Slaying the Dragons

Contents
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 6
1 MYTHS, MONOTHEISM, AND THE ORIGINS OF WESTERN SCIENCE 9
2 THE ORIGINS OF UNBELIEF
Part 1: Ancients and Early Moderns 24
THE POPULAR MYTH THAT ATHEISM IS NEW 24
CLASSICAL AND MEDIEVAL UNBELIEF 26
THOMAS HOBBES, MATERIALISM,
AND MAN THE MACHINE 31
ATHEISTS, DEISTS, AND UNBELIEVERS 37
3 THE ORIGINS OF UNBELIEF
Part 2: Dreams of a Brave
New World 43
ROMANTIC AND REVOLUTIONARY ATHEISM 43
ROBERT OWEN, GEORGE HOLYOAKE, AND THE VICTORIAN SECULAR ATHEISTS 50
THE MYTH THAT SIMPLE FAITH WAS DESTROYED BY DARWIN IN 1859 56
4 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
Part 1: Two Persistent Myths 57
THE MYTH OF THE MEDIEVAL “DARK AGE” 57
THE MYTH OF THE “ENLIGHTENMENT” 65
5 THE HISTORICAL ROOTS OF ANTI-CHRISTIANITY
Part 2: Myths of Changing Circumstances 75
THE PROBLEM OF ETERNAL DAMNATION 75
BIBLICAL CRITICISM, “MYTH”, AND EARLY BIBLICAL ARCHAEOLOGY 79
NATIONALISTIC CHRISTIANITY 89
THE GROWTH AND POWER OF SCIENCE 92
6 SOME POPULAR MYTHS ABOUT
SCIENCE AND RELIGION 94
CHRISTIANITY AND SCIENCE IN “CONFLICT”: TWO NINETEENTHCENTURY AMERICAN “ATHEISTS” 94
ALL CHRISTIANS ARE REALLY BIBLICAL FUNDAMENTALISTS 98
THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS PERSECUTED SCIENCE AND SCIENTISTS 100
RELIGION CAUSES THE WORLD’S TROUBLES: ONLY SECULARISM CAN BRING PEACE 107
7 MONKEYING AROUND WITH HISTORY: THE MYTH OF THE BIG 1860 “OXFORD DEBATE” ON EVOLUTION 113
8 THE MYTH OF THE YOUNG EARTH AND THE ORIGINS OF EVOLUTIONARY IDEAS 121
DATING THE CREATION 121
THE ORIGINS OF LIFE: PRE-DARWINIAN IDEAS OF “EVOLUTION” 130
9 CHARLES DARWIN: MONKEY, MAN, AND MYTH 136
10 COUNTERING THE “BIG LIE” 149
WHY IS NATURE CONGRUENT? 149
WHY DO HUMANS RESPOND SO POSITIVELY TO BEAUTY AND ELEGANCE? 151
SCIENCE DESCRIBES EFFECTS, RELIGION TALKS OF CAUSES AND PURPOSES 156
11 DOES SCIENCE CHALLENGE RELIGION? THE GREAT ATHEIST MYTH 160
LACK OF NEW SECULARIST IDEAS 160
WHY HAS RELIGION FAILED TO DIE AWAY? 166
ARE ATHEISM AND SECULARISM MORE SUPERSTITIOUS THAN CHRISTIANITY? 169
DOUBTING SCEPTICISM 173
SEDUCTION BY REDUCTION 176
12 THE AGE THAT LOST ITS NERVE: THE DILEMMA OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD
Part 1: Myths and Mechanisms 180
THE MYTH OF A SECULAR SOCIETY 182
FORCED TO ACT: MECHANISM AND EVOLUTIONARY AND NEUROLOGICAL DETERMINISM 186
THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE EXPLANATIONS, AND THEIR EXPLOITATION BY SECULARIST MYTH-MAKERS 194
13 THE AGE THAT LOST ITS NERVE: THE DILEMMA OF CHRISTENDOM IN THE MODERN WORLD
Part 2: The Myth of Secular
Transcendence 204
THE MYTH OF HUMAN PERFECTIBILITY 205