An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar: Talking about God, the Universe, and Everything

by Randal Rauser, Justin Schieber

Overview

The question of God is simply too important—and too interesting—to leave to angry polemicists. That is the premise of this friendly, straightforward, and rigorous dialogue between Christian theologian Randal Rauser and atheist Justin Schieber. Setting aside the formality of the traditional debate, the authors invite the reader to join them in an extended, informal conversation. This has the advantage of easing readers into thorny topics that in a debate setting can easily become confusing or difficult to follow. Like any good conversation, this one involves provocative arguments, amusing anecdotes, and some lively banter. Rauser and Schieber begin with the question of why debates about God still matter. They then delve into a number of important topics: the place of reason and faith, the radically different concepts of God in various cultures, morality and its traditional connection with religious beliefs, the problem of a universe that is overwhelmingly hostile to life as we know it, mathematical truths and what they may or may not say about the existence of God, the challenge of suffering and evil to belief in God, and more. Refreshingly upbeat and amicable throughout, this stimulating conversation between two friends from opposing points of view is an ideal introduction to a perennial topic of debate.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781633882430
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/06/2016
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Randal Rauser is Professor of Historical Theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where he has taught since 2003. He lectures widely on the topics of apologetics and Christian worldview. Dr. Rauser is the author or coauthor of nine books including The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver, and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails and Theology in Search of Foundations. Dr. Rauser also regularly blogs and podcasts as The Tentative Apologist at randalrauser.com.

Justin Schieber is founder and host of Real Atheology, a Youtube channel dedicated to presenting issues in contemporary philosophy of religion in easy-to-follow videos. As former cohost of the Reasonable Doubts Radio Show and Podcast (2011-2015), Justin enjoys promoting a friendly, yet firm, skepticism toward religious claims. He lectures on the philosophical arguments for and against the existence of God and has participated in many public debates at colleges and universities throughout the United States and Canada. He served on the board of the Grand Rapids chapter of the Center for Inquiry in 2014 and 2015.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 11

Introduction 13

Chapter 1 Why God Matters 17

Should You Care If God Exists? 17

Is God as Ridiculous as an Invisible Pink Unicorn? 20

How Do You Define God? 24

What about an Evil God? 28

A Debate about Mere (Classical) Theism 33

Should You Hope That God Exists? 36

Chapter 2 God, Faith, and Testimony 41

Good and Bad Faith 41

Defining Faith 44

Faith in the Messiness of Life 46

Faith in Your Sherpa 50

The Principle of Total Evidence 53

Faith in the Extraordinary 58

Chapter 3 The Problem of Massive Theological Disagreement 65

What Is Evidence? 65

Does Religion Lead to Violence? 68

Disagreement about Landlords, Parents, and God 70

The Argument from Massive Theological Disagreement (MTD) 76

Debating Premise One 79

Evaluating Premise Two 84

Relationship with God and Knowledge of God 87

Gould God Give Incompatible Revelations? 92

Doctrine and Salvation 96

Chapter 4 God and Moral Obligation 99

Setting Up the Moral Questions 99

Introducing Ethics and Desire 102

Debating Desirism 103

Unqualified Moral Judgments 106

Moral Perception 107

The Problem of Changing Moral Perception 109

The Faculty of Moral Perception and Desires 112

Moral Obligation and Moral Calling 115

Could God Command Something Morally Heinous? 120

Moral Knowledge and Skepticism 125

Chapter 5 The Problem of the Hostility of the Universe 133

A Most Unusual Birthday Gift 133

Theism, Anthropocentrism, and a Battle of Analogies 139

Why Would God Create a Hostile Universe? 142

Does Atheism Predict a Universe Less Hospitable to Life? 146

But Why Did God Create at All? 148

Chapter 6 God, Mathematics, and Reason 153

On the Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics 153

Numerical Patterns as Architectural Motifs 154

Debating the Architectural Motif Argument 158

Why Explanations Need Not Have Their Own Explanation 165

The Mathematical Blueprint Argument 167

Chapter 7 Evolution and the Biological Role of Pain 175

Preliminary Comments on God, Evil, and Suffering 175

Evolution and Atheism: A Match Made in Heaven? 176

Atheistic Alternatives to Evolution? 179

New and Improved Competitors 183

Consciousness and Material Creation: Which Is More Surprising? 187

God's Hidden Reasons? 190

Into the Icy Depths of God's Hidden Reasons 197

Conclusion 203

Notes 209

Bibliography 215

Index 219

Editorial Reviews

"Imagine sitting at a table in your local bar or coffee shop and overhearing two smart, energetic, and creative thinkers go at it over the existence of the Jewish/Christian/Islamic god. Thanks to Rauser and Schieber, we don’t have to imagine: this book is that debate. Anyone who enjoys a hard-hitting but classy philosophical dustup will love this fun and informative book.” —Guy P. Harrison, author of 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian and 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God “Fun, thoughtful, and surprising, An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar is a title after my own heart. In the setting of a neighborhood pub, Randal Rauser and Justin Schieber engage in passionate, thoughtful, and—this is key—civil conversation on the enduring question of whether or not God exists and why that matters. Grab a cup of coffee or a favorite pint and buckle up, because these two know their stuff, and in these pages you’ll find yourself reexamining what you thought you believed—or didn’t believe—about God.” —Bryan Berghoef, author of Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation, and God “Schieber and Rauser offer something sadly too rare: a civil, respectful, and reasonable dialogue over the question of the existence of god. At a time when theists and atheists usually just lob rhetorical bombs at each other over a figurative DMZ, that’s a rather refreshing thing, regardless of which side you come down on.”   —Ed Brayton, writer at Dispatches from the Culture Wars and 2009 recipient of the Friend of Darwin Award from the National Center for Science Education “A refreshing book with perfect sparring partners! Schieber and Rauser insightfully refute bad arguments related to atheism and also highlight issues that need more attention within the popular debate over God’s existence.”   —Trent Horn, author of Answering Atheism “An Atheist and a Christian Walk into a Bar should launch a genre. It’s a book that balances accessibility, rigor, and probing creativity, and it has the potential to bring into the mainstream the sophistication and constructive insight of academic philosophy of religion—something often sorely missing from the preachers and polemicists who hog most of the attention in the theism/atheism debate.” —Daniel Fincke, founder and primary writer of philosophy blog Camels with Hammers

From the Publisher

2016-10-06
In this 21st-century take on the long-standing tradition of philosophical dialogue, two intellectuals battle it out in the arena of ideas and witticisms.Unfortunately for readers, the resulting conversation is a rather unappealing combination of sophomoric jokes and theoretical conundrums. The work is neither insightful enough to engage those interested in the theoretical arguments behind theism and atheism, nor is it accessible enough to appeal to a broader audience. That’s not to say Rauser (Historical Theology/Taylor Seminary; Is the Atheist My Neighbor?: Rethinking Christian Attitudes Toward Atheism, 2015, etc.) and Schieber, an atheist lecturer and YouTube contributor, don’t cover weighty topics. Among those is “massive theological disagreement”—if God exists, why are ideas about his nature so thoroughly varied? Elsewhere, the question arises of why God would have created a universe that is almost entirely inhospitable toward the few sentient beings meant to worship him. Do the beauty and perfection of mathematics lead one to believe in a creating God, or is this simply a fortunate reality of existence? What does evolution teach us about the existence or nonexistence of God? Rauser and Schieber go back and forth with these and other topics but offer few conclusions. Their subject matter, however, is riddled with jokes, puns, and other attempts at humor and levity, which, if minimized, would have the desired effect of removing the loaded problem of “argument” from this age-old discussion. However, the authors take it too far. After countless lines like, “I feel sick that my slick shtick doesn’t stick,” or, “since the reader can’t see me, let the record reflect that my eyebrows are rising in incredulity,” readers will simply feel patronized. A good idea derailed for the sake of entertainment. Readers interested in this topic should turn to Gary Gutting’s Talking God: Philosophers on Belief (2016).

Kirkus Reviews