Showing results by narrator "Oberon Michaels" in All Categories

The Necessity of Atheism was first published by Shelley in 1811. In 1813 he printed a revised and expanded version of it as one of the notes to his poem Queen Mab. Shelley evinced a searing contempt for organized religion but maintained a belief in a benevolent non-sectarian World Spirit.

This pamphlet offers a condensed history of Europe between the fall of the Roman empire and the twelfth century. The author’s profound anti-clerical bias becomes apparent as he explores the influence of Christianity on a world in which order was maintained by the imposition of violence, and in which the general populace was kept in a state of ignorance and serfdom. He supports his conclusions with quotes from his own translations of documents of the period.

Theism or Atheism, published in 1921, examines not only arguments for and against the existence of God, but also the practical usefulness of such a concept. The author writes, “Atheism would mean in practice an enormous concentration of energy upon purely human affairs, and a judgment of conduct in terms of human happiness and prosperity.”

Many have claimed for Freemasonry a heritage that has been traced to biblical times and involved many historical celebrities. In this acerbic essay, religious scholar Joseph McCabe reveals that this tradition actually commenced with the guilds in the Middle Ages, and that it inevitably attracted the hostility of the Catholic Church because of its populist and atheistic leanings. He also shows that Freemasons were significant players in the struggle for democracy which eroded the power of popes and princes.

In The Life and Exploits of Jehovah (first published in 1915), Tichenor presents, in lively and mocking prose, the troubling history of the temperamental deity of the ancient Israelites, from the mists of antiquity to the Reformation. In the final chapter, he provides a catalogue of abuses perpetrated by fanatical believers, and asserts that the recognition of human rights has advanced as religious practice has become less doctrinaire.

In this short history, scholar of religion Joseph McCabe explores the nature and development of witchcraft as an alternative religion fundamentally opposed to Christianity. He examines the inevitable persecution of witches by the established church, and describes how the development of the Enlightenment movement eventually led to the end of the practice of witch hunting.

The original title of this text was Recollections of the Development of my Mind and Character. This memoir was intended for Darwin’s family and was written between May and August 1876.

Much of the writing by secular scholar Joseph McCabe was devoted to the de-mystifying of organized religion. In this trenchant essay, McCabe seeks to disprove the assumption that the religious instinct in humanity was evident from the earliest days of civilization, and that the search for spiritual revelation was one of the primary activities of primitive societies.

Alfred Adler and Carl Jung were the most prominent disciples of the founding father of psycho-analysis, Sigmund Freud. Both students eventually broke with Freud to follow their own paths. Adler’s primary focus was on the theory of the will to power, a concept developed from Nietsche. In contrast, Jung’s focused on the classification of psychological types based on the basic dichotomy of introversion and extroversion and the interpretation of dreams.

Buddhism has a vast array of scriptures but a relatively small body of essential doctrines. In this short treatise, the author presents a systematic introduction to Buddhist teaching, commencing with a discussion of the Noble Eightfold Path. Other topics include the Buddhist views of God and enlightenment, and the practice of Buddhism in the world of today.

In the opinion of secular scholar Joseph McCabe, the teaching of Jesus was “almost entirely ethical”. He contends that the dogmatic pillars of organizational Christianity, such as original sin, the atonement and the divinity of Christ, were not part of Jesus’ message and originated with Paul. He also discusses the interminable and insoluble disagreements among theologians over the following two millennia. In conclusion, he expends particular vitriol on the institution of the priesthood, of which he had himself been a member in his younger days.

In a short and clear account of the development of the European worker since the days of Roman slavery, secular scholar and historian Joseph McCabe sets out a savage indictment of Christianity and its industrial philosophy.