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Title: I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
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Manufacturer: Crossway Books
List Price: $15.99
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| I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Crossway Books Difficult Not to Believe in the One True God | Does it take less faith to believe that some supernatural help caused the universe into existence? Does it take less faith to believe some Supernatural Being rules the natural world? What is Faith based upon? The authors, Norman Geisler and Frank Turek make the argument that a Faith in a Theistic God is more logical and more consistent with scientific observation of the Universe. Geisler's text book titled Apologetics is a book defending the Christianity Theistic God and doctrine through philosophical logic. Philosophical logic is used in brief to dismiss Hume's arguments against the supernatural and Locke's argument about perception and knowledge. Both arguments are considered cornerstones to the defense of Atheism. The first one hundred ninety pages of this work make the argument that Atheism is not logical based on what we know. The remaining two-hundred pages are more Christian apologetics. Why Theism is more credible then pantheism or polytheism? The Authors then make the argument that Christianity is more credible then Islam or Judaism. The authors defend the definition of a theistic God as described in the Old and New Testament. The book demonstrates the New Testament is consistent with history. The authorship came out in a timely manner. The books of the Bible have been proven reliable. The facts are credible.
Geisler argues that scientist have observed a static but expanding universe. This means the universe had a physical beginning. He attempts to make the argument that the Big Bang theory does not hold up to scrutiny. Where did the substance to the Big Bang come from? Does it mean nothing exploded into something? Theistic belief would one believes that God always existed. An Atheist belief would mean substance of some sort always existed or did not exist but came into existence while nothing existed. The Authors make the argument that it is easier to believe in a Creator then the other options. The Authors also make the argument for intelligent design and the complexity of creation. Darwin's theory of evolution is dismissed; the authors make arguments against macroevolution while supporting microevolution.
The title of the book is catchy but misleading. To be true to its title the author should limit it argument to the difference between absolute truth and relativism. This book makes it seem like all Atheist have a relativistic World perspective. While I believe the debate is which person holds the truth on how the universe operates and to how it comes into existence. The author should have stuck to the arguments that Atheism is not consistent with scientific observation and logic. Geisler has written a book on Christian apologetics and an encyclopedia on Christian apologetics; he should left more of the Christian Apologetics in those texts and concentrated more arguments why a belief in God is easier then not. I give the book three stars based on these observations.
| | I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Crossway Books Excellent book with only minor flaws. | This is an excellent, witty book that has been a pleasure to read. As a Christian, I am grateful for a book I can refer friends to when the don't believe in Jesus. It is strong and does exactly what it claims: establishes that Christianity is the most reasonable set of beliefs available.
My only concern is that there were a few arguments included that had obvious flaws in them. Since they were part of a larger set of arguments, each of which stood on its own, they didn't impact the strength of what was presented, but it did disturb me. I would rather have air-tight arguments than good sounding arguments with flaws. Overall, however, the argument for Christianity presented is solid and compelling. I would recommend this book to anyone who is curious about the basis for faith in Christianity. | | I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Crossway Books there is no certain proof.. | that God exists. That is why belief in God is called "faith".
But no one can prove He does not exist. That is called "common sense".
Let's sum up what should be obvious to everyone about this debate:
1. The existence of God can not be proven
2. Evolution can not be proven.( Don't quote piltdown man or carbon dating of fossils,as these and all other "proofs" of evolution could be hoaxes and/or frauds, or misconstrued conclusions. No one was around "billions" of years ago to verify the beginning of the universe, the earth, and later the beginning of cavemen or whatever the evolutionists would call early man).
3.For every proof religion can give, evolutionists can refute(they say)
4. Whatever proof evolution can give, religion can dispute( usually using Scripture as the source).
So, what are you to believe?
This evening, look out into the star-filled sky. Ask yourself this:
Is this the work of a Creator, or is this just a bunch of "stuff" that coincidentally self-generated? What does your "gut instinct" tell you?
But remember: what you decide could have eternal consequences. Choose well. | | I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Crossway Books Great Book | | This is perhaps one of the greatest tools one can ask for in being equipped to deal with questions and possible doubts of one's own christian faith but it also equips you to deal with others who would present questions and doubts as to why you belive what you believe as relates to christianity. | | I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Crossway Books Not the book you might think... | It should be made clear in the beginning whom this book is for: it is not for the philosophical or scientific atheist, nor is it for someone who is familiar with classic Christian apology. The arguments this book contains have all appeared before, and many have been discussed, refuted, or otherwise addressed elsewhere, and in much greater depth. Many of the subjects in the book are broached with little care and less thoroughness, such that if you've encountered books on these subjects separately, their treatment here will seem minimal at best.
This is, instead, a book for the closet Christian, someone waiting to have their faith convinced back into them, and who has little to no grounding in traditional philosophy. It is also a book for young debaters looking to brush up on their technique before their next go-around, someone looking to make quick points, rather than someone looking for a lasting basis of belief.
The authors goal is to build a sequential case for a creator, and then upon that prove that creator to be the Trinity of modern Christian belief. Unfortunately, the logic for the initial steps isn't satisfying or thorough, which leaves the atheist with no basis to move on. As the book progresses, the authors repeatedly affirm that they have successfully proven a theist god, and use this as sole buttress of many later points, so that those that feel the theism point still unsatisfactorily addressed will find much of the later reasoning hollow. Also, as mentioned in previous reviews, the authors too frequently wish to have their logic and eat it too, setting aside logical objections they actively used against their opponents when they contradict their own case. In one prime example of this irony, they use the Christian Old Testament to prove Jesus as the Messiah, then use his sayings as collected in the New Testament to prove the Old Testament.
As mentioned, many of the subjects here have been adequately addressed elsewhere, from atheistic morality (which gets perhaps the saddest short-shrift) to the Kalam Cosmological Argument (which is brought out from under the rug, flashed about, then swept back under all in a little more than a page). The reader, if consulting this book alone, will get a comfortingly/terrifyingly one-sided view of these issues which is repeatedly affirmed as logically sound by the harrying authorial voice.
This is, perhaps, the most frustrating aspect of this book: the blustering, smug, and frequently insulting authorial voice. These authors clearly honed their abilities in debate, and the relentless point-scoring and eerily-similar debate war stories become wearisome by the half-way mark. Like many other speakers of this type, their anecdotes are filled with shocked silences as the speaker wittily and roundly demolishes his hapless straw-stuffed opponent. This is courtroom-show melodrama, and like many other things written for live argument, the rhetoric doesn't quite convert itself to the more stoic arena of the written word, where time is on the reader's side, and a small amount of research can dash a point so dashingly scored.
All these objections, however, would not be enough to make the book disappointing. After all, it is no different than what I've seen of the worst of the atheistic literature. Rather, it is disappointing because this book was recommended to me as one of the better books on apology recently. If this is indeed the case, then I cannot help but be disappointed for apology. The best argumentative literature should raise the discourse above name calling, and address issues with mutual respect, and with an air to ferret some degree of truth from the proceedings. This book never approaches such high-minded discourse.
Instead, we get affirmations that teaching evolution turns children into criminals (yes, this is actually said, straight out) and that college professors amount to some mystical relativist brainwashing cult (this isn't hard to extrapolate either). If you are a genuine seeker of information on the real debate between the theistic and atheistic world-views, you owe it to yourself to look elsewhere for your sources. If, however, you're a Christian whose faith is in doubt, you can hardly have a more comforting book than this. | | I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist by Crossway Books Product Description | | I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist argues that Christianity requires the least faith of all worldviews because it is the most reasonable. The authors lay out the evidence for truth, God, and the Bible in logical order and in a readable, non-technical, engaging style. A valuable aid to those interested in examining the reasonableness of the Christian faith, Geisler and Turek provide a firm challenge to the prior beliefs of doubters and skeptics. |
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