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"Helpful and accessible . . . highly recommended." --Alister McGrath, author, "In the Beginning"
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The new atheists are putting out new books and articles, bus adverts and TV programmes like there's no tomorrow. They've gained a large amount of public attention and media exposure - but do their arguments really hold water? Using the analogy put forward by the esteemed philosopher Anthony Flew, Michael Poole examines the new atheists' use of the 'ten leaky buckets' tactic of argumentation - presenting readers with a sum of arguments that are each individually defective, as though the cumulative effect should be persuasive. This closer look at the facts reveals that the buckets are, indeed, leaky.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 52 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
To his credit, Michael Poole makes his points clearly and with minimal pre-amble. Unfortunately, brevity leaves his arguments with nowhere to hide.
Chapter 1 is sub-titled "Down with sex!" Gosh, what sort of challenging journey is Mr Poole going to take us on? Umm .. Dawkins, Hitchens and Dennett write that religious people sometimes do wicked things. Hitler, of course, was an atheist. And as for the promised sex, the single paragraph on the subject concludes:
"Both religion and sex involve powerful feelings and, where these are abused, the results can be outstandingly vile. But, equally well, they can be outstandingly good."
Outstanding, indeed.
My favourite moment comes in Chapter 3. There's a passionate denial that Christians indoctrinate their children. To cement this concept in the reader's mind, Mr Poole tells the story of a family who mislay some shopping. The 9 year old son is encouraged to seek guidance by praying in the middle of the street. Eventually they find the missing groceries in one of the shops they had visited. Obviously, this proves both that God exists and that young children are not encouraged to believe crazy things by their religious parents.
It gets interesting later when the author promises 7 "pieces of cumulative evidence" to show God's existence. Two of these caught my eye: "Revelation of things that we could not otherwise know" and "The evidential value of religious experience, including answered prayer". Yes!! Show me this and I'll convert. Sadly .. predictably .. nothing more is said on the subject. What Mr Poole counts as "cumulative evidence" is just empty rhetoric.
I wanted a robust critique which challenged my own beliefs and prejudices. But I guess you get what you pay for. This is a cheap thin volume, and so are its contents.
Chapter 1 is sub-titled "Down with sex!" Gosh, what sort of challenging journey is Mr Poole going to take us on? Umm .. Dawkins, Hitchens and Dennett write that religious people sometimes do wicked things. Hitler, of course, was an atheist. And as for the promised sex, the single paragraph on the subject concludes:
"Both religion and sex involve powerful feelings and, where these are abused, the results can be outstandingly vile. But, equally well, they can be outstandingly good."
Outstanding, indeed.
My favourite moment comes in Chapter 3. There's a passionate denial that Christians indoctrinate their children. To cement this concept in the reader's mind, Mr Poole tells the story of a family who mislay some shopping. The 9 year old son is encouraged to seek guidance by praying in the middle of the street. Eventually they find the missing groceries in one of the shops they had visited. Obviously, this proves both that God exists and that young children are not encouraged to believe crazy things by their religious parents.
It gets interesting later when the author promises 7 "pieces of cumulative evidence" to show God's existence. Two of these caught my eye: "Revelation of things that we could not otherwise know" and "The evidential value of religious experience, including answered prayer". Yes!! Show me this and I'll convert. Sadly .. predictably .. nothing more is said on the subject. What Mr Poole counts as "cumulative evidence" is just empty rhetoric.
I wanted a robust critique which challenged my own beliefs and prejudices. But I guess you get what you pay for. This is a cheap thin volume, and so are its contents.
11 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'd urge you not to waste your money on this book.
It has nothing new or interesting to say and falls way short of doing what it sets out to achieve.
The quality of the argument goes like this; Indoctrination is not as dangerous as Dawkins says because 'anyone who will not receive the kingdom of god like a little child will never enter it' (Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17)
I could go on page by page, but life is too short!
It has nothing new or interesting to say and falls way short of doing what it sets out to achieve.
The quality of the argument goes like this; Indoctrination is not as dangerous as Dawkins says because 'anyone who will not receive the kingdom of god like a little child will never enter it' (Mark 10:15 and Luke 18:17)
I could go on page by page, but life is too short!
11 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Dawkins, Hitchin and latterly Stephen Hawking have prompted religious academics everywhere to put pen to paper to try to pick holes in their arguments and by inference, substantiate their beliefs. The size of many of these resulting books says much about the strength of their responses. This one is as brief as any and completely fails to make any substantial challenge. I would pick out two typical examples of glaring weaknesses. In considering 'Evidence against God', Poole actually states the definitive argument against God. 'The problem of reconciling pain and suffering with a loving God has often been cited as counter-evidence for God'. Very true. The genocide in earthquakes and tsunamis throw the notion of a loving, creator God clear out of the window. Presumably because he realises this, Poole goes off to discuss something else - the resurrection! Harder to prove the resurrection didn't occur than that earthquakes and tsunamis didn't occur!
The second seems trivial but goes to the heart of the religiosity which so insenses Dawkins et al. The little boy whose prayer to find the family shopping bag left at the supermarket is answered. So we are to believe that an all-powerful, loving God answers the boy's trivial prayer but didn't raise a finger to help the 250,000 innocent men women and helpless children who perished in the most horrific way in the Asian tsunami? Such stories, beloved of many Christians, merely underline the nonsense that forms the foundation of Christian belief.
The second seems trivial but goes to the heart of the religiosity which so insenses Dawkins et al. The little boy whose prayer to find the family shopping bag left at the supermarket is answered. So we are to believe that an all-powerful, loving God answers the boy's trivial prayer but didn't raise a finger to help the 250,000 innocent men women and helpless children who perished in the most horrific way in the Asian tsunami? Such stories, beloved of many Christians, merely underline the nonsense that forms the foundation of Christian belief.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
How was this even published?
I feel much, much worse off for having read any part of this book.
Please never, ever write on any topic again, it's insulting to the paper it's printed on to be wasted... Read more
Please never, ever write on any topic again, it's insulting to the paper it's printed on to be wasted... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Textilefanatic600
Unconvincing Effort, Full of Holes, Disapointing
If your looking for a reasonable argument against Atheism this is not it. A hero against the "Evil Doctor an Friends" they are not. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Sid
My Bucket's Got a Hole In It
In this short volume Michael Poole examines whether ten basic assertions by the "New Atheists" (Dawkins, Hitchens and Dennett) are individually and collectively defective. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Neutral
Don't waste your money on this book!
This book is arrant nonsense.
The author does not achieve what he says he sets out to do, and indeed seems confused about his objectives during the course of the book. Read more
The author does not achieve what he says he sets out to do, and indeed seems confused about his objectives during the course of the book. Read more
Published 9 months ago by bobbycow
One in the eye for Dawkins
A careful rebuttal of all the arguments put forward by loud-mouth Richard Dawkins and his atheist friends. Let us hope it is as widely read as their violent diatribes.
Published 10 months ago by Mr. P. I. Robbins
Useful starter on `The New Atheism'
Let's face it, the arguments of the New Atheists are very poor, and it only needs a short book to refute them. Read more
Published 16 months ago by rossuk
This isn't a book, it's a rant
I had never heard of Michael Poole when I read this book. As a "Visiting Research Fellow in Science and Religion at King's College" I guessed he would have something insightful to... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Tsuchan
Flimsy in every respect
This really won't do.
The book says absolutely nothing new or insightful with regards to atheism. Read more
The book says absolutely nothing new or insightful with regards to atheism. Read more
Published 20 months ago by G. Blackburn
Arguments against atheism by Michael Poole
The New Atheism: 10 arguments that don't hold water? By Michael Poole, Lion Hudson, Oxford UK, 2009, 96 ff
Arguments against atheism by Michael Poole
By Howard... Read more
Arguments against atheism by Michael Poole
By Howard... Read more
Published 22 months ago by Dr. H. A. Jones
The New Atheism
A book for all Christians, that clearly shows science and religion to be in harmony,not in conflict
Published on 3 May 2010 by M. P. Newman
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