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Why I Am Not a Christian: Four Conclusive Reasons to Reject the Faith
 
 
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Why I Am Not a Christian: Four Conclusive Reasons to Reject the Faith [Kindle Edition]

Richard Carrier (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews) |
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Product Description

Product Description

Dr. Richard Carrier, world renowned philosopher and historian, explains the four reasons he does not accept the Christian religion, describing four facts of the world that, had they been different, he would believe. He is brief, clear, and down to earth, covering the whole topic in under ninety pages of easy-to-read explanation. Those four reasons are God's silence, God's inaction, the lack of evidence, and the way the universe looks exactly like a godless universe would, and not at all like a Christian universe would, even down to its very structure. Dr. Carrier addresses all the usual replies to these claims, in ways you might not have heard before, relying on his wide experience in debating and studying these issues all over the world for more than fifteen years. A perfect book to introduce yourself, or your friends, to why fewer educated people are embracing Christianity than ever before. Ideal for handing out to door-to-door missionaries.

Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 152 KB
  • Print Length: 94 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1456588850
  • Publisher: Philosophy Press (28 Feb 2011)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B004Q3RIFW
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #11,513 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Richard Carrier
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Fabulous!! 24 Jan 2012
Format:Kindle Edition
This book, although short, is one of the best things that I've read. Yes, really.
It is so overwhelmingly compelling in its argument that it seems impossible that any intelligent Christian could read it and not have their illusions shattered.
Of course, none will read it and the author is pushing against an open door with me, but unlike almost every "God / No god" argument that I've read, this one is so powerful, so dispassionate and so well argued that it's hard to imagine anyone disagreeing with it!
I can't recommend it highly enough.
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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
An excellent little book from Richard Carrier
Argued in a compelling, logical, persuasive way, it is inexorable.
He says there are four main reasons he cannot be a Christian and many smaller ones.
However if the four main ones were to be removed, he would convert there and then.
He then goes on to set up a logical argument for each one, using first an example set at human level before raising it to the level of God and then showing that it doesn't work.
His logic is inescapable, and he anticipates the "yes but" answers of believers who will try to say you can't do this sort of thing where God is concerned.
Brilliantly clever and highly recommended
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Amazon.com:  21 reviews
80 of 89 people found the following review helpful
A Great Intellectual Appetizer 9 Mar 2011
By J. Gomez - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
Why I am Not a Christian by Richard Carrier

Why I am Not a Christian is a fantastic brief account of why Dr. Carrier rejects the Christian religion. His four main reasons are: God's silence, God's inaction, the lack of evidence, and the debunking of the fine tuning argument. This short book of less than 90 pages is composed of the following six chapters: Why This Book, God is Silent, God is Inert, Wrong Evidence, Wrong Universe and a Conclusion.

Positives:
1. It's a book by Dr. Carrier so you know it's well written and well thought out.
2. A brief intellectual appetizer. I like that.
3. A direct logical response to the question, "Why I am not a Christian."
4. Great quotes. One thing that I admire most about Dr. Carrier is his ability to convey his thoughts in a lucid manner. Consider the following thought, "The fact that believers can't agree on the content of God's message or desires also refutes the theory that he wants us to be clear on these things." You see what I mean.
5. Great defense of all his positions.
6. I always learn something new from Dr. Carrier. Always thought-provoking.
7. Priced right, an eloquent essay at a fair price. Worth it!

Negatives:
1. Having to wait for Dr. Carrier's next book, " On the Historicity of Jesus Christ."

In summary, I enjoyed this short book. It should be placed at every hotel and motel room. I think people would get a lot more out of it. Dr. Carrier proposes four reasons why he is not a Christian and they all hit the mark. A short but satisfactory book as every great appetizer should be.

Further suggestions: "Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism" by the same author is fantastic, "Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists..." by Dan Barker, "Decoding the Language of God: Can a Scientist Really Be a Believer?..." by George C. Cunningham, "Christian No More: On Leaving Christianity, Debunking Christianity, And Embracing Atheism And Freethinking..." by Jeffrey Mark, and "Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity..." by John Loftus.
53 of 59 people found the following review helpful
What I've been waiting for--something actually useful. 19 April 2011
By Greg - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Let me get the snark out of the way: Dr. Carrier has no shortage of ego, from the rather self-congratulatory way he introduces the book to his choice of book title (historically I think more people have been more curious as to why Bertrand Russell was not a Christian: Why I Am Not A Christian And Other Essays On Religion And Related Subjects)

Having said that, Carrier's confidence this time seems very well-placed. Not only is his reasoning sound, but his arguments are forceful. Having been an educated evangelical Christian for a couple of decades, I could hear the still small voice in my head formulating arguments contra some of the things Carrier was stating, but at some point it's all too obvious that those "arguments" amount to little more than fancy rhetorical footwork. Any idea that must be propped up by an ever more Byzantine, bizarre Rube-Goldberg scaffolding of ad hoc speculation should perhaps best be permitted to topple.

Nowhere in the book was I more impressed than when Carrier took what might have been a labored and complex argument about the authorship and credibility of the New Testament and through the skillful use of analogy successfully set aside that entire argument. It was a brilliant conceit that anyone could follow, regardless their state of biblical literacy, and only those hopelessly committed to nonsense could fail to be swayed by it.

Let me praise the book, too, for its admirable brevity. We atheists, being mostly rather (and maybe rather TOO) cerebral, create these often dry, complicated tomes...for each other. There's nothing wrong with that, but there is no doubt a world of Christians being tormented by skepticism and doubt, being too intelligent and having too much integrity to take many of their faith's claims seriously much longer, who would benefit from persuasive information. Carrier here provides a paradigmatic example of what might be accomplished.

Finally, Carrier ends the book on the same wonderfully up-beat and challenging note that he struck in his magnum opus, Sense and Goodness Without God: A Defense of Metaphysical Naturalism.
36 of 39 people found the following review helpful
Short and sweet! 10 Jun 2011
By ken - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a former believer, i wondered how much bang Mr. Carrier could deliver in under a hundred pages. Apparently, quite a bit! The first chapter is a concise and unique distillation of the arguments from nonbelief and the hiddenness of god. The second is a fresh restatement of the problem of evil, and the strangely obvious conclusion that god never appears to do anything...ever! The third gives some excellent reasons to be skeptical of the accounts of Jesus' miracles, and the fourth shows how different our universe would look if Christian theism were, in fact, true. The breezy style of this book, at first reading, belies the power of these arguments, but, man, they sneak up on you! Since deconverting, I've been looking for the theological "killing joke" - that thing you could say to a believer that would slowly but ineluctably open their eyes about their beliefs. This book might just be it!!
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Popular Highlights

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&quote;
So a God who wanted us to make an informed choice would give us all the information we needed, and not entrust fallible, sinful, contradictory agents to convey a confused mess of ambiguous, poorly supported claims. Therefore, the fact that God hasnt spoken to us directly, and hasnt given us all the same, clear message, and the same, clear answers, is enough to prove Christianity false. &quote;
Highlighted by 71 Kindle users
&quote;
The fact that believers cant agree on the content of Gods message or desires also refutes the theory that he wants us to be clear on these things. &quote;
Highlighted by 59 Kindle users
&quote;
The logically inevitable fact is, if the Christian God existed, we would all hear from God himself the same message of salvation, and we would all hear, straight from God, all the same answers to all the same questions. &quote;
Highlighted by 59 Kindle users

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