The Godless Delusion: A Catholic Challenge to Modern Atheism Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a book written in response to the onslaught of the "new" atheism. Nothing new, right? Well, not exactly. This is a book critiquing atheism from a Catholic presuppositional point of view. Presuppositionalism is a theory of apologetics created by Reformed theologian Cornelius Van til which roughly speaking argues according to how one's worldview fits with teh data. Presuppositional apologetics has mostly been relegated only to reformed circles, so the fact that this book is Catholic presuppositional makes it very intriguing.
Now admittedly, presuppostional apologetics puts a tremendous burden of proof on the one using it. For you must be able to articulate carefully the opponent's worldview and be able to show that it is LOGICALLY IMPOSSIBLE to reconcile their worldview with reality. The problem is that anyone can always come up with some other way to mold the data to fit their worldview, so it becomes difficult to definitively demonstrate your claim with presuppositional apologetics. However, the aim of this book is the new atheists, not classic or intellectual atheists. When this is considered, I think presuppositional apologetics is the perfect way to go about refuting their claims.
The authors look at things like morality, meaning, knowledge, love, free will, and a host of other things that we all admit exist and are real. They then show that naturalism can not account for the existence of these things. That is the basic idea of presuppositional apologetics. For example, if naturalism is true, in what are objective moral values grounded? If it is evolutionary survival, then it is not objective. The authors look at other possibilities, such as theories of harm or consent, and they show that these theroies fall short in a naturalistic world. One thing I was particularily impressed by was the argument against reason and knowledge given naturalism. Essentially, naturalism implies that thoughts or ideas that we have are simply neurons firing in the brain. Fair enough. However, consider the following two statements. 1) If A, then B. 2) A. Now statements 1 and 2 are simply neurons firing in teh brain. But according to the rules of logic, the truth of B is guranteed. Yet B is simply a third neuron firing in our brains. Why is it the case that two neurons firing automatically imply that a third neuron must fire? In other words, how do those two neurons firing necessitate the firing of the third? Because there is no reality to those statements other than the firing of neurons. They don't mean anything; they're just neurons firing. I thought this was a brilliant way to illustrate the non-material aspect of not only logic, but our thoughts as well.
My one dissipointment with the book was the lack of any presuppositional apologetics that were specifically Catholic. True, the book does contain many quotes from teh Catechism, but these are things that all our Christian brothers and sisters can agree with. In particular, I was hoping for a discussion of suffering. Catholic theology has a deep and rich tehology of suffering which perfectly incorporates it into our worldview. Yet I can not think of anything that is so pointless to the naturalist than suffering. It seems that the naturalist would not even attempt to make any meaning out of suffering.
Otherwise, this is an excellent, well written, and easy to read book critiquing new atheism. It will give you new tools to discuss with your naturalist friends, as well as give teh naturalist new questions that they most likely have not pondered.

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Full-Scale Frontal Assault on New Atheists Stronghold..."...With remorseless logic, wit, skill, and boundless, joyful enthusiasm, The Godless Delusion lays waste that stronghold, routs the enemy, occupies the high ground for Christ their king, and dares anyone to retake it." Ronald K. Tacelli, SJ, professor of philosophy, Boston College, co-author of Handbook of Christian ApologeticsIn this hard-hitting book, apologetics experts Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley help Christians to wake up to the crisis of godlessness, alerting them to the imperative need to take seriously atheism's challenge, while learning how to effectively engage in today's atheistic debate."Patrick Madrid and Kenneth Hensley look at the contradictions of the atheists with themselves, showing that above all, their arguments against God are at embarrassing odds with their own everyday experience and actions, their own deepest assumptions, and their own moral compass." Benjamin Wiker, Ph.D., author of Ten Books that Screwed Up the World and Answering the New Atheism"The Godless Delusion takes on the new atheism of our times and pulls the rug right out from underneath it. I wholeheartedly recommend this work of apologetics for anyone who is serious about defending our faith in the existence of God." Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs"The Godless Delusion is a clear and compelling critique of naturalism and the new atheism that rests upon it. Madrid and Hensley show that the secularist's pose of moral and rational superiority is undermined by his own fundamental philosophical assumptions." Edward Feser, Ph.D., author of The Last Superstition: A Refutation of the New Atheism

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