The Dawkins Delusion – Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine
The Dawkins Delusion Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine
World-renowned scientist Richard Dawkins writes in The God Delusion: "If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down." The volume has received wide coverage, fueled much passionate debate and caused not a little confusion.
Alister McGrath, along with his wife Joanna, are ideal to evaluate Dawkins's ideas. Once an atheist himself, he gained a doctorate in molecular biophysics before going on to become a leading Christian theologian. He wonders how two people, who have reflected at length on substantially the same world, could possibly have come to such different conclusions about God. McGrath subjects Dawkins's critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny. His exhilarating, meticulously argued response deals with questions such as
Is faith intellectual nonsense? Are science and religion locked in a battle to the death? Can the roots of Christianity be explained away scientifically? Is Christianity simply a force for evil?
This book will be warmly received by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raises–including, above all, the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning.
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Excellent Book
Well researched and thought provoking. I imagine many posters have not read the book – look at the woman who wrote "she" as the author. Sorry – he's a male. Read it for yourself.
5 Stars Why Atheists Are Obsessed with God
It amazes and puzzles me why so many irreligious, anti-Christian, atheistic writers and reviewers of books are obsessed with religion and God. Just read the reviews of this book or any other book that would dare call into question the Darwinian faith-claim that matter is eternal and we are all here by accident. Why would those who deny God want to waste their time reading books about a God that does not exist, or spend so much emotional energy writing critical reviews of anything that rebuts the holy grail of evolution? Why are God-deniers so God-obsessed? It seems to me there are far too many people out there that can not pull themselves away from Something that is not supposed to be there at all.
1 Star If you are a wavering atheist, read this and be convinced.
Dawkins is the literary equivalent of someone at a crowded party saying loudly "Isn't that person really fat!" Anyone that looks can see that it is true however, it may have been easier and more socially acceptable to have ignored the fact or found a more subtle way to say it. At least Dawkins is honest. The McGraths have managed to write a book that does little more than confirm that the humanist perspective is the only rational one and that belief in the supernatural is little more than folly. There are some fantastic one-liners in this book: "Is there purpose within nature?" "Why is something complex improbable?". I hope that people read this book with an open mind because it destroys the idea that all Oxford Dons are remarkable and intelligent individuals driven by a desire for truth. Almost unbelievably in their conclusion they state "For the gullible and the credulous, it is the confidence with which something is said that persuades, rather than the evidence offered in its support". Exactly.
5 Stars Dawkins Suffers from Delusion
If you've seen the documentary movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed by Ben Stein, you may recall the interview of atheist Richard Dawkins by Ben Stein. At one point Dawkins, with his book in hand The God Delusion, quotes from the book his diatribe against the Old Testament God. Stein also interviews Alister McGrath in the documentary, although it is of shorter length, where McGrath opposes Dawkins' point of view. This current book review is of the book by Alister McGrath and his wife Joanna, which is a response to The God Delusion
The McGrath's claim that there isn't a lot worthy of a response in Dawkins' book. I concur! In spite of all the positive reviews for Dawkins' book posted on Amazon and all of the acclaim he has received for it, it is very intellectually light! However, the McGrath's fear that if no response is given that many would simply think that Christians have no response to offer. The result is that their book is much shorter than Dawkins' since they only respond where they think they have gleaned something to respond to. The McGraths write that "Dawkins simply offers the atheist equivalent of slick hellfire preaching, substituting turbocharged rhetoric and highly selective manipulation of facts for careful, evidence-based thinking. Curiously, there is surprisingly little scientific analysis in The God Delusion." "Is the case for atheism really so weak that it has to be bolstered by such half-baked nonsense?" Actually, that is an important point. The book by Dawkins should provide Christians with a certain sense of confidence. Is this the best that atheists can do? Atheists send out their champion, their Goliath, and this is it! Shouldn't we be able to expect more? To criticize Dawkins seems too easy!
However, the McGraths do attempt to take Dawkins seriously and respond as best they can. One of their criticisms is that "One of the most characteristic features of Dawkins's antireligious polemic is to present the pathological as if it were normal, the fringe as if it were the center, crackpots as if they were mainstream."
Actually, if I might be so bold, I think the McGraths have missed Dawkins' major weakness. Dawkins' book is very antireligious but it is also very pro-evolution. In fact, Dawkins' own atheistic religion is based on evolution writ large. What if the theory of evolution could be scientifically challenged, as, for example, the Expelled documentary suggests? Then Dawkins' religion comes tumbling down. In his book he links everything positive to Darwinian evolution. His whole life revolves around it. If the findings of intelligent design theorists pan out, and if the number of scientists in general find the theory of evolution as having questionable evidence at best, then what of Dawkins' religion? At the least we should find all of this interesting: it is certainly a big part of what is going on in our world.
Others have written in response to Dawkins' The God Delusion as well, such as David Berlinski's The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions, John Cornwell's Darwin's Angel: A Seraphic Response to the God Delusion, and Eric Reitan's Is God A Delusion: A Reply to Religion's Cultured Despisers. Among this chorus of opposition to Dawkins' book is this fine book by the McGraths. Read it, along with others, to your delight and edification!
For more information, please see my web site: http://members.cox.net/ldpaarmann
Larry D. Paarmann
1 Star Weak and Lacking
This book is terrible. I feel like I am reading someone's opinion about a person and not the facts objectively. One Ad hominem attack after another…
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