Harwood, William R.

From Philosopedia

Harwood, William R. (1935 - )

Historian William Harwood, Ph.D., M.Litt. (Cambridge), is the author of 33 books. He is a contributing editor of American Rationalist, and for the seven years that Free Inquiry maintained an advisory Editorial Board, he was a member of that Board. He has written over 400 articles for skeptical and freethought periodicals in seven countries.

Dr Harwood’s first book, "Mythology’s Last Gods", based on his doctoral dissertation, did to religion what the first close-up photographs of Mars did to the “canals” delusion. His 3,500-entries "Dictionary of Contemporary Mythology" has been updated for a 2006 edition.

Some critics, who hold that Jesus never existed, disagree with Harwood’s view that Abraham is the first historical personality in the Bible. “If other scholars are doubtful about the historicity of later figures such as Moses, Joseph, David, and Solomon, not to mention Jesus,” writes Open Society editor Bill Cooke, “it is highly unlikely that Abraham is any more historically based. "

His most recent books are The Last Hypnotist", "Where Is George Washington Now That America Really Needs Him? and the two-volume The Fully Translated Bible.