Another great book for rational skeptics.
Stephen Jay Gould once referred to science and religion as Non-overlapping magisteria (NOMA). However, religious texts make claims about the universe that are subject to the same scrutiny as similar claims for other sources. This book treats those claims the same as any other, subjecting them to rational skepticism. They don't hold up (nor do they for even most religious people, unless we're talking about young earth creationist fundamentalists). Victor Stenger takes it a step further and treats the Judeo-Christian-Islamic god as a hypothesis of how the universe works, and then (through various arguments) sees how that hypothesis holds up when tested (as every good scientist does). His arguments range from logical expressions (for instance, logically deducing that omnipotence is impossible...either god can create a rock he cannot lift or can't create a rock he cannot lift, both options demonstrating omnipotence is impossible), to more practical arguments (the overwhelming lack of evidence that SHOULD be there...where we can take absence of evidence as evidence of absence in the same way we can about other claims, such as the Loch Ness Monster). All of his arguments are well reasoned and well cited. Like other authors have, he brings up the "God of the Gaps" argument used by some to justify their beliefs, and completely defeats it. He doesn't just limit himself to abstract arguments, but shows (dogmatically speaking) the Judeo-Christian-Islamic god most certainly does not exist, but that it is possible for other gods to exist. But that isn't an open invitation to the paranormal, as he shows how any such god must go out of his/her/its way to not be detected, never interfering in the universe, which makes such a deity as good as useless. Basically, the only hope left for any kind of god is given to the deist god. However, even that god is challenged, as Stenger successfully demonstrates how the universe could (and did) come about on its own without any outside creator (by using the laws of thermodynamics, countering the misunderstandings of those laws that have been used to try to prove a god's existence). I was particularly fascinated to find out that the total energy of the universe equals 0 (therefore no violation of the 1st law), and that maximum possibly entropy is increasing (via dark energy) faster than maximum total entropy (meaning the universe started out at total entropy, by the expansion has created more and more room for order, and therefore no violation of the 2nd law). Like the writings of other New Atheists (a term properly described in his other book, appropriately titled "New Atheism"), he is firm in his position, but well reasoned and more than willing (unlike fundamentalists) to being proved wrong. While I find his position appropriately confrontational (he's not going to let logical fallacies off the hook, or give any position automatic deference), he's at all times respectful in the way he goes about it (unless you consider "respect" to be giving equal weight to all arguments, in which case he's not...because not all arguments DO have equal weighting...like with the flat Earthers, for instance. A person is to be respected, but an argument is afforded no such right automatically...it actually has to hold up under scrutiny). Whereas Richard Dawkins is an evolutionary biologist, Stenger is a particle physicist, so he gives a bit of a different perspective on the argument.
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Overview
This edition includes a new Foreword by CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling GOD IS NOT GREAT.In the paperback's afterword, Victor Stenger addresses criticisms of his New York Times bestselling first edition.
Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology. In the meantime, science has sat on the sidelines and quietly watched this game of words march up and down the field. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our ...