I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is the book version of the authors' 12-point presentation to demonstrate step-by-step that Christianity is true.
Reading this book as an atheist I found the first half of the book particularly hard going, where they attempt to demonstrate from first principles that God does exist. This is not because they tackle particularly difficult concepts, or because they write in a hard-to-understand way - they don't. Rather it's because the philosophical and scientific objections to their point of view are often dealt with in a rather patronising and smug way, sometimes missing the point of the objection. For example, a few scientific theories are described as "couterintuitive" or "against common sense", and therefore it takes more faith to believe them than Christianity. Unfortunately, as anyone who has ever studied Quantum Mechanics or Relativity knows, just because something is counterintuitive doesn't mean it's not accurate.
After about my fifth exaggerated reaction to something they had written (clasping my hand over my eyes, yelping out loud, etc), I thought to myself "this must be how it feels to be a Christian reading The God Delusion". The style of writing in The God Delusion can be patronising and smug at times, and simplifies theological objections to Dawkins' point of view. But just as I would highly recommend The God Delusion to anyone, and insist they force their way through the bits they don't like, I did the same with this book.
Once the authors have demonstrated to their own satisfaction that this is a monotheistic universe (and therefore Judaism, Christianity or Islam are the only religions that could possibly be correct) they then start to go through the bible and explain why they believe Christianity is true. At this point, I was very pleased that I'd managed to slog through the first half - because the second half was extremely engaging and made its point in a very accessible way.
The old testament and the new testament are both discussed, and their reliability assessed. The life of Jesus and whether he really was the son of God is also covered (in quite some detail), as well as the reliability of the Apostles and other witnesses. The whole second half of the book was a lot more convincing than the first half, and really gave me a much better understanding of Christianity (and Christians!).
Overall, I did find it frustrating to read - but rewarding. I would recommend to Christians, atheists, and those of non-Christian faiths as an insight into Christian beliefs. Will it convert anyone to Christianity? Possibly, but it didn't convert me.
Reading this book as an atheist I found the first half of the book particularly hard going, where they attempt to demonstrate from first principles that God does exist. This is not because they tackle particularly difficult concepts, or because they write in a hard-to-understand way - they don't. Rather it's because the philosophical and scientific objections to their point of view are often dealt with in a rather patronising and smug way, sometimes missing the point of the objection. For example, a few scientific theories are described as "couterintuitive" or "against common sense", and therefore it takes more faith to believe them than Christianity. Unfortunately, as anyone who has ever studied Quantum Mechanics or Relativity knows, just because something is counterintuitive doesn't mean it's not accurate.
After about my fifth exaggerated reaction to something they had written (clasping my hand over my eyes, yelping out loud, etc), I thought to myself "this must be how it feels to be a Christian reading The God Delusion". The style of writing in The God Delusion can be patronising and smug at times, and simplifies theological objections to Dawkins' point of view. But just as I would highly recommend The God Delusion to anyone, and insist they force their way through the bits they don't like, I did the same with this book.
Once the authors have demonstrated to their own satisfaction that this is a monotheistic universe (and therefore Judaism, Christianity or Islam are the only religions that could possibly be correct) they then start to go through the bible and explain why they believe Christianity is true. At this point, I was very pleased that I'd managed to slog through the first half - because the second half was extremely engaging and made its point in a very accessible way.
The old testament and the new testament are both discussed, and their reliability assessed. The life of Jesus and whether he really was the son of God is also covered (in quite some detail), as well as the reliability of the Apostles and other witnesses. The whole second half of the book was a lot more convincing than the first half, and really gave me a much better understanding of Christianity (and Christians!).
Overall, I did find it frustrating to read - but rewarding. I would recommend to Christians, atheists, and those of non-Christian faiths as an insight into Christian beliefs. Will it convert anyone to Christianity? Possibly, but it didn't convert me.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
Ian Hislop once wrote: "I've tried atheism and I can't stick at it: I keep having doubts. That probably sums up my position. Edward Norman once said ... 'You're in a long tradition of Anglican agnosticism'. If I'm a Don't Know, I'm a C of E Don't Know."
The title of this book made me recall Hislop's comment, and I hoped that it would perhaps be in a somewhat similarly lighthearted vein. Not a whit of it however; it takes quite a fundamentalist and absolutist position, and is full of fallacious reasoning and specious argument, for example trying to sneak in Intelligent Design under the guise of an Anthropic Principle.
Only one section of this book has any real validity, namely chapters 9 & 10 considering the New Testament and other early Christian writings. In an age where every ill-informed person who has read a bit of Dan Brown becomes a self-appointed "expert" on the development of the Canon of the New Testament and Trinitarian theology, it's nice to see a counter to this, but there plenty of better books to read on such subjects.
The title of this book made me recall Hislop's comment, and I hoped that it would perhaps be in a somewhat similarly lighthearted vein. Not a whit of it however; it takes quite a fundamentalist and absolutist position, and is full of fallacious reasoning and specious argument, for example trying to sneak in Intelligent Design under the guise of an Anthropic Principle.
Only one section of this book has any real validity, namely chapters 9 & 10 considering the New Testament and other early Christian writings. In an age where every ill-informed person who has read a bit of Dan Brown becomes a self-appointed "expert" on the development of the Canon of the New Testament and Trinitarian theology, it's nice to see a counter to this, but there plenty of better books to read on such subjects.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review
(What's this?)
An interesting and thought-provoking book. A reviewer says it is a series of 12 syllogistic arguments but I can't find this format in the book. It does follow a 12 point progression but this list is not all syllogisms. For instance, 'The opposite of true is false' or 'The New Testament says Jesus claimed to be God' are statements of fact. Similarly, for example, chapter 12 asks the question if Jesus rose from the dead. The authors address a series of statements and questions relating to the issue and offer their perspective on them. This is the general pattern of the book.
Of course, for people who don't believe the New Testament is an historical document then it doesn't matter what position the authors take.
It isn't light reading but raises some challenging questions and so is worth the effort if you are in any way interested in the subject.
Of course, for people who don't believe the New Testament is an historical document then it doesn't matter what position the authors take.
It isn't light reading but raises some challenging questions and so is worth the effort if you are in any way interested in the subject.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A self help book for faith
The book is well written and clearly tells you in each section what you will be reading about. Although I wouldn't say I found this an enjoyable or in some respect easy book to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Elizabeth Meades
If you are hoping for truly robust arguments, this may not be the...
I turned to this book having read many books on popular science and looking for something to balance the debate. I'm not a scientist and I grew up with the Christian faith. Read more
Published 4 months ago by A. I. McCulloch
Well Reasoned Response
Norman Geisler is a theologian who is always worth a read, and in this volume he is joined by Frank Turek who has a great appreciation for apologetics. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Stephen Redman
Food for thought, won't convince a hardened atheist, riddled with...
This book essentially proves 'historical' Jesus. It attempts to argue the supernatural aspects of Jesus from historical evidence. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Francis
Makes the reader think, which is good.
I do come to this book as a Christian - perhaps on the liberal side as it is in my understanding that there are many paths to God, the Divine and that Christianity while my religon... Read more
Published 5 months ago by "Smith" Reader
The fool says in his heart, "there is no God."
The psalmist made this observation nearly 3000 years ago. Many today think it's smart and liberating to declare that God is dead: indeed, that He never was. Read more
Published on 18 Mar 2010 by Big Kay
A great advertisement for atheism
As an atheist with an open mind to be proven wrong, I read this book on recommendation from my Christian brother. Read more
Published on 6 Feb 2009 by Hamster
Disappointing and dangerous
I had hoped for something better from this book. In their introduction to "I Don't Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist", Norman Geisler and Frank Turek promise an objective and... Read more
Published on 25 Dec 2008 by Steve Benner
A compelling read
I found this book to be fascinating. Geisler and Turek apply reason, logic and scientific method to take on some of the 'hot potato' issues in the Christian / Non-Christian... Read more
Published on 19 Aug 2007 by Mr. R. Hyde
A captivating read
The authors clearly set out the information and evidence that leads to the conclusion that 'I Don't Have Enough Faith To Be An Atheist' and it takes much less faith to believe... Read more
Published on 4 Aug 2005
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