Does God Believe in Atheists

Rating:
Summary: God does NOT believe in atheists.
Review: After doing some research that and finding some rather weak arguments against atheism, I found a website that advertised books they claimed avoided the dumbing down of Christianity. I'm pleased to say the company (and the author) delivered.

This book covers atheism on both a scientific and philosophical ends. The first half covers most of the school's of thought that one would expect to hear about in a college philosophy class. The lamblast against secular-humanism was probably one of the best I've read. He also refuted moral relativism and such with some of the common theistic rebuttals. There was also a nice history-of-thinking lesson. Probably one of the best points he made was where he showed how even the most strident skeptics aren't content to live with moral relativity while still standing on soapboxes about God's non-existence.

The scientific half was mind-blowing though. From his book, I wouldn't call him a full-fledged young earth creationist, but believe it or not he still makes a strong anti-evolution argument in his "impossible things for breakfast" chapter which alone should be enough to get some head-scratching. However his section on the existence of matter brings out arguments I hadn't seen yet. His argument is that certain critical-for-life aspects of physics could not have just 'happened' and neither we nor the universe would be here had other forces been slightly weaker or stronger.

The book avoids any mention of Christ until the last chapter, but it's here that the author concludes his book with a lengthy and well thought out exhortation for salvation. Something I wish more skeptics would seriously consider.

However, I will agree with the author just below me. If you're an honest skeptic (unlike many of those who reviewed this book but evidently don't like to read) and you're researching Christian theism, this may not be the best book for you. There are probably dozen other books out there that might be a better defense/explanation of Christianity as opposed to an argument against atheism if that makes any sense.

I'd recommend this book for any Christian though. Although it might be a rough start if you've never read any apologetics, I'd say it's a must if Apologetics is something you're serious about.

Rating:
Summary: A REASONED AND CHRISTIAN RESPONSE TO ATHEISM
Review: An excelletn book for both atheists and Christians. Christians, read this book and see how John Blanchard responds to tough-blanked questions posed by atheists in order to defend their religion. With no punches pull, Blanchard objectively defends the truth of Christianity and attack the irrationality of atheism. Christians and open-minded scoffers and skeptics should read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Are There Atheists?
Review: In this book, Blanchard gives a fascinating tour of his view of the origins and history of atheistic thought in areas of philosophy, science, religion, etc., at the same time exposing their major weaknesses. He then leads the reader to the evangelical Christian view of theism, including major arguments for and against it.

I found this book a most refreshing and interesting read, despite the difficulty of many of the subjects covered. It is rare to find philosophical arguments put forth in an easy-to-comprehend manner, and Blanchard did it brilliantly. His excellent coverage of technical and scientific issues were also easily grasped and understood by a layman.

The approach of the book requires that the reader read it like a novel -- from start to finish. And the best thing is that it was so engaging that it did read like a novel (for me at least)! It was quite hard to put it down. Since this book is not meant as a pure reference book (IMO) where you jump to a particular topic and draw conclusions from there (unless you've already read the whole book previously), one can safely ignore the reviews from those who haven't read it from start to finish.

The only flaw in this diamond is that a number of the author's arguments presented are not watertight or conclusive. Many of the arguments are based on probability and likelihood (which he readily admits), which are not enough convince the dedicated atheist, although enough to sway a sufficiently reasonable and open-minded person. Perhaps I'm being too nitpicky by giving only 4 stars :)

That said, I find that this is still an excellent book, made even better by its readability. Any one interested in Christian apologetics MUST read this.