Book Review: The Dawkins Delusion?

Alister McGrath’s The Dawkins Delusion? Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine is an excellent critique of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. In four brilliant chapters, McGrath shows the absolute paucity of Dawkins’ fundamentalist atheism. As McGrath points out, trying to critique Dawkins’ arguments is difficult. They are naive, emotive, poorly argued, misrepresent religion and Christianity, and are a departure from the usual careful and rigorous approach that Dawkins displays in his other books. Each of McGrath’s chapters answers a question that is raised by Dawkins:

1. Deluded about God?
2. Has science disproved God?
3. What are the origins of religion?
4. Is religion evil?

The Dawkins Delusion? is an excellent read - calm, well reasoned, and respectful - all of the things that Dawkins’ book is not. Alister McGrath was once, himself, an atheist who was converted to Christianity. He is a scientist and theologian so speaks from a number of relevant perspectives. Francis Collins, the Director of the Human Genome Project, speaking about McGrath’s book, says,

Addressing the conclusions of The God Delusion point by point with the devastating insight of a molecular biologist turned theologian, Alister McGrath dismantles the argument that science should lead to atheism, and demonstrates instead that Dawkins has abandoned his much-cherished rationality to embrace an embittered manifesto of dogmatic atheist fundamentalism.

As McGrath points out, even atheists are becoming embarrassed about Dawkins’ approach and fear that he may do more to bolster support for Christianity than any Christian apologist could do! McGrath’s book packs some deep insights into its 78 pages. It’s easy to read and penetratingly exposes the profound deficiencies of Dawkins’ views. It is a must read for anyone interested in religion. Related Links

• Alister McGrath in conversation with Richard Dawkins (downloadable mp3 file)
• Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life (downloadable mp3 and video)
• Is God a Delusion? (mp3 file)
• Lots more by Alister McGrath
• My review of Dawkins' The God Delusion