and religions that don't get along, where women, children and the oppressed are treated with respect and dignity. I like to acknowledge all the scientists, philosophers and all those who sought knowledge instead of fables. I could never have written this book without the knowledge that has come before me and the research and dedication to finding out the real truth is beyond measurement. The church wants you to give them your money so they can buy their gold chalices, crosses, feed them, clothe them, and build the most expensive churches. Wouldn't it be easier to cut out the middleman and go directly to the people? Volunteers, community services, and prisoners can do the same work as the church and it would save a lot of money and time.

My intention for writing this book is that it will enhance people’s lives so they spend more time doing good instead of praying and wishing something will come to be. To question all the stories, we have been taught through are church leaders and our government’s. Think of all the time mankind has spent in churches, temples, mosque’s and what they could have accomplished if they had put their energy into something that has been proven scientifically for the good of mankind. The money people have spent in the church to hear a bunch of nonsense. This time and money could have been spent on knowledge of science and helping out other people without the church. To learn the real truth about mankind instead of worshipping people like Jesus, Mohammad or a God that is make up with fictitious facts. How many people have been killed for the sake of religion and how many wars have we fought over religious dogma? Our civilization would be so advanced and maybe even civilized if we embraced science instead of religion. We might have even wiped out famine, war, diseases by now and be living on another planet. Our ancestors were ignorant of the world by no fault of their own, after all we haven’t evolved that long compared to the universe and we couldn’t evolve until the conditions were right. A world where we were one people instead of people divided my countries and religions that don’t get along, where women, children and the oppressed are treated with respect and dignity. I like to acknowledge all the scientists, philosophers and all those who sought knowledge instead of fables. I could never have written this book without the knowledge that has come before me and the research and dedication to finding out the real truth is beyond measurement. The church wants you to give them your money so they can buy their gold chalices, crosses, feed them, clothe them, and build the most expensive churches. Wouldn’t it be easier to cut out the middleman and go directly to the people? Volunteers, community services, and prisoners can do the same work as the church and it would save a lot of money and time.

A leader of Ministry Watch examines how cases of abuse and financial corruption have hurt the church—and how to bring back integrity. We live in a secular, skeptical, and cynical age. Many Americans have lost faith in institutions—including the church. Although the vast majority of Christian leaders serve faithfully, examples of financial fraud, greed, sexual and emotional abuse, and other systemic problems are almost everyday occurrences. And a watching world has a right to ask even those who are faithful ministers of the Gospel: “If you knew this was happening, why didn’t you say something?” Whether or not honest and above-board Christian leadership like it, in the eyes of the world, our silence makes us complicit. That’s why this vital book takes a clear-eyed look at scandals in the church—from Jim and Tammy Bakker’s PTL Network to Mark Driscoll, Todd Bentley, David Jeremiah, and Bill Hybels. It is an answer to those who say that the silence of Christian leadership is approval. And although this book is sometimes tough on the church and its leaders, its purpose is not to tear down the evangelical church, but to restore it to its rightful place of influence in the culture and in the lives of people who desperately need its message of grace and truth. “Explains why shining sunlight on churches and ministries in America is important.” —Paul Glader, Director of the McCandlish Phillips Journalism Institute, The King’s College

D. James Kennedy takes on some of the most-asked questions regarding the validity of the Christian faith in Skeptics Answered In clear, unassuming language, Dr. Kennedy examines the reliability of the Bible, the nature of God, and Christian faith in the face of life's harsh realities. Skeptics Answered uses factual, well-reasoned arguments to affirm the faith of Christians everywhere. Ideal for both personal and group study, it makes an excellent gift for any non-believer who, as a matter of intellectual integrity, is willing to consider the clear evidence for the Christian faith.

Should we believe in God? In this brisk introduction to modern atheism, one of the world’s greatest science writers tells us why we shouldn’t. Richard Dawkins was fifteen when he stopped believing in God. Deeply impressed by the beauty and complexity of living things, he’d felt certain they must have had a designer. Learning about evolution changed his mind. Now one of the world’s best and bestselling science communicators, Dawkins has given readers, young and old, the same opportunity to rethink the big questions. In twelve fiercely funny, mind-expanding chapters, Dawkins explains how the natural world arose without a designer—the improbability and beauty of the “bottom-up programming” that engineers an embryo or a flock of starlings—and challenges head-on some of the most basic assumptions made by the world’s religions: Do you believe in God? Which one? Is the Bible a “Good Book”? Is adhering to a religion necessary, or even likely, to make people good to one another? Dissecting everything from Abraham’s abuse of Isaac to the construction of a snowflake, Outgrowing God is a concise, provocative guide to thinking for yourself. Praise for Outgrowing God “My son came home from his first day in the sixth grade with arms outstretched plaintively demanding to know: ‘Have you ever heard of Jesus?’ We burst out laughing. Maybe not our finest parenting moment, given that he was genuinely distraught. He felt that he had woken up one day to a world in which his peers were expressing beliefs he found frighteningly unreasonable. He began devouring books like The God Delusion, books that helped him formulate his own arguments and helped him stand his ground. Dawkins’s new book is special in the terrain of atheists’ pleas for humanism and rationalism precisely since it speaks to those most vulnerable to the coercive tactics of religion. As Dawkins himself says in the dedication, this book is for ‘all young people when they’re old enough to decide for themselves.’ It is also, I must add, for their parents.”—Janna Levin, author of Black Hole Blues “When someone is considering atheism I tell them to read the Bible first and then Dawkins. Outgrowing God—second only to the Bible!”—Penn Jillette, author of God, No!

The Pearl of Greatest Price narrates the history of Mormonism's fourth volume of scripture, canonized in 1880. The authors track its predecessors, describe its several components, and assess their theological significance within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Four principal sections are discussed, along with attendant controversies associated with each. The Book of Moses purports to be a Mosaic narrative missing from the biblical version of Genesis. Too little treated in the scholarship on Mormonism, these chapters, produced only months after the Book of Mormon was published, actually contain the theological nucleus of Latter-day Saint doctrines as well as a virtual template for the Restoration Joseph Smith was to effect. In The Pearl of Greatest Price, the author covers three principal parts that are the focus of many of the controversies engulfing Mormonism today. These parts are The Book of Abraham, The Book of Moses, and The Joseph Smith History. Most controversial of all is the Book of Abraham, a production that arose out of a group of papyri Smith acquired, along with four mummies, in 1835. Most of the papyri disappeared in the great Chicago Fire, but surviving fragments have been identified as Egyptian funerary documents. This has created one of the most serious challenges to Smith's prophetic claims the LDS church has faced. LDS scholars, however, have developed several frameworks for vindicating the inspiration of the resulting narrative and Smith's calling as a prophet. The author attempts to make sense of Smith's several, at times divergent, accounts of his First Vision, one of which is canonized as scripture. He also assesses the creedal nature of Smith's "Articles of Faith," in the context of his professed anti-creedalism. In sum, this study chronicles the volume's historical legacy and theological indispensability to the Latter-day Saint tradition, as well as the reasons for its resilience and future prospects in the face of daunting challenges.