Roman Emperor Caligula on This Day in History

This day in history: Roman Emperor Caligula was born on this day in the year 12, and he was without doubt, the worst emperor ever.

 From Lawrence W. Reed:

During the question-and-answer period after a lecture on ancient Rome, an audience member asked me, “Who would you rank as the Empire’s worst Emperor?”

That was a tough one. I deplore concentrated power so I really don’t like any of them. Of the grand total of 178 emperors—81 in the Western Empire and 97 in the Eastern—dozens of them were loathsome tyrants with little redeeming value. The worst, as Hayek told us, really do find their way to the top.

Power does so much more than corrupt. It attracts the already-corrupted and gives them the wherewithal to administer their corruption. It feeds on arrogance, narcissism, and self-deception. It dements the mind until it embraces schemes that ruin the lives of others. It rots the soul. I can think of no more destructive motivation than the lust for it. Rare is the individual who emerges a better person for having possessed it. Roman history demonstrates these truths vividly.

An Embarrassment of Riches Despots

Could the most reprehensible of the emperors be Nero, who burned Christians as human torches, commenced the process of diluting the precious metal content of Roman money, and murdered his own mother? One Roman historian claims that Nero once rubbed his hands together as he proclaimed, “Let us tax and tax again. Let us tax until no one owns anything.”

For sure, put Nero on the short list.

Picking a really bad despot out of 178 despots is like shooting fish in a barrel. You’ll get one no matter where you aim.

How about Commodus, a megalomaniac if there ever was one? He ordered the months of the year renamed in his honor because he thought he was a god. He maintained a harem of 300 female concubines and 300 young boys—many of them kidnapped and all of them, effectively, enslaved. He allowed corruption in the government to reign supreme while he indulged his depravities.

Don’t forget Diocletian, who tried in vain to stem the effects of his predecessors’ currency debasement by imposing draconian price controls. Death was the penalty for charging more than the Emperor deemed appropriate. It was not history’s only successful experiment with price controls because there just isn’t one. It failed.

Then there’s the absolute nutcase whose name, Elagabalus, sounds like the sound you’d make if you tried to say “elderberries” with a mouthful of marbles. British historian Edward Gibbon wrote that Elagabalus “abandoned himself to the grossest pleasures and ungoverned fury.” The German historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr asserted that “The name Elagabalus is branded in history above all others” on account of his “unspeakably disgusting life.”

This being a family-friendly website, I won’t even begin to describe what he did but I can tell you this much: He did it all in the space of four years as emperor before his unlamented assassination at the tender age of 18.

Picking a really bad despot out of 178 despots is like shooting fish in a barrel. You’ll get one no matter where you aim.

And the “Winner” Is...

So, it’s with a healthy dose of caprice that I commend to you the name of Caligula as my personal choice for Worst Roman Emperor Ever. His story was even made into a bad movie in 1979. It remains a cult classic among sadists and those with poor taste in film.

It wasn’t always so. Very early in his reign, Caligula was apparently a decent chap.

He was only the third of the 178 emperors, ruling for three years and ten months, from March of 37 A.D. to January of 41 A.D. He was 28 when his rule came to an end by assassination. Some might say that because he held high office, Caligula was a “public servant.” Though contemporary sources are sparse, I believe large swaths of the Roman public might have had good reasons to differ in their opinion of him.

It wasn’t always so. Very early in his reign, Caligula was apparently a decent chap. But whether it was epilepsy as some allege or some other ailment, or simply the unwholesome effects of his power-lust, it didn’t take long for him to evolve into a beastly monster of epic proportions. He reminds me of another political figure of nearly 18 centuries later—Maximilien Robespierre, the architect of “The Terror” of the French Revolution, who only a few years before had opposed the death penalty. I think power went to his head, as it likely did with Caligula, too.

He butchered people mercilessly, often for trivial offenses. When there was a shortage of cattle to feed the beasts in public arenas, he ordered humans to be fed to them. Of his own citizens, he famously declared, “I wish the Roman people had but a single neck” so he could hang them all at once.

He couldn’t get along with the Senate and made sure senators were killed because of it. In fact, he apparently couldn’t get along with anybody, not even with his many wives, relatives, and lovers of both sexes.

Late in his tenure, Caligula convinced himself (but likely few others) that he was divine.

His economic policies weren’t much better. When a financial crisis gripped the Empire in 38, his administration responded with a massive issuance of zero-interest credit. That introduced distortions from which the economy never fully recovered. He spent lavishly on “public works” including many intended to simply glorify himself, all of which added to a growing burden of taxation and debt. Ancient historians such as Suetonius and Cassius Dio report that when his taxes were insufficient to cover his spending, “he began falsely accusing, fining and even killing individuals for the purpose of seizing their estates.” This was 1,800 years before Karl Marx turned that into a philosophy.

As if there weren’t enough problems at home, Caligula expanded the empire by annexing the kingdom of Mauretania (in Africa) after inviting its ruler to Rome, only to have him executed for accepting the invitation.

Late in his tenure, Caligula convinced himself (but likely few others) that he was divine. Historian Chris Scarre reports that he “built a temple to himself on the Palatine, and forced leading citizens to pay enormous sums for the honour of becoming his priests.”

Caligula attracted many would-be-but-unsuccessful assassins before three of them finally got the job done. They stabbed him 30 times in January of 41.

The Intoxicant Known as Power

The Senate briefly debated the idea of restoring the old Republic, then folded under pressure from the military and the mob of citizens who preferred handouts from the Emperor over responsibility and freedom for themselves. It was the last time that debate ever happened. Rome would suffer 78 more emperors before succumbing to the crushing burdens of a welfare/warfare tyranny and foreign invasion in 476. (For more on Roman history and its lessons, see here.)

The intoxicant known as power knows no equal. It is malevolent by its very nature. It has enslaved, tortured, and murdered more people than any other poisonous impulse in history. Perhaps the philosopher Eric Hoffer put it best when he wrote,

The corruption inherent in absolute power derives from the fact that such power is never free from the tendency to turn man into a thing, and press him back into the matrix of nature from which he has risen. For the impulse of power is to turn every variable into a constant, and give to commands the inexorableness and relentlessness of laws of nature. Hence absolute power corrupts even when exercised for humane purposes. The benevolent despot who sees himself as a shepherd of the people still demands from others the submissiveness of sheep. The taint inherent in absolute power is not its inhumanity but its anti-humanity.

Lawrence W. Reed

Lawrence W. Reed is FEE's President Emeritus, Humphreys Family Senior Fellow, and Ron Manners Global Ambassador for Liberty, having served for nearly 11 years as FEE’s president (2008-2019). He is author of the 2020 book, Was Jesus a Socialist? as well as Real Heroes: Incredible True Stories of Courage, Character, and Conviction and Excuse Me, Professor: Challenging the Myths of Progressivism. Follow on LinkedIn and Like his public figure page on Facebook. His website is www.lawrencewreed.com.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

Does God Exist? - 300 Books to Download (Philosophy, Apologetics)

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Contents (created on a Windows computer):

Belief in God: an examination of some fundamental theistic problems, to which is added, The Intellectual Basis of Faith by MJ and WJ Savage 1881

A Plain Argument for God by George Stuart Fullerton 1889

The Solving of the World-Riddle by Henry Clay Mabie 1915

Scientific Theism by Francis E Abbot 1888

Guide to the knowledge of God by A Gratry 1892

The Right to Believe by Eleanor Harris Rowland 1909

A Manual of Christian Evidence by John Relly Beard 1868

Historic aspects of the a priori argument concerning the Being and Attributes of God by John G Casenove 1886

The Existence of God by James Moyce 1906

Belief, Faith, & Proof by JH Beibitz 1922

The Meaning of God in Human Experience by William Ernest Hocking 1912

The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief by George Park Fisher 1890

The Evidences of Christianity by John L Dagg 1869

The Evidences of Christianity by Ebenezer Dodge 1869

The Evidences of Christianity by Josiah Tustin 1854

Charles Elwood: Or, the Infidel Converted by Orestes Augustus Brownson

An Essay in Refutation of Atheism by Orestes Augustus Brownson 1882 (searchable)

Heathen, Jewish, and Infidel Testimony to Bible Facts by George Bate 1883

Historic Doubts Respecting Shakespeare; illustrating Infidel objections Against the Bible 1853 (searchable) by Sam Smucker

The Infidel's Confession by Thomas Taylor 1859

Confessions of a Converted Infidel by John Bayley 1856

The Infidel Reclaimed by Frederick Smith 1832

The Infidel's Own Book -  a statement of some of the absurdities resulting from the rejection of Christianity by Richard Treffry 1834

How I got Faith by Willis Brown 1914

The Evidence for Christianity contained in the Hebrew words aleim and berit by James Moody 1752

The Verification of Christianity by Louis Matthews Sweet 1920

The Evidences of Christianity by William Paley Volume 1

Christianity, its essence and evidence by GW Burnap 1855

Is Christianity true? 1904

I believe in God the Father Almighty by John Barrows 1892

I believe in God and in evolution by William Keen 1922

Faith made easy; or, What to believe, and why by James Potts 1888

Reasons why we should believe in God, love God, and obey God by Peter Burnett 1884

Philosophical Arguments: The Cosmological, Teleological, Ontological Arguments for God, plus the Argument from Morality

The Ontological Argument is an a priori attempt to prove that God is a being of which no greater thing exists or can be thought of. Therefore, since we can conceive of God as the greatest of all things that exist, then God must exist:

The Idea of God, an inquiry concerning the practical content of the ontological proof of the existence of God by James Palmer 1904

Meditations of First Philosophy by Rene Descartes (Searchable PDF)
But now, if just because I can draw the idea of something from my thought, it follows that all which I know
clearly and distinctly as pertaining to this object does really belong to it, may I not derive from this an
argument demonstrating the existence of God? It is certain that I no less find the idea of God, that is to say,
the idea of a supremely perfect Being, in me, than that of any figure or number whatever it is; and I do not
know any less clearly and distinctly that an [actual and] eternal existence pertains to this nature than I know
that all that which I am able to demonstrate of some figure or number truly pertains to the nature of this figure
or number, and therefore, although all that I concluded in the preceding Meditations were found to be false,
the existence of God would pass with me as at least as certain as I have ever held the truths of mathematics
(which concern only numbers and figures) to be.

The Devotions of Saint Anselm 1903 (Searchable PDF)
Anselm was one of the first to propose the Ontological Argument

IN BEHALF OF THE FOOL - AN ANSWER TO THE ARGUMENT OF ANSELM IN THE PROSLOGIUM by Guanilo (Searchable PDF)
This is one of the earliest recorded objections to Anselm's argument was raised by one of Anselm's contemporaries, Gaunilo of Marmoutiers, who invited his readers to conceive of the greatest, or most perfect, island. As a matter of fact, it is likely that no such island actually exists. However, his argument would then say that we are not thinking of the greatest conceivable island, because the greatest conceivable island would exist, as well as having all those other desirable properties. Note that this is merely a direct application of Anselm's own premise that existence is a perfection. Since we can conceive of this greatest or most perfect conceivable island, it must exist.

The Critique of Pure Reason Volume 1 by Imanuel Kant (Searchable PDF)
The Critique of Pure Reason Volume 2 by Imanuel Kant (Searchable PDF)
Kant put forward a key refutation of the ontological argument in the Critique of Pure Reason.

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume (Searchable PDF)
Another objection to the argument.

Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas Volume 1 (Searchable PDF)
Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas Volume 2 (Searchable PDF)
Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas Volume 3 (Searchable PDF)
Summa Theologica by Thomas Aquinas Volume 4 (Searchable PDF)
St. Thomas Aquinas criticises the argument in his Summa.

New Essays Concerning Human Understanding 1896 by Leibniz (Searchable PDF)
Leibniz supported the argument in this huge book.

Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion Volume 1 by Hegel 1895
Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion Volume 2 by Hegel 1895
Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion Volume 3 by Hegel 1895
Hegel touches on and seems to support the argument, specifically volumes 2 and 3.

The Persistent Problems of Philosophy by Mary Calkins 1908 (Searchable PDF)

Cosmological argument - The basic premise of all of these is that something caused the Universe to exist, and this First Cause must be God:

Aristotle - Works (searchable PDF)
Organon I Categories
Organon II - On Interpretation
Organon III - Prior Analytics
Organon IV - Posterior Analytics
Organon V Topics
Organon VI - On Sophistical Refutations
Physics
On the Heavens
On Generation and Corruption
Meteorology
On the Soul
Parva Naturalis
History of Animals
On the Parts of Animals
On the Motion of Animals
On the Gait of Animals
On the Generation of Animals
Metaphysics
Nicomachean Ethics
Politics
Athenian Constitution
Rhetoric
Poetics

The Idea of God in the Light of Recent Philosophy by A. Seth Pattison 1917 (Searchable PDF)
(Deals with the Cosmological argument and others)

Christian Evidence Lectures 1880

Plato Against the Atheists (the Uncaused Cause)

Monadology and Other Philosophical Writings 1898 by Leibniz

Hodge's Systematic Theology Volume 1 1873
P. 207 Principle of Sufficient Cause. — Nature of Causation. — Intuitive Conviction of the Necessity of a Cause for every Effect. — The World is an Effect. — Hume's Objection to the Cosmological Argument

Systematic Theology by John Miley 1892 (Searchable PDF) p.76

Thirty Thousand Thoughts (Christian Evidences) 1885 by HDM Spence (Searchable PDF)

A System of Natural Theism by Leander Sylvester Keyser by 1917 (Searchable PDF)

A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume (Searchable PDF)

The Kantian epistemology and theism by Caspar Wistar Hodge 1894 (Searchable PDF)

Basic Ideas in Religion by Richard Micou 1916

The Teleological Argument:

A teleological argument, or argument from design, is an argument for the existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order, purpose, design, or direction — or some combination of these — in nature.

On the Nature of the Gods by Cicero (one of the earliest known teleological arguments) 1878 (Searchable PDF)

The City of God by Augustine Volume 1 (Searchable PDF) 1913

The City of God by Augustine Volume 2 (Searchable PDF) 1913

Natural Theology by William Paley 1881 (Searchable PDF)

Selections from the literature of Theism by A. Caldecott 1904 (Searchable PDF)
I. The Ontological Argument: Anselm .
11. Some Points in Scholastic Theology From Thomas Aquinas .
III. The Existence of God : Descartes
IV. God as Infinite Substance : Spinoza
V. Mysticism : The Cambridge Platonists
VI. God as Eternal Mind : Berkeley .
VII. Religion in the Critical Philosophy Kant
VIII. Romanticism : Schleiermacher
IX. God seen in the Beautiful: Cousin
X. Religion as Sociology: Comte
XI. Agnosticism : Mansel
XII. The Personality of God : Lotze .
XIII. Ethical Theism : Martineau .
XIV. The Teleological Argument : Janet

Theism by Robert Flint 1876 (Searchable PDF)
THE THEISTIC EVIDENCE COMPLEX AND COMPREHENSIVE,INTUITION, FEELING, BELIEF, AND KNOWLEDGE IN RELIGION,
THE THEOLOGICAL INFERENCE FROM THE THEORY OF ENERGY,
THE HISTORY OF THE AETIOLOGICAL ARGUMENT,
MATHEMATICS AND THE DESIGN ARGUMENT, .
ASTRONOMY AND THE DESIGN ARGUMENT,
CHEMISTRY AND THE DESIGN ARGUMENT,
GEOLOGY, GEOGRAPHY, ETC., AND THE DESIGN ARGUMENT

Problems of Philosophy or, Principles of Epistemology and Metaphysics by James Hyslop 1905 (Searchable PDF)
"The Teleological Argument. — Kant, as we know, estimated this more highly than any other argument. With his conception of the problem as discussed in the cosmological and "ontological" methods this judgment was correct enough. But I cannot help thinking that it is less important and cogent than the aetiological and ontological arguments as I have defined them."

Theologia or The doctrine of God by Revere Weidner 1902 (Searchable PDF)
THE SO-CALLED PROOFS OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
1. BELIEF IN THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
2. THE COSMOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
3. THE TELEOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
4. THE HISTORICAL ARGUMENT
5. THE ONTOLOGICAL ARGUMENT
6. THE MORAL ARGUMENT
7. THE RELIGIOUS ARGUMENT

Philosophy and Theology by James Stirling 1890 (Searchable PDF)

A critique of design-arguments by Lewis Hick 1883 (Searchable PDF)

The Challenge of the Universe, a Popular Restatement of the Argument from Design 1918 by Charles Shebbeare 1918 (Searchable PDF)

Argument from Morality
This argument comes in different forms, all aiming to demonstrate God’s existence from some observations about morality in the world:

God, the Soul, and a Future State by Thomas Cooper 1873

The Christian view of God and the World by James Orr 1893

The Moral Argument of Theism in the Harvard Theological Review 1911 (Searchable PDF)

Moral Values and the Idea of God 1919

Christian ethics; or, Moral philosophy on the principles of divine revelation by Ralph Wardlaw - 1834

Systematic Theology by A.H. Strong 1907

Methodist Quarterly Review, 1860 - The Moral Argument for Immortality

Plus you get:

The God of Philosophy by Francis Aveling 1906

Belief in God by Alfred Momerie 1886

The Philosophy of the Bible 1918 by David Neumark

Christianity and Greek Philosophy by B.F. Cocker D.D.
1872

The Philosophy of Atheism by Emma Goldman 1916

Hegel's Concept of God, article in the The Philosophical Review 1896

Pfleiderer on Morality and Religion, article in the The Philosophical Review 1896

Studies in Christian Philosophy by WR Matthews 1921

The Ethnic Trinities and their relations to the Christian Trinity By Levi Leonard Paine 1903

The Sentiments of Philo Concerning the LOGOS or Word of God by Jacob Bryant 1797

The Platonism of Philo by Thomas Billings 1920

The Philosophy of the Fourth Gospel, a Study of the LOGOS doctrine by JS Johnston 1909

The Philosophy of the Christian Religion by AM Fairbairn 1902

The LOGOS of Philo and that of ST. John, article in The Methodist Quarterly Review 1858

The influence of Plato on Saint BasiL by Theodore Leslie Shear 1906

Query on the Application of the Term "WORD" to Christ, article in The Methodist new connexion magazine and evangelical repository 1855

Religion - A Dialogue by Arthur Schopenhauer 1915

The Christian philosopher, or, The connection of science and Philosophy with Religion by Thomas Dick 1828

Voltaire and Rousseau against the Atheists by J Akerly 1845

The Will to Believe, and other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James 1908

The God of Philosophy by Francis Aveling 1906

David Hume And His Influence On Philosophy And Theology by James Orr 1903

Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion by David Hume in pdf and Kindle format.

The Kantian and Lutheran Elements in Ritschl's Conception of God by Gregory Walcott 1904

The Conception of God - a Philosophical Discussion concerning the nature of the divine idea as a demonstrable reality by Josiah Royce 1897

Faith and Philosophy: Discourses and Essays by Henry Smith 1877

Messianic Philosophy - An Historical and Critical Examination of the evidence for the existence, death, resurrection, ascension, and divinity of Jesus Christ by Gideon Marsh 1908

What is Life? A Study of Vitalism and Neo-vitalism by Bertram Windle 1908

Religion within the Boundary of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant 1838

The Philosophy of the Bible, article in The Biblical repository and classical review 1848

Plato Against the Atheists by Taylor Lewis 1845

Plato and Paul, or Philosophy and Christianity by JW Mendenhall 1886

The Christian Platonists of Alexandria by Charles Bigg 1886

The Philosophy of Religion on the Basis of its History by Otto Pfleiderer Volume 1 1886

The Philosophy of Religion on the Basis of its History by Otto Pfleiderer Volume 2 1886

The Philosophy of Religion on the Basis of its History by Otto Pfleiderer Volume 3 1886

Foundations of Christian Belief - Studies in the Philosophy of Religion by F Strickland 1915

Christian Theism (Intellectual Pantheism/Spinoza) by Robert Thompson 1855

Essay on Religious Philosophy, Volume 1 by Emile Saisset 1863 (The Theism of Descartes, Pantheism of Spinoza, Skepticism of Kant etc)

Essay on Religious Philosophy, Volume 2 by Emile Saisset 1863

Seekers after soul by John Knott 1911 (Plato, Kant, Hegel)

Selections from the Literature of Theism 1904

Atheism and Pantheism by Charles Nairne 1848

Christian Science versus Pantheism by Mary Baker Eddy 1909

Pantheism - Its Story and Significance by J Allison Picton 1905

The Principles of Modern Atheistic and Pantheistic Philosophy by Rev. CA Row 1874

A Preacher's Interest in Nietzsche, article in The American journal of theology 1915

A Christian Reply to Nietzsche, article in Current Opinion 1908

Article About Nietsche in The Freethinker 1895 ("Nietzsche is, frankly anti-Christian. He says, in effect: Blessed are the arrogant, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are the strong, for theirs is the kingdom of man. Be strong, for to be weak is to be miserable.")

THE ANTICHRIST by Friedrich Nietzsche

Christian belief in God. A German criticism of German materialistic philosophy by Goerge Wobbermin 1918

The War Against the Worlds View of Christianity, article in the Metaphysical Magazine 1907

Protestant thought Before Kant by AC Mgiffert 1911

The Development of Theology in Germany since Kant by Otto Pfleiderer 1890

The Kantian Epistemology and Theism by C Wistar Hodge 1890

Paley's Natural Theology Volume 1, 1845

Paley's Natural Theology Volume 2, 1845

Paley's Natural Theology Volume 3, 1845

Paley's Natural Theology Volume 4, 1845

Natural Theology; or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity / by William Paley in Kindle Format

Pascal's Wager by Alfred Benn 1909

The Problem of Faith and Freedom in the Last Two Centuries by John Oman 1906 (has a section on Pascal's Wager)

Thoughts on Religion and Philosophy by Pascal 1901

Thoughts of Blaise Pascal 1846

Studies on Pascal by Alexander Vinet 1859

The Provincial Letters of Blaise Pascal 1860

The Thoughts, Letters, and Opuscules of Blaise Pascal 1887

Pascal, by Viscount St. Cyres 1909

Pensees by Blaise Pascal 1660

Pascal's Pensées or, Thoughts on religion 1900

Outlines of Christian Apologetics: For Use in Lectures
by Hermann Schultz, Alfred Bull Nichols 1905

Christianity and Positivism: A Series of Lectures to the Times on Natural Theology and Apologetics
by James McCosh 1874

The Principles of Christian Apologetics: An Exposition of the Intellectual Basis of the Christian Religion by Thomas Joseph Walshe 1919

The Direct and Fundamental Proofs of the Christian Religion
by George William Knox 1903

A Handbook of Christian Apologetics
by Alfred Ernest Garvie 1913

Revealed Religion
by Franz Hettinger, Henry Sebastian Bowden 1895

The Bible Triumphant - 12 dozen skeptical arguments refuted by H.L. Hastings 1882

The English Bible: History of the Translation of the Holy Scriptures into the English Tongue with Specimens of the Old English Versions by Mrs. Conant 1856

The Age of Revelation or the Age of Reason shewn to be An Age of Infidelity by Elias Boudinot, L.L.D. (a response to Thomas Paine's Age of Reason) 1801

A first primer of apologetics
by Robert Mackintosh - 1900

Sermons Delivered Before Mixed Congregations: Embracing Apologetics
by Henry B. Altmeyer 1911

Evidences of Christianity
by William Paley - 1879

Witnesses to Christ: A Contribution to Christian Apologetics
by William Robinson Clark 1888

The Grounds of Theistic and Christian Belief
by George Park Fisher 1911

The Miracles of Unbelief
by Frank Ballard 1900

Nature and the Supernatural: As Together Constituting the One System of God
by Horace Bushnell 1880 (only first 371 pages)

The American Standard Version Bible - Cross Reference Edition (almost 2500 pages) 1910

Christianity in Its Modern Expression
by George Burman Foster - 1921

The Truth of the Christian Religion
by Julius Kaftan 1894

A Christian Apologetic
by Wilford Lash Robbins 1903

The Evidence of Christian Experience
by Lewis French Stearns - 1890

The Apologetic of the New Testament
by Ernest Findlay Scott - 1907

Divine Origin of Christianity (Vol 2) Deduced from Some of Those Evidences which are Not Founded on the Authenticity of Scripture by John Sheppard 1829

Faith and Folly
by John Stephen Vaughan 1905

The Permanence of Christianity: Considered in Eight Lectures Preached Before ...
by John Richard Turner Eaton 1873

Common Objections to Christianity: Proposed and Answered
by James Patriot Wilson 1829

Christianity as an Ideal
by Peter Hately Waddell 1900

Charles Elwood: Or, the Infidel Converted
by Orestes Augustus Brownson 1840

The Evidences of Christianity: Stated in a Popular and Practical Manner (Vol 1)
by Daniel Wilson 1852

Essay on the Divine Authority of the New Testament
by David Bogue 1817

The Evidences of the Christian Religion
by Joseph Addison 1733

Discussion of the Existence of God, and the Authenticity of the Bible
by Origen Bacheler, Robert Dale Owen - 1840 - 350 pages

The Divine Authority of the Bible
by George Frederick Wright - 1884 - 230 pages
 
Elements of Christian Theology: Containing Proofs of the Authenticity and Inspiration of the Scriptures
by George Tomline -- 1818

The Pillar of Divine Truth Immoveably Fixed on the Foundation of the Apostles
by William Greenfield - 1831 - 265 pages

Theopneusty: Or, The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures
by Louis Gaussen - 1844 - 400 pages

The Plenary Inspiration of the Scriptures Asserted
by Samuel Noble - 1828 - 430 pages

The Bible: Its Meaning and Supremacy
by Frederic William Farrar - 1897 - 350 pages

The Plenary Inspiration of the Holy Scriptures
by Eleazar Lord - 1857 - 301 pages
 
The Evidences of Christianity: Stated in a Popular and Practical Manner
by Daniel Wilson - Apologetics - 1832

Systematic Theology
by Charles Hodge 1873

The Permenance of Christianity by John Eaton 1873

The Inspiration of the Scriptures
by Alexander Carson, John Dick, John Pye Smith, Daniel Wilson - 1853 - 410 pages

Analytical Investigations Concerning the Credibility of the Scriptures
by J. H. McCulloh - 1852

Holy Scripture verified; or, The divine authority of the Bible confirmed by ... - Page 196
by George Redford - Bible - 1837

Conversations on the Bible: Its Statements Harmonized and Mysteries Explained
by Enoch Pond - 1886 - 620 pages

The Bible and Reason Against Atheism: In a Series of Letters to a Friend
by Martin Luther Edwards - 1881 - 230 pages
... The Virgin Mary—Bible Contradictions—How They Are Made Out, and How Little
They Amount to-A Delicate Task

The 'holy Scriptures' analyzed; or, Extracts from the Bible, shewing its Contradictions and Absurdities
edited by Robert Cooper - 1840

Atheism and Arithmetic or Mathematical Law in Nature by H. L. Hastings 1889, 72 pages

The Religion of Evolution by Minot Judson Savage 1876 - 253 pages

Atheism and Pantheism by Charles Murray Nairne MA 1848

Brief Commentaries Upon such parts of Revelation and other Prophecies - A Pill for the Infidel and Atheist by Joseph Galloway 1809, 397 pages

How a Modern Atheist Found God by G. A. Ferguson 1912, 132 pages

The Great Ingersoll Controversy by Peter Eckler 220 pages

Lamartine on Atheism 1850, over 60 pages

Sermons Preached at Boyle's Lecture; Remarks upon a discourse of Freethinking; Proposals for an Edition of the Greek Testament by Rev. Alexander Dyce, 565 pages

The Atheist - An Original Poem by Arthur Lilley, 1883
"Father of all! in every age,
In every clime adored,
By saint, by savage, and by sage,
Jehovah, Jove, or Lord!

The Atheist Confuted by Thomas Stiles 1806, 236 pages

The Evidences of the Christian Religion by the Right Hon. Joseph Addison Esq. 1812, 322 pages

The Folly and Unreasonableness of Atheism by Richard Bentley D.D. 1699 (283 pages)

The Heavenly Father - Lectures on Modern Atheism by Ernest Naville 1867 (394 pages)

The Limits of Atheism, or, Why Should Skeptics be Outlaws by G. J. Holyoake, 1874

The Modern Atheist by Rev. C.B. Brigstocke M.A. 1881

The Natural History of Atheism by John Stuart Blackie 1878 (266 pages)

The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge 1908 (over 530 pages)

The Origine of Atheism in the Popish and Protestant Churches by Dorotheus Sicurus 1684

The Pilgrims Progress by John Bunyan 1856 (348 pages)

The Problem of Problems and its Various Solutions or Atheism, Darwinism and Theism, 1877 (486 pages)

The Religious World Displayed, or a View of the Four Grand Systems of Relgion, namely Christianity, Judaism, Paganism and Mohammedism...to which is subjoined A view of Materialism, Existentalism, Deism and Atheism, 1823 (over 500 pages)

The True Intellectual System of the Universe Wherein all the Reason and Philosophy of the Atheist is confuted by Ralph Cudworth D.D., 1820 (544 pages)

The Works of Francis Bacon 1858 (780 pages)

Christianity As Mystical Fact and the Mysteries of Antiquity By Rudolf Steiner

The Evolution of Man Scientifically Disproved in 50 Arguments By REV. WILLIAM A. WILLIAMS

Evolution: A Fantasy
by Langdon Smith, Laurens Maynard - 1915 - 60 pages

The Symmetrical Structure of Scripture by John Forbes 1854

The Bible and Nature versus Copernicus - Lectures Defending Truths Discredited by Modern Science by Samuel Miller 1901

THE FOUR HORSEMEN OF THE APOCALYPSE (Los Cuatro Jinettes del Apocalipsis) by Vicente Blasco Ibanez

A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse by Sylvester Bliss

NOTES ON THE APOCALYPSE; WITH an Appendix CONTAINING DISSERTATIONS ON SOME OF THE APOCALYPTIC SYMBOLS, TOGETHER WITH ANIMADVERSIONS ON THE INTERPRETATIONS OF SEVERAL
AMONG THE MOST LEARNED AND APPROVED EXPOSITORS OF BRITAIN AND AMERICA. BY DAVID STEELE, Sr., 1870

The Second Advent of Christ Premillenial by William Kelly 1868

Second Coming of Christ - Premillennial Essays by Nathaniel West 1879

A defence of Armageddon, or Our Great Country Foretold in the Holy Scriptures 1859 by E Fountain Pitts

The Apocalypse revealed, wherein are disclosed the Arcana there Foretold, which have Heretofore Remained Concealed (1883)
Volume 1 and Volume 2 by Emanuel Swedenborg

Christ's Warning to the Churches to Beware of False Prophets by Joseph Lathrop 1811

Catholic Churchmen in Science
by James Joseph Walsh - 1910 - 214 pages
 
A Critique of the Theory of Evolution
by Thomas Hunt Morgan, Louis Clark Vanuxem Foundation- 1916 - 190 pages

Some Errors of HG Wells by Richard Downey 1921

At the Deathbed of Darwinism 1904

Natural Theology by William Paley 1888

What is Darwinism by Charles Hodge 1874

The Wisdom of God Manifested in the Works of the Creation: In Two Parts. Viz ...
by John Ray - 1735 - 400 pages

 A View of the Evidences of Christianity: In Three Parts
by William Paley - 1800

 On the Power, Wisdom and Goodness of God as Manifested in the Creation of Animals
by William Kirby - 1835

 The Hand, Its Mechanism and Vital Endowments as Evincing Design
by Charles Bell - 1833 - 210 pages

Anti-theistic Theories: Being the Baird Lecture for 1877
by Robert Flint  - 1894 - 550 pages

The Light of Day: Religious Discussions and Criticisms from the Naturalist's Point of View
by John Burroughs - 1904 - 240 pages

Through Science to Faith
by Newman Smyth - 1902 - 272 pages

Physico-theology: Or, A Demonstration of the Being and Attributes of God
by William Derham - 1720 - 450 pages

Christianity and Positivism: A Series of Lectures to the Times on Natural Theology
by James McCosh  - 1874 - 360 pages

Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever
by Joseph Priestley  - 1787

The Divine Pedigree of Man, Or, The Testimony of Evolution and Psychology
by Thomson Jay Hudson - 1899 - 370 pages

Natural Theology: Or, Rational Theism
by Milton Valentine - 1885 - 270 pages

 The Testimony of Natural Theology to Christianity
by Thomas Gisborne - 1818 - 261 pages

Illustrations of Paley's Natural Theology: With Descriptive Letter Press
by James Paxton, William Paley - 1826 - 80 pages

God in Evolution: A Pragmatic Study of Theology
by Francis Howe Johnson - 1911 - 350 pages

Creation Or Evolution?: A Philosophical Inquiry
by George Ticknor Curtis- 1887 - 560 pages

Creation, Or, The Bible and Geology Consistent
by James Murphey - 1850 - 250 pages

Fragments of The Process of Creation and The Bible Chronology
by W S Prosser  - 1914 - 20 pages

Does science aid faith in regard to Creation?
by Rev. Henry Cotterill - 1883

The Debate Between the Church and Science, Or, The Ancient Hebraic Idea of the Six Days of Creation
by Francis William Upham - 1860 - 430 pages

The errors of evolution  by H.L. Hastings
by Robert Patterson - 1885

Illogical Geology: The Weakest Point in the Evolution Theory
by George McCready Price - 1906 - 90 pages

Evolution and Dogma
by John Augustine Zahm- 1896 - 450 pages

The first Adam and the second
by Samuel John Baird - 1860

The Bards of the Bible by George Gilfillan 1851
 gdixierose

The Philosophy & Study of EVIL, 100 Books to Download [Theodicy]

Only $3.00 -  You can pay using the Cash App by sending money to $HeinzSchmitz and send me an email at theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com with your email for the download. You can also pay using Facebook Pay in Messenger

Books Scanned from the Originals into PDF format

For a list of all of my digital books on disk click here - Contact theoldcdbookshop@gmail.com for questions

Books are in the public domain. I will take checks or money orders as well. 

Contents (created on a Windows computer):

The Problem of Evil: A Criticism of the Augustinian Point of View
by Marion Le Roy Burton 1909

God the creator of both evil and good by Henry Pinson 1883

The Problem of Evil by Ames Castle Pennock 1877

Love Supreme by Arthur Crane 1918 (chapter 5: The Origin of Evil)

Moral Evil - its nature and origin by LB Wilkes 1892

The Meaning of Good by G Lowes Dickinson 1902

Success of Evil - Elements of success in the kingdom of Evil by AS Kedzie 1873

The Rise and the Fall - The Origin of Moral Evil 1866

The Theory of a Personal Devil by William R Alger 1861

The History and Philosophy of Evil by Andrew Jackson Davis

The Problem of Evil by Peter Green 1920

The Science of Evil by Joel Moody 1871

Thoughts on good and Evil by William Smith 1875

The Gordian Knot - a story of Good and of Evil by Shirley Brooks 1860

First Principles by John Durward 1856

The History of the Devil and the idea of Evil by Paul Carus 1899

Food for Thinking Christians - why evil was permitted and kindred topics by Zions Watchtower 1881

The Witness of Sin, a Theodicy by Nathan Wood 1905

The Fallen Star - The History of a False Religion by Edward Bulwer Lytton 1915

The Ministry of Evil by Charles Watson Millen 1913

God in history in nature and in war by George Jeffs 1918

Good and Evil - a study in Biblical Theology by Loring W Batten 1918

Beyond Good and Evil by Nietzsche 1911

The Religious Conception of the World (section on the Problem of Evil) by Arthur K Rogers 1907

Guide to the knowledge of God - A Study of the Chief Theodicies by A Gratry 1892

A History of the Problems of Philosophy, Volume 1, 1902

A History of the Problems of Philosophy, Volume 1, 1902

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 1, 1883

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 2, 1883

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 3, 1883

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 4, 1883

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 5, 1883

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 6, 1883

Current Discussions in Theology, Volume 7, 1883

Gods and Devils of Mankind by Frank Dobbins 1897

Satan, his Origin, Work, and destiny by Carlyle Boynton Haynes 1920 (many illustrations)

The Devil: his Origin, Greatness, and Decadence by Albert Reville 1877

The Bible history of Satan. Is he a fallen angel? 1858

The God of this World - The Devil in history by Hollis Read 1875

The Fall of Lucifer - The Origin of Evil by ET Smets 1896

The Life and Labors of the Devil by TT Johnson 1892

The Origin of Sin, and Dotted words in the Hebrew Bible by E Gibbes 1893

The Origin of Sin and its Relations to God and the Universe by E Cook 1899

The Origin, the nature, the kingdom, the works, and the destiny of the Devil by WA Jarrel 1892

The Existence and Fall of Satan and his Angels, article in the Methodist magazine and quarterly review 1838

The Devil by Charles Carroll Everett, article in The Thinker 1895

A Personal Devil, article in The Unitarian review 1890

On the Duration of Evil 1855

The Autobiography of Satan by John Beard 1872

The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil by Joshua H M'Ilvaine 1847

Theodicy; essays on divine providence by Antonio Rosmini Volume 1 1912

Theodicy; essays on divine providence by Antonio Rosmini Volume 2 1912

The Justification of God: Lectures for war-time on a Christian theodicy by Peter Forsyth 1917

The Crook in the Lot, or, A display of the Sovereignty and Wisdom of God in the Afflictions of men, and the Christian's deportment under them by Thomas Boston 1848

The God that Jesus Saw by WG Horder 1921

Theodicy in The National Magazine 1855

The Problem of Evil (Article) in the Young Men's Christian Magazine 1877

The philosophical works of Leibnitz 1890

Three essays on religion by John Stuart Mill 1874

David Hume, Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion

A Theodicy by Albert Bledsoe 1854

Immortality and the new theodicy by George Gordon 1897

The Science of Natural Theology by Asa Mahan 1867

The Problem of Evil by R. Hastings 1912

The Problem of Evil in Plotinus by B.A.G. Fuller 1912

History of the Problems of Philosophy Volume 1 by Paul Janet 1902

History of the Problems of Philosophy Volume 2 by Paul Janet 1902

Optimism and Pessimism or, The Problem of Evil 1871 by Jacob Frohschammer

The Problem of Evil: An Introduction to the Practical Sciences
by Daniel Greenleaf Thompson 1887

Moral Uses of Dark Things
by Horace Bushnell - 1880

Does God Send Trouble?: An Earnest Effort to Discern Between Christian Tradition and Truth
by Charles Cuthbert Hall 1894

An Essay on the Origin of Evil
by William King 1781

The Problem of Evil: Seven Lectures
by Ernest Naville 1871

Is the Devil a Myth?
by Charles Franklin Wimberly 1913

Daemonologia Sacra: Or, A Treatise of Satan's Temptations
by Richard Gilpin 1677

Theodicy - Essays on the Goodness of God the Freedom of Man and the Origin of Evil - G.W. LEIBNIZ (searchable PDF)

Evil & Evolution: An Attempt to Turn the Light of Modern Science on to the Ancient Mystery of Evil
by George Francis Millin  1896

Good and Evil: A Study in Biblical Theology
by Loring Woart Batten - Good and evil - 1918

The Origin of Evil, and Other Sermons Preached in St. Peter's, Cranley Gardens by Alfred Williams Momerie 1885

The Nature of Goodness (first 258 pages)
by George Herbert Palmer 1903

The Theory of Good and Evil: A Treatise on Moral Philosophy
by Hastings Rashdall 1907

Studies of Good and Evil: A Series of Essays Upon Problems of Philosophy and of Life by Josiah Royce 1898

The Conflict of Good and Evil in Our Day: Twelve Letters to a Missionary
by Frederick Denison Maurice 1865

A Modern Job: An Essay on the Problem of Evil
by Etienne Giran, Alfred Leslie Lilley 1916

Life's Dark Problems: Or, is this a Good World?
by Minot Judson Savage 1905

Man's Responsibility: Or, How and Why, the Almighty Introduced Evil Upon the Earth
by Thomas G. Carson  1905

The Problem of Evil: An Introduction to the Practical Sciences
by Daniel Greenleaf Thompson 1887

The Mystery: Or, Evil and God
by John Young 1856

The Anti-universalist: Or History of the Fallen Angels of the Scriptures, Proofs of the Being of Satan and of Evil Spirits
by Josiah Priest 1837

The Gospel for a World of Sin
by Henry Van Dyke 1899

The Nature of Evil: Considered in a Letter to the Rev. Edward Beecher by Henry James 1855

The Goodness of God in View of the Facts of Nature and the Supernatural by George Thomson Knight 1904

Whatever Is, is Right
by Asaph Bemis Child 1861

An Examination of the Notion of Moral Good and Evil
by John Clarke 1725

Beneficence of Design in the Problem of Evil 1849

The Great Exorcism
by Arthur Crane 1915

An Inquiry Into the Scriptural Doctrine Concerning the Devil and Satan by Walter Balfour 1827

The Book of Adam and Eve: Also Called the Conflict of Adam and Eve with Satan by Solomon Caesar Malan 1882

Satan as a Moral Philosopher: With Other Essays and Sketches
by Caleb Sprague Henry - 1877
 
Paradise Lost: A Poem in Twelve Books
by John Milton - 1750

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