Overview

2008 Christian Bookseller's Covention Book of the Year Award winner 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.

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9780830837212

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Reviews

"""[H]elps theistic people respond more intelligently to the current religion-bashing that has become a source of schadenfreude for some (though certainly not all) nonbelievers."" --David von Schlichten, Lutheran Partners, July/August 2008 ""[T]he McGraths' book is an effective response."" --Mark D. Barret, Esq., in Lay Witness, March/April 2008 ""Alister and Joanna McGrath offer a meaty book without all the gratuitous gristle, clearly making their points."" --Jim Miller Review, June 2007 ""Alister McGrath provides an excellent rebuttal to Dawkin's arguments against God and religion. Scholarly, yes but also very readable for lay people."" --M. F. in Libraries Alive, February 2008 ""Combining scholarship with a popular style, the McGraths examine Dawkins's arguments and find them wanting. They show the inadequacy of his argument on the major points, contending that Dawkins's critique of religion is based on hearsay and anecdotal evidence rather than on hard research and that he employs rhetoric rather than rationality."" --Library Journal, August 2007 ""Considering that the McGraths are dealing with someone they describe as 'one of the most successful and skillful scientific popularizers' in the world, the authors of The Dawkins Delusion? prove themselves to be worthy opponents . . . The authors do not write a defense of theism, but of reason and fairness. While refuting the claims of Dawkins, they teach the valuable lesson that we must also take care in the arguments we use."" --Van Sprague, The Christian Chronicle, January 2011 ""McGrath identifies Dawkins' flawed arguments with surgical precision. McGrath spotlights Dawkins' embarrassing biblical ignorance and exposes his religion-as-virus-of-the-mind theory as sociological naivete. This intelligent, yet accessible book is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject or for those with friends sucked under by the new current of atheist literature."" --New Man, November/December 2007 ""One could hardly think of a better apologist for theism than Alister McGrath. This atheist-turned-Christian, also of Oxford, is a professor of historical theology. But as a student of molecular biophysics, he possesses the dual credibility in science and religion that Dawkins lacks. Like watching one schoolboy do another's work, McGrath's true gift is pointing out what Dawkins is obliged to show in order to make his case."" --Christianity Today, November 2007 ""The McGraths expeditiously plow into the flank of Dawkins's fundamentalist atheism, made famous in The God Delusion, and run him from the battlefield."" --Publishers Weekly, May 14, 2007 ""The McGraths make refuting Dawkins look easy. In a text of less than one hundred pages, they systematically dismantle each of Dawkins' major assertions. The Dawkins Delusion? is well-written and easy to read, and it gives the reader a clear understanding of why Dawkins need not be taken seriously. It will give even the initially neutral reader the opportunity to see that real science is not the enemy of religion and that the religiously oriented interpretation is superior to the atheistic one."" --Thomas P. Sheahen, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Summer 2008 ""This book will be warmly received by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raised--including all the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning."" --Enrichment Journal, Fall 2008 ""This book will be warmly received by those who are looking for a real assessment of The God Delusion."" --""What's New on the Bookshelf"" with Shirley Updyke, WRGN ""While not exhaustive (by design), the McGraths have offered us a well-reasoned critique of the atheistic arguments of Dawkins, and left us with a cogent description of the inherent weaknesses in The God Delusion. I recommend it to my friends on both sides of this debate."" --Cliff Martin, Outside the Box (cliff-martin.blogspot.com), June 14, 2008 ""You cannot argue with the McGraths' credentials or the content of this book. It is very well done."" --Does God Exist? November/December 2007 ""You cannot help but be impressed with the depth of scholarship which the McGraths bring to this discussion--something markedly different than Dawkins."" --Deinde blog, deinde.org, August 18, 2007"

[H]elps theistic people respond more intelligently to the current religion-bashing that has become a source of schadenfreude for some (though certainly not all) nonbelievers. --David von Schlichten, Lutheran Partners, July/August 2008 [T]he McGraths' book is an effective response. --Mark D. Barret, Esq., in Lay Witness, March/April 2008 Alister and Joanna McGrath offer a meaty book without all the gratuitous gristle, clearly making their points. --Jim Miller Review, June 2007 Alister McGrath provides an excellent rebuttal to Dawkin's arguments against God and religion. Scholarly, yes but also very readable for lay people. --M. F. in Libraries Alive, February 2008 Combining scholarship with a popular style, the McGraths examine Dawkins's arguments and find them wanting. They show the inadequacy of his argument on the major points, contending that Dawkins's critique of religion is based on hearsay and anecdotal evidence rather than on hard research and that he employs rhetoric rather than rationality. --Library Journal, August 2007 Considering that the McGraths are dealing with someone they describe as 'one of the most successful and skillful scientific popularizers' in the world, the authors of The Dawkins Delusion? prove themselves to be worthy opponents . . . The authors do not write a defense of theism, but of reason and fairness. While refuting the claims of Dawkins, they teach the valuable lesson that we must also take care in the arguments we use. --Van Sprague, The Christian Chronicle, January 2011 McGrath identifies Dawkins' flawed arguments with surgical precision. McGrath spotlights Dawkins' embarrassing biblical ignorance and exposes his religion-as-virus-of-the-mind theory as sociological naivete. This intelligent, yet accessible book is a must-read for anyone interested in the subject or for those with friends sucked under by the new current of atheist literature. --New Man, November/December 2007 One could hardly think of a better apologist for theism than Alister McGrath. This atheist-turned-Christian, also of Oxford, is a professor of historical theology. But as a student of molecular biophysics, he possesses the dual credibility in science and religion that Dawkins lacks. Like watching one schoolboy do another's work, McGrath's true gift is pointing out what Dawkins is obliged to show in order to make his case. --Christianity Today, November 2007 The McGraths expeditiously plow into the flank of Dawkins's fundamentalist atheism, made famous in The God Delusion, and run him from the battlefield. --Publishers Weekly, May 14, 2007 The McGraths make refuting Dawkins look easy. In a text of less than one hundred pages, they systematically dismantle each of Dawkins' major assertions. The Dawkins Delusion? is well-written and easy to read, and it gives the reader a clear understanding of why Dawkins need not be taken seriously. It will give even the initially neutral reader the opportunity to see that real science is not the enemy of religion and that the religiously oriented interpretation is superior to the atheistic one. --Thomas P. Sheahen, The National Catholic Bioethics Quarterly, Summer 2008 This book will be warmly received by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raised--including all the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning. --Enrichment Journal, Fall 2008 This book will be warmly received by those who are looking for a real assessment of The God Delusion. --What's New on the Bookshelf with Shirley Updyke, WRGN While not exhaustive (by design), the McGraths have offered us a well-reasoned critique of the atheistic arguments of Dawkins, and left us with a cogent description of the inherent weaknesses in The God Delusion. I recommend it to my friends on both sides of this debate. --Cliff Martin, Outside the Box (cliff-martin.blogspot.com), June 14, 2008 You cannot argue with the McGraths' credentials or the content of this book. It is very well done. --Does God Exist? November/December 2007 You cannot help but be impressed with the depth of scholarship which the McGraths bring to this discussion--something markedly different than Dawkins. --Deinde blog, deinde.org, August 18, 2007

Alister McGrath invariably combines enormous scholarship with an accessible and engaging style. --Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury

Author Information

Joanna Collicutt McGrath is lecturer in the psychology of religion at Heythrop College, University of London. She is coauthor (with Jeremy Duff) of Meeting Jesus: Human Responses to a Yearning God. Alister McGrath (D.Phil., D.D., Oxford University) holds the chair of theology, ministry and education and is head of the Centre for Theology, Religion Culture at King's College, London. A prolific author, his publications include Christianity's Dangerous Idea and A Passionate Intellect.

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