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DAVID HART'S WEBPAGE

 

FREETHINKERS, RATIONALISTS, AND ATHEISTS

[Created: 5 July, 2010]
[Updated: January 31, 2023 ]

Contents

This is a collection of some of my favourite freethinkers and skeptics.

 

 

John M. Robertson (1856-1933)

Bio

Robertson was a prolific author and a Member of Parliament representing Tynesdide (Newcastle) in the north east of England from 1906-1918. He wrote on topics such as economics (free trade), literature (Shaksepeare, Montaigne, Walt Whitman), war and empire, and history. Robertson also edited the writings of the Earl of Shaftesbury. He was an early sociologist who wrote on methodological issues, the rise of the state, and other historical matters. He is perhaps best known today for his rationalist views, taking the perspective that Jesus was a "myth" which developed after he supposedly lived and was based on Pagan and Jewish legends and stories.

Works at this Website

  • A Short History of Christianity (London: Watts & Co., 1902). [PDF 6.4 MB].
  • A Short History of Freethought: Ancient and Modern. Second Edition, Rewritten and Greatly Enlarged (London: Watts & Co., 1906). 2 vols.
    • Vol. 1 (English edition) [PDF 8.6 MB].
    • Vol. 2 (American edition. New York: G.P. Putnam and Sons, 1906) [PDF 27.7 MB (in colour)].

Other Works

  • History of Freethought in the Nineteenth Century, (1899)
  • Christianity and Mythology. Watts. (1900)
  • Pagan Christs. Watts & Co. (1903, 1911).
  • Letters on Reasoning. Watts. (1905, 2nd edition)
  • The Historical Jesus (1916)
  • The Jesus Problem (1917)
  • Short History of Morals (1920)
  • Jesus and Judas (1927)

 

 

Joseph McCabe (1867-1955)

Bio

McCabe was born in Cheshire and entered the Franciscan Order at the age of 15, eventually becoming ordained as a priest. He eventually left the church in 1896 and became an outspoken critic of the church and religion in general publishing scores of books on the topic. He was a founding member of the Rationalist Press Association of Great Britain.

Works at this Website

  • A Biographical Dictionary of Modern Rationalists, complied by Joseph McCabe (London: Watts & Co., 1920). [PDF 20.5 MB (in colour)].