Belief as a social force — secularisation, fundamentalism, religious freedom, and the argument with science.
9 topics · 8 curated works
No prior grounding assumed.
The Fundamentals: A Testimony to the Truth
R. A. Torrey & A. C. Dixon (eds.) · 1910
A series of pamphlets defending biblical inerrancy and core Protestant doctrines against higher criticism and theological modernism, whose title gave…
+2 more at this level
Assumes you know the vocabulary.
Temporal Authority: To What Extent It Should Be Obeyed
Martin Luther · 1523
Distinguishes two kingdoms, spiritual and temporal, arguing rulers may compel outward obedience but have no power at all over conscience — an…
+1 more at this level
Primary sources and full treatments.
The Bloudy Tenent of Persecution for Cause of Conscience
Roger Williams · 1644
Argues civil government has no jurisdiction over conscience or worship at all, so enforced religious uniformity is itself a kind of violence however…
+2 more at this level
8 works
R. A. Torrey & A. C. Dixon (eds.)
A series of pamphlets defending biblical inerrancy and core Protestant doctrines against higher criticism and theological modernism, whose title gave the twentieth-century fundamentalist movement its name.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Bertrand Russell
Argues the traditional philosophical proofs of God's existence all fail on inspection, and that organised Christianity has on balance done more harm than good in the world.
link failing as of 17 Sept 2026Hans Rosling (TED)
Shows with fertility data across faiths that religion does not predict family size once income and women's education are accounted for, contradicting a common demographic assumption.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Martin Luther
Distinguishes two kingdoms, spiritual and temporal, arguing rulers may compel outward obedience but have no power at all over conscience — an argument used both to limit the state and, later, to justify Christians' passive political obedience to it.
link checked 17 Sept 2026Andrew Dickson White
Catalogues centuries of conflict between scientific inquiry and religious authority as evidence of one long war science was steadily winning — an influential framing historians of science have since largely rejected as an oversimplified conflict thesis that ignores how often religious institutions supported scientific work.
about 22 hours to readlink checked 17 Sept 2026Roger Williams
Argues civil government has no jurisdiction over conscience or worship at all, so enforced religious uniformity is itself a kind of violence however peaceful it looks — the first sustained English-language argument for full religious liberty.
about 10 hours to readlink checked 17 Sept 2026Auguste Comte
Proposes that every branch of human thought passes through theological, metaphysical and finally positive stages, so religious explanation is not refuted so much as gradually outgrown as societies mature.
link checked 17 Sept 2026H. Richard Niebuhr
Argues church splits and new denominations arise less from doctrinal disagreement than from social and class stratification, with the breakaway sect a recurring protest of the economically marginal against a compromised, established church.
link checked 17 Sept 2026