Rating: 
Summary: Extremely interesting but my faith is untouched.
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed the education in logical principles Smith's book offers and if the entirety of human experience was encircled by reason I would be a devout atheist. This book, however, has not altered the fact that I feel God within. I cannot understand Him, but I know he is with me. When I tell my wife that I love her, I cannot understand the deep, passionate, rousing feeling I have for her and I cannot offer logical proofs for its existence. I simply know; I simply feel it. This is the same experience I have with God and this is why reason can never touch my faith.Intellectually, I have no choice but to leave room for the possibility of God because I recognize the fact that the human ability to reason is limited. Not everything in our lives can be put into neat, understandable and logical categories. This does not mean that everything outside those categories must be supernatural but it definitely leaves room for the prospect that a realm inherently outside natural explanation exists. When dealing with metaphysical questions, reason goes only so far, at which point one must make a choice between the blind belief that reason is everything or the blind belief that there is something beyond its reach. Regardless of the way you go, faith is a necessity. Within Smith's own book, when he tells us that his atheism is based on "the *presumption* that the universe is everything there is", it is undeniable that his life view is based on faith. The only way to have a faith-free understanding of the world is to be infallible, which is a characteristic I'm sure no atheist would dare assume. To put it another way, since our knowledge is ultimately incomplete, the need for faith is unavoidable; it is part of the human condition. For a very long time I found it hard to bring myself beyond faith in reason alone, until I realized that one cannot intellectualize oneself into spiritual faith. Instead of trying to find a logical proof for the existence of a one's spiritual being, one simply needs to make a conscious effort to feel it. If you simply take the time every day to clear your mind and open your spirit, God's presence in your life will become real to you. It is not easy to accomplish but much like the fulfillment felt in a loving relationship with another person, feeling God is real and well worth the struggle.
Rating: 
Summary: Strong attack on theism
Review: I have two complaints about this book: It's a bit dry at times, and has a rather weak argument for rational ethics in the last chapter. Except for those two minor points, it is amazing. The language is clear, the concepts are easy to grasp, and the arguments solid. I'll heartily recommend this book to anyone interested in atheism, and also to all theists (especially Christians) who aren't afraid to have their beliefs challenged. To some (not all) of the theist reviwers here:
When Smith shows that statements like "God is all reality" and "God exists" are by themself meaningless, it makes no sense to just restate these statements in your review without attacking Smith's argument, and then think that you have refuted Smith.
Rating:
Summary: MOST of these reviews miss the point!!!
Review: This is the most careful argument justifying the atheist's repudiation of theistic beliefs that I have ever read. The most important line in this book is that Smith aims not to convert anyone, but to demonstrate that the theist does not found his beliefs on rational principles. And he succeeds at that by carefully laying out all possible arguments for theism and showing the fundamental flaws. Of course by the first 3 chapters (or so) he has adequately accomplished his goal of showing there is no rational way to accept the theistic beliefs. He spends the rest of the book illustrating internal errors in Christianity, and staging a weaker attack on Christian ethics. If you are a theist and you consider yourself guided by logic, you owe it to yourself to read this cogent argument.
Rating:
Summary: Best when discussions are abstract.
Review: Just finished reading this one. Smith's writing is clearest and most convincing when discussing the abstract questions of the existence of god and the meaning of the concept of god. The last few chapters on the ethical problems of Christianity and the defense of "rationally based ethics" (which he never seems to get around to thoroughly explicating) are quite weak. His heavy reliance on the ethical ruminations of Ayn Rand (bleah) is quite limiting to his arguments. He makes a somewhat convincing weak case that the ethical system of Christianity is lousy because it's fundamentally based on an authoritarian, rule-based system. Not exactly a firebrand defense of atheist or humanist ethics, but it does a creditable and thorough job of presenting the "case" for the nonexistence of god and criticizing the generally muddle-headed definitions of what "god" means to most types of theists. Runs through the standard theist arguments and convincingly points out their flaws and logical errors. He has a thorough bunch of footnotes and reference section, but his reading list is frankly fairly dated.
Rating:
Summary: This book is a masterpiece of atheistic thought
Review: This is a book that clearly presents a case against theists everywhere, This is a bookt hat is absolutly amazing. a must read for all
Rating:
Summary: Probably the best book on the subject
Review: I find it hard to imagine that an open-minded theist could read this book without coming away with serious doubts about the validity of the concept of a god. While scholarly, it remains approachable in its disassembly of the validity of faith, revelation, and the standard attributes of supreme beings. A must for any infidel's bookshelf, and a great challenge to theists who are open-minded enough to read opposing viewpoints.
Rating: 
Summary: A belief in the unseen.
Review: The belief that there isn't a God is extremely hard to comprehend, for if there isn't a God, how did we all come to be? But then again we can't see God, so that brings up the whole theory of believing in the unseen. If we can't see something, then it must not be there. But if we believed this, we would be dead. In the wide expanse of people I know, no one has seen the air. But yet, we all breath it everyday. In fact, you can't see the air, but you can see signs of it. When the wind blows it, we see leaves move, or we feel it's soft caress on our skin. It's the same way with God. In the New Testament when Saul, a persecutor of Christians, saw God in all his brilliance, he went blind by the beauty before him. But God doesn't want to have to be so drastic with the rest of us, so He chose less dramatic way to soften our hearts. I just ask you today to think about what I have said. You don't have to believe it, but if you've read at least this far, something must have compelled you to do so. People believe things, because they have proof to back it up, and I do! If this has interested you in any way, or you feel that you need to tell me your views on my review. E-mail me, and I'll be more than glad to listen. In Christ's Everlasting Love, A Friend Who Cares
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books on Atheism
Review: If you want a book that gives you the basics, and more, then get this book. Excellent arguments against faith. A must for every Atheist, Freethinker, agnostic, Humanist, and anyone with an open and rational mind.
Rating:
Summary: The facts will set you free
Review: This is the book Madalyn Murray O'Hair wished that she had written. Excellent work. A highly recommended source of logical arguments against the existence of god. Smith proves that the idea of 'god' is so absurd and full of self-contradiction, that it can not possibly be true. After reading the book, one can not help but conclude that allowing that there might be a god is an example of "empty mindedness", not "open mindedness". http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Launchpad/8758/atheism.html
Rating:
Summary: A very poor defense of atheism
Review: Unlike some of the reviewers who give Smith's work only one star, I am a convinced atheist. I also hold a Ph.D. in philosophy and readng philosophical literature on religion is a major interest of mine. While I am convincerd that the weight of the evidence is against God's existence, I find most of Smith's arguments dogmatic and subject to decisive objections. There are many excellent defenses of atheism out there--Doug Krueger's _What is Atheism? An Introduction_ and J.L. Mackie's _The Miracle of Theism_ are examples. If you are interested in the subject, look to one of them, not to Smith.--Greg Klebanoff
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