Project Gutenberg 2011-11-22 Public domain in the USA. 392 Holyoake, George Jacob 1817 1906 Holyoake, G. J. (George Jacob) English Secularism: A Confession of Belief Produced by David Widger "English Secularism: A Confession of Belief" by George Jacob Holyoake is a philosophical and sociopolitical treatise written in the late 19th century. The book presents a defense of Secularism, positioning it as a distinct system of thought separate from both Theism and Atheism. Holyoake, a prominent figure in the Secularist movement, seeks to articulate a moral framework grounded in reason and empirical evidence, advocating for the separation of church and state influence in societal matters. The opening of the work sets the stage for Holyoake's exploration of Secularism, outlining its fundamental principles and the need for a clear distinction between secular instruction and religious ideology. He emphasizes the importance of free thought and independent reasoning, contrasting Secularism with the constraints imposed by religious dogmas. Holyoake introduces the notion that moral duty can and should be derived from human experience and rational inquiry, rather than theological doctrines, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive examination of ethics and morality through a secular lens. This introductory section engages with the challenges posed by existing beliefs while asserting the necessity of open dialogue and critical reflection on religious and secular thought alike. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Reading ease score: 59.4 (10th to 12th grade). Somewhat difficult to read. en Secularism BL Text Browsing: Philosophy & Ethics Browsing: Religion/Spirituality/Paranormal Category: Philosophy & Ethics Category: Religion/Spirituality Category: Politics 259670 2025-06-15T13:07:30.553585 text/html 256430 2013-01-29T10:08:42 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 90570 2013-01-29T10:08:42 text/html; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 181362 2025-06-15T13:07:38.640545 application/epub+zip 185083 2025-06-15T13:07:34.316536 application/epub+zip 166083 2025-06-15T13:07:32.909596 application/epub+zip 370697 2025-06-15T13:07:41.851476 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 349609 2025-06-15T13:07:37.760566 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 290217 2022-09-17T11:56:35.328776 application/x-mobipocket-ebook 223398 2025-06-15T13:07:30.059563 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 223187 2011-11-22T15:02:50 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 86655 2011-11-22T15:02:52 text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 application/zip 223180 2011-11-22T15:02:50 text/plain; charset=us-ascii 86630 2011-11-22T15:02:50 text/plain; charset=us-ascii application/zip 20257 2025-06-15T13:07:41.999477 application/rdf+xml 16693 2025-06-15T13:07:33.500525 image/jpeg 3750 2025-06-15T13:07:33.203599 image/jpeg 177295 2025-06-15T13:07:30.578553 application/octet-stream application/zip Archives containing the RDF files for *all* our books can be downloaded at https://book.klll.cc/wiki/Gutenberg:Feeds#The_Complete_Project_Gutenberg_Catalog en.wikipedia