- Paperback: 290 pages
- Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (1 Aug 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0195308158
- ISBN-13: 978-0195308150
- Product Dimensions: 20.6 x 13.7 x 2.3 cm
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 3,499,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Letters to Doubting Thomas: A Case for the Existence of God
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4 reviews
8 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Flawed bu Entertaining
21 Aug 2008
Format:Paperback
Stephen Layman of Seattle Pacific University has penned a spirited series of letters, between fictional correspondents Thomas and Zach, touching on various aspects of the philosophy of religion. As motivation for the exchange, Layman's Zach sets himself the task of convincing Thomas that "theism" - which he defines as belief in the necessary existence of a unique, perfectly good and omnipotent being - is a more convincing hypothesis than "naturalism" - the belief that there exists nothing beyond the physical world.
Together the pair explore a number of the factors that have traditionally been held to support or undermine the two positions, including mystical experience, the problem of necessary existence, cosmological fine-tuning, the question of free will, the problem of natural and moral evil, the appearance of design in nature, and the Euthyphro dilemma. Zach's initial statement of the issues surrounding each topic is in most cases clear and even-handed, and for this reason alone the book offers a useful introduction to the philosophy of religion for the freshman student and casual reader alike. Layman's dialog format also helps bring to life material that would otherwise often be technical and dull.
However, as each chapter develops Zach's balance quickly falls away to be replaced by a one-sided defense of theism, and Thomas rarely points out the many weaknesses and inconsistencies in his arguments (the only major exception has Thomas shooting down Zach's first attempt at framing an ontological argument for the existence of God in Chapter 9). Many of the rhetorical maneuvers Zach uses - such as appealing to the extreme claim that only a perfectly good creator can guarantee human cognitive reliability to stave off suggestions that God is morally indifferent, or insisting that naturalism cannot explain evil because it cannot explain life at all - smack more of apologetics than mainstream philosophy. And Zach's solution of the problem of evil commits him to the odd belief that (some) animals will experience life after death "if God's purposes [for them] are not fulfilled prior to death" [p. 202], a proposition that few theologians would likely embrace.
Moreover, Layman's Zach seems to be unaware that naturalists play this particular philosophical game with quite different ground rules. At one point in Chapter 8, Zach concludes a passage critical of naturalism's failure so far to explain the origin of life with the hedging remark "Let me hasten to add that if life did arise from natural causes, there is no reason for Theists to deny this" [pp. 211-212]. Far from being a point in favor of theism, most naturalists would regard this as a black mark against it. As the mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace famously retorted more than 200 years ago, "the precise difficulty with the hypothesis [of a creator]" is that "it explains everything, but predicts nothing".
Together the pair explore a number of the factors that have traditionally been held to support or undermine the two positions, including mystical experience, the problem of necessary existence, cosmological fine-tuning, the question of free will, the problem of natural and moral evil, the appearance of design in nature, and the Euthyphro dilemma. Zach's initial statement of the issues surrounding each topic is in most cases clear and even-handed, and for this reason alone the book offers a useful introduction to the philosophy of religion for the freshman student and casual reader alike. Layman's dialog format also helps bring to life material that would otherwise often be technical and dull.
However, as each chapter develops Zach's balance quickly falls away to be replaced by a one-sided defense of theism, and Thomas rarely points out the many weaknesses and inconsistencies in his arguments (the only major exception has Thomas shooting down Zach's first attempt at framing an ontological argument for the existence of God in Chapter 9). Many of the rhetorical maneuvers Zach uses - such as appealing to the extreme claim that only a perfectly good creator can guarantee human cognitive reliability to stave off suggestions that God is morally indifferent, or insisting that naturalism cannot explain evil because it cannot explain life at all - smack more of apologetics than mainstream philosophy. And Zach's solution of the problem of evil commits him to the odd belief that (some) animals will experience life after death "if God's purposes [for them] are not fulfilled prior to death" [p. 202], a proposition that few theologians would likely embrace.
Moreover, Layman's Zach seems to be unaware that naturalists play this particular philosophical game with quite different ground rules. At one point in Chapter 8, Zach concludes a passage critical of naturalism's failure so far to explain the origin of life with the hedging remark "Let me hasten to add that if life did arise from natural causes, there is no reason for Theists to deny this" [pp. 211-212]. Far from being a point in favor of theism, most naturalists would regard this as a black mark against it. As the mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace famously retorted more than 200 years ago, "the precise difficulty with the hypothesis [of a creator]" is that "it explains everything, but predicts nothing".
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Demanding but rewarding
26 Oct 2006
Format:Hardcover
In a day and age where sound bytes and cliches dominate it's nice to see a book that really makes you think. If you don't have much of a background in philosophy the book can seem daunting at times but as with all things worthwhile in the end hard work is rewarded. The author focuses his book on the issue of whether Naturalism or Theism is a better explanation of reality. In my opinion each hypothesis has its good and bad points. I don't think in the end there is a clear winner but at least I have a much better understanding of how to evaluate these two positions.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Not for Beginners -- But Well-Worth Reading
20 Feb 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Letters to Doubting Thomas" offers a concise, careful argument for God's existence. The broad structure of the argument is hardly original: basically, the book contends that certain features of the world -- the existence of contingent beings, free will, the so-called fine-tuning of the universe, moral rules, and so forth -- are better explained by theism than by naturalism. However, many of the twists and turns are new and thought-provoking.
In particular, the book makes a smart move by invoking religious experience as evidence that theism is not an ad hoc hypothesis out-of-whack with our "background information" about the world. Having demonstrated that theism has SOME prior probablity, the book considers whether theism does a better job than naturalism in explaining free will, fine-tuning, etc. The author doesn't pretend to give a knock-down proof of God's existence. However, he does make a strong case that theism has more explanatory power than naturalism, its main intellectual rival.
The book is clearly written and logically organized. That said, it is not unsophisticated and it is NOT for beginners in philosophy. The argument has many steps and I suspect the book needs to be read twice before it can be fully appreciated. I plan to read it again.
In particular, the book makes a smart move by invoking religious experience as evidence that theism is not an ad hoc hypothesis out-of-whack with our "background information" about the world. Having demonstrated that theism has SOME prior probablity, the book considers whether theism does a better job than naturalism in explaining free will, fine-tuning, etc. The author doesn't pretend to give a knock-down proof of God's existence. However, he does make a strong case that theism has more explanatory power than naturalism, its main intellectual rival.
The book is clearly written and logically organized. That said, it is not unsophisticated and it is NOT for beginners in philosophy. The argument has many steps and I suspect the book needs to be read twice before it can be fully appreciated. I plan to read it again.
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