Here, we conclude our four-part chapter-by-chapter response to Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion.
Links to other installments: Part I, Part II, Part III
Chapter 8 Summary
Chapter 8 is Dawkins’ argument for why religion is not just something we should dismiss and ignore but rather actively oppose. Religion is not just wrong, it’s dangerous. Continue reading
Here, we continue with our four-part chapter-by-chapter response to Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. This is part III.
Links to other installments: Part I, Part II, Part IV
Chapter 5 Summary
In chapter 5, Dawkins seeks to answer how “the anti-factual, counter-productive fantasies of religion” could have developed so universally among mankind from a Darwinian, evolutionary perspective. After discussing a few theories, Dawkins leans toward the idea that religion did not evolve because it was beneficial, but rather as a by-product of some other characteristic that contributed to survival. Continue reading
Here, we continue with our four-part chapter-by-chapter response to Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. This is part II.
Links to other installments: Part I, Part III, Part IV
Chapter 3 Summary
The purpose of chapter 3 is to disprove the various arguments in favor of God’s existence. Dawkins addresses Thomas Aquinas’ five proofs, the ontological argument, and various arguments from beauty, personal experience, scripture, and admired religious scientists, along with Pascal’s Wager, and Bayesian probabilities. Continue reading
Links to other installments: Part II, Part III, Part IV
Richard Dawkins is perhaps the most well-known of a new generation of activist atheists that includes Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and the late Christopher Hitchens. The God Delusion is his attempt to disprove the “God Hypothesis” and he hopes that “religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down.”1.
With over 3 million copies sold, The God Delusion is probably one of the most widely read and influential atheist manifestos available. It’s definitely not a new book. However, we felt compelled to address it because it has been so widely read and because its arguments, even though they are poorly constructed, continue to influence people. Continue reading
