Atheism's New Clothes: Exloring And Exposing The Claims Of The New Atheists

by David Glass

Overview

In recent years, the publication of best-selling books by Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens has given rise to the New Atheism. For the New Atheists, belief in God is a delusion because it is based on faith rather than evidence, and because science has removed the need for God; and it is a dangerous delusion because it is responsible for much of the suffering throughout the world. These characteristics distinguish New Atheism from other forms of atheism. Drawing on recent work in the philosophy of religion, David Glass addresses the issues raised by the New Atheists, responds to their objections, and presents a positive case for Christian theism. He shows that the New Atheists fail to engage seriously with the best theistic arguments, and that science, far from undermining belief in God, provides some of the best reasons for such belief. His valuable analysis also explores how faith and reason interact; miracles; the relationship between religion, morality and evil; the possibility of revelation from God; and the historical value of the Gospels and the reality of the resurrection of Jesus.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844745715
Publisher:	IVP
Publication date:	05/18/2012
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	6.18(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

Preface 11

Abbreviations 17

1 A new kind of atheism 19

A new Enlightenment 19

What is the New Atheism? 20

The emperor's new clothes 25

The New Theism 28

A look ahead 29

Notes 31

2 Is faith irrational? 34

Faith, evidence and irrationality 35

The New Atheists as theologians 38

Faith and reason: a selection of views 41

Thomas Aquinas 42

Richard Swinburne 44

Paul Helm 45

Alvin Plantinga 46

Faith and reason: some key points 49

Belief that and belief in 49

Reason, evidence and belief 51

Are there limits to reason? 52

Faith and its consequences 56

Faith and evil 57

Faith and child abuse 59

Conclusion 60

Notes 61

3 Does science undermine belief in God? 65

God: a redundant explanation? 66

What science can and cannot explain 69

The separation of science and religion 77

Science, religion and incomprehensibility 80

Miracles 83

Conclusion 87

Notes 88

4 Evidence for God - Part I: the existence and beginning of the universe 93

Atheism, agnosticism and celestial teapots 95

What kind of evidence? 99

The existence of the universe 101

The beginning of the universe 104

Conclusion 114

Notes 115

5 Evidence for God - Part 2: the order of the universe and the existence of conscious minds 120

An orderly universe 121

Fine-tuning 124

Standard responses to fine-tuning 126

A multiverse response to fine-tuning 130

The conscious mind 137

Conclusion 143

Notes 144

6 Dawkins's dilemma 150

Hume versus Darwin 151

Dawkins's arguments against design 153

Explaining or explaining away? 158

Does Darwinism explain away evidence for design in biology? 160

Why the Darwinian argument doesn't work 164

Why the ultimate Boeing 747 gambit doesn't work 166

Dawkins's problems with probability 169

Conclusion 172

Notes 172

7 Evolution and the origins of religion 178

Genes, memes and belief in God 179

Evaluating the Dennett-Dawkins account 184

Do evolutionary explanations of belief undermine belief? 189

Do evolutionary explanations of atheism undermine atheism? 195

Conclusion 200

Notes 201

8 Religion, morality and evil 204

Religion, atheism and evil 205

Atheism and morality 209

God and morality 216

The problem of evil 220

Conclusion 227

Notes 228

9 God and revelation 233

No God, no revelation 235

Reasons for a revelation 236

Evaluating a revelation 238

General objections 241

External confirmation 245

Morality and the Bible 249

Conclusion 259

Notes 260

10 Jesus, the Gospels and the resurrection 265

The historical Jesus 266

The gospel truth 268

Chinese whispers 271

Resurrection: the facts 278

Resurrection: foolishness, wisdom and the cross 285

Resurrection: explaining the facts 286

Conclusion 291

Notes 291

11 Science, God and the meaning of life 297

Meaning and purpose in the New Atheism 298

Life without God 301

Life with God 304

Notes 308

Index of names 310

Index of subjects 314