Probably the most popular atheist of today is Richard Dawkins. In 1976 Dawkins published The Selfish Gene, and since that time has campaigned actively for atheism. In 2006 he released a book titled The God Delusion which is a vicious and hostile attack on all of religion and those who believe in God. We have had several articles in this journal on Dawkins and his claims and diatribes against the Bible and belief in God, and hopefully have motivated some of our readers to think and re-examine the things Dawkins says. The problem with our doing this is that we are small potatoes. What right does a lowly high school science teacher have to criticize an Oxford professor acclaimed by his peers to be the top evolutionist of our day?

Regardless of what your answer might be to that last question, the same cannot be said of Alister McGrath. Dr. McGrath is also a professor at Oxford and is a biophysicist. What he does in this book is to take Dawkin's arguments point by point and basically destroys them. Michael Ruse who is a well known atheist philosopher says "The God Delusion makes me embarrassed to be an atheist, and the McGraths show why."

This is a short book--only 118 pages. It has four chapters, each of them taken from Dawkin's material. The McGraths clearly show why Dawkins is wrong, and does so in remarkably clear ways. Commenting on Dawkins incredible ignorance of the Bible, the McGraths say "Imagine someone holding forth on biology whose only knowledge of the subject is the Book of British Birds, and you have a rough idea of what it feels like to read Richard Dawkins on theology" (page 22). The McGraths show mistake after mistake in Dawkins material, and answer questions about the origin of religion, whether religion is evil, and whether science has disproven God.

We recommend this book very highly. I would give it to anyone who has read Dawkins and feel he has something significant to say about the existence of God. You cannot argue with the McGraths' credentials or the content of this book. It is very well done.

Back to Contents Does God Exist?, NovDec07.