If you're looking for a response to the New Atheism which is scholarly yet readable look no further than God is Great, God is Good: Why Believing in God is Reasonable and Responsible. In an earlier post I listed the contributors and the chapter titles. But now it's here and I really like it. I quickly read the first chapter by William Lane Craig entitled "Richard Dawkins on Arguments for God." This was fairly easy since I'm familiar with much of Craig's arguments. But the gloves came off when Craig finished up his discussion of the ontological argument with this:"Dawkins also chorltes, 'I've forgotten the details, but I once piqued a gathering of theologians and philosophers by adapting the ontological argument to prove that pigs can fly. They felt the need to resort to Modal Logic to prove that I was wrong.' But this is just embarrassing. The ontological argument is an exercise in modal logic--the logic of the possible and the necessary. I can just imagine Dawkins making a silly ass of himself at this professional conference with his spurious parody, just as he similarly embarrassed himself at the Templeton Foundation conference in Cambridge with his flyweight objection to the teleological argument." (30)
The New Atheism gets a lot of press these days. But from most of it I see more ridicule than refutation. Nonetheless questions are raised and some objections deserve an answer. Here is a handy volume that will provide those answers. Each chapter also includes suggestions for further reading. I'll probably do a proper review at a later date.
It is a paperback with 265 pages and sells for $19.00.
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