Is God a Delusion?

Eric Reitan’s book, ‘Is God a Delusion?’ is a must read. He has thought  deeply about the case against the attacks against God mounted by Dawkins, Hitchens, Dennett and the rest of the evangelical atheists.

Of all the books I have so far read on this issue, and I’ve read quite a few, this is far and away the best. His case is subtle and penetrating. Though he writes as a Christian, he is completely accepting of other beliefs provided they match his concept of the divine as loving not revengeful. He is fair to those aspects of the atheist case that deserve respect and careful consideration: he feels they make a case against superstition and fanaticism, but not against God.

Anyone who comes from an agnostic or atheist perspective should read it to get a more balanced picture of what the core of religious belief is about. Also anyone, whether they are religiously inclined or not, who is interested in becoming more able to counteract the ill-informed arguments of the atheist extremists should read this book as soon as possible. We should all be doing our bit to dilute the acid of extremism wherever we find it.

For a copy of the summary of his points on the Blackwell’s site at the time see link. For a review of Dawkins book by a Bahá’í see Steven Phelps.