The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins has generated a considerable amount of interest and the responses to it in both books and reviews are many and varied. To these responses is now added this welcome book that confronts with glee some of the ‘atheist myths’ that Dawkins dishes out.
David Robertson is pastor of St Peter’s Free Church of Scotland in Dundee. He originally published an open letter to Richard Dawkins on his church web site which was subsequently posted on Richard Dawkins’ own web site – where it drew a large amount of interest.
What followed from that were nine further letters that tackle some of the issues raised by The God Delusion – such as the ‘cruel God’ of the Old Testament, the science versus religion conflict and the origin of beauty without God.
Being written in letter form, the book is quite different from some of the other responses produced so far and I find that particularly refreshing. It is both serious, in challenging some of the common ideas that people use to rubbish Christianity, and also very funny in parts where humour is warranted.
The book is useful, I think, on two fronts. Firstly, for Christians, it will help us understand the basic features of this ongoing debate and perhaps assist us when talking to friends who have read The God delusion and have questions.
Secondly, it could be given prayerfully to non-Christians who want a readable book that will begin to answer some of the issues in this area. I would recommend you buy one for yourself and another for a friend.
