Philosophy of Religion Books

God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything

Christopher Hitchens

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 795 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

God is not Great 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 5 people found this review helpful.

Hitchen's book God is not Great is a thought provoking book that shows much of the violence that has been caused by people of faith. Hitchen's give historical, as well as personal examples of how religion has caused chaos, and even great ignorance around the world. personally, I am a believer in God, but I found myself agree with many of the things Hitchen's was writing about in his book. For instance, the claim that many people make on knowing God's intention, but not understanding the origin of the universe. However, I do disagree with what he writes on Gandhi, and his argument of religion being a form of child abuse. I believe that this is a book everyone should read weather someone believes in God or not.

Editorial Review:

In the tradition of Bertrand Russell's Why I Am Not a Christian and Sam Harris's recent bestseller, The End of Faith, Christopher Hitchens makes the ultimate case
against religion. With a close and erudite reading of the major religious texts, he documents the ways in which religion is a man-made wish, a cause of dangerous sexual repression, and a distortion of our origins in the cosmos. With eloquent clarity, Hitchens frames the argument for a more secular life based on science and
reason, in which hell is replaced by the Hubble Telescope's awesome view of the universe, and Moses and the burning bush give way to the beauty and symmetry
of the double helix.

The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief

Francis S. Collins

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 298 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Terrible. Bad literature research, bad science, bad theology. 1 out of 5 stars.
1 of 5 people found this review helpful.

I was very disappointed in this book.

I have studied the theories of origins for 10 years. My educational and career background is in both biology and theology. I very much enjoy exploring the various theories, opinions, and points of view---when they are credible.

I could not believe my eyes when I read many blatantly false and flimsy statements in this book! What the heck?! This author is supposed to be a brilliant scientist!

Concerning several of the theories he "critiques," he did not do his literature research well. Some of his arguments have strong, published rebuttals that anyone with half a brain would see the perfect logic and scientific merit in.

In addition, his lack of scriptural knowledge is very obvious to anyone who is intimately familiar with the Bible.

I was hoping for a thought-provoking, ground-breaking idea from this guy. What I got was a bunch of grossly misrepresented and misinterpreted science and scripture.

Don't waste your money.

Editorial Review:

Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, is one of the world's leading scientists. He works at the cutting edge of the study of DNA, the code of life. Yet he is also a man of unshakable faith in God and scripture.

Dr. Collins believes that faith in God and faith in science can coexist within a person and be harmonious. In The Language of God he makes his case for God and for science. He has heard every argument against faith from scientists, and he can refute them. He has also heard the needless rejection of scientific truths by some people of faith, and he can counter that, too. He explains his own journey from atheism to faith, and then takes readers for a stunning tour of modern science to show that physics, chemistry, and biology can all fit together with belief in God and the Bible. The Language of God is essential reading for anyone who wonders about the deepest questions of faith: Why are we here? How did we get here? What does life mean?

No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers

Michael Novak

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Surveying the contemporary religious landscape, the division between atheist and believer seems stark. However, having long struggled to understand the purpose of life and the meaning of suffering, Michael Novak finds the reality of spiritual life far different from the rhetorical war presented by bestselling atheists and the defenders of the faith who oppose them.

In No One Sees God, Novak brilliantly recasts the tired debate pitting faith against reason. Both the atheist and the believer experience the same “dark night” in which God’s presence seems absent, he argues, and the conflict between faith and doubt stems not from objective differences, but from divergent attitudes toward the unknown. Drawing from his lifelong passion for philosophy and his personal struggles with belief, he shows that, far from being irrational, the spiritual perspective actually provides the most satisfying answers to the eternal questions of meaning. Faith is a challenge at times, but it nonetheless offers the only fully coherent response to the human experience.

Ultimately, No One Sees God offers believers and unbelievers the opportunity to find common ground by acknowledging the complicated reality of the human struggle with doubt. Novak provides a stirring defense of the Christian worldview, while sidestepping the shrill tone that so often characterizes the discussion of faith, and given the challenges faced in the present age, all who value liberty will find hope in his new way of conversing.

The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom

Jonathan Haidt

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 68 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Musings of a college boy 3 out of 5 stars.
3 of 8 people found this review helpful.

I purchased this book on the recommendation of David Brooks, the New York Times columnist. It was on the list of books he recommended in his column about how "we" need to change how we think (and act) in this world. (Which I agree with wholeheartedly.)
In any case I purchased this and another of his recommendations, Michael Gazziniga's The Ethical Brain. After perusing the Gazziniga book I decided to start with the Haidt. I regretted his choice of the title, after all, what can be more fleeting than "happiness"?
I persevered through to the end. It had a few bright moments, no, instants; but it was basically the musings of a college boy. It seem so full of ordinary, everyday information and nothing worth note. It's a mystery to me why anyone would recommend it.
I am giving it three stars after reading the review from 'a reader in front of the front range'. I figured if he gave it three stars, I should be as generous - otherwise, I was tempted to assign only two.

Editorial Review:

In his widely praised book, award-winning psychologist Jonathan Haidt examines the world’s philosophical wisdom through the lens of psychological science, showing how a deeper understanding of enduring maxims-like Do unto others as you would have others do unto you, or What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger-can enrich and even transform our lives.

Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy

Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, David L. Weaver-Zercher

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 40 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

On Monday morning, October 2, 2006, a gunman entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. In front of twenty-five horrified pupils, thirty-two-year-old Charles Roberts ordered the boys and the teacher to leave. After tying the legs of the ten remaining girls, Roberts prepared to shoot them execution with an automatic rifle and four hundred rounds of ammunition that he brought for the task. The oldest hostage, a thirteen-year-old, begged Roberts to "shoot me first and let the little ones go." Refusing her offer, he opened fire on all of them, killing five and leaving the others critically wounded. He then shot himself as police stormed the building. His motivation? "I'm angry at God for taking my little daughter," he told the children before the massacre.

The story captured the attention of broadcast and print media in the United States and around the world. By Tuesday morning some fifty television crews had clogged the small village of Nickel Mines, staying for five days until the killer and the killed were buried. The blood was barely dry on the schoolhouse floor when Amish parents brought words of forgiveness to the family of the one who had slain their children.

The outside world was incredulous that such forgiveness could be offered so quickly for such a heinous crime. Of the hundreds of media queries that the authors received about the shooting, questions about forgiveness rose to the top. Forgiveness, in fact, eclipsed the tragic story, trumping the violence and arresting the world's attention.

Within a week of the murders, Amish forgiveness was a central theme in more than 2,400 news stories around the world. The Washington Post, The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek, NBC Nightly News, CBS Morning News, Larry King Live, Fox News, Oprah, and dozens of other media outlets heralded the forgiving Amish. From the Khaleej Times (United Arab Emirates) to Australian television, international media were opining on Amish forgiveness. Three weeks after the shooting, "Amish forgiveness" had appeared in 2,900 news stories worldwide and on 534,000 web sites.

Fresh from the funerals where they had buried their own children, grieving Amish families accounted for half of the seventy-five people who attended the killer's burial. Roberts' widow was deeply moved by their presence as Amish families greeted her and her three children. The forgiveness went beyond talk and graveside presence: the Amish also supported a fund for the shooter's family.

AMISH GRACE explores the many questions this story raises about the religious beliefs and habits that led the Amish to forgive so quickly. It looks at the ties between forgiveness and membership in a cloistered communal society and ask if Amish practices parallel or diverge from other religious and secular notions of forgiveness. It will also address the matter of why forgiveness became news. "All the religions teach it," mused an observer, "but no one does it like the Amish." Regardless of the cultural seedbed that nourished this story, the surprising act of Amish forgiveness begs for a deeper exploration. How could the Amish do this? What did this act mean to them? And how might their witness prove useful to the rest of us?

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Daniel C. Dennett

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 151 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

Fills a niche. 5 out of 5 stars.
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.

In the God Delusion, Dawkins makes an argument against religion and articulates what he believes to be scientific theories that prove god does not exist. In God Isn't Great, Hitchens gives what reads more like an indictment of organized religion throughout history and spends less time trying to disprove the existence of god (at least as scientifically as Dawkins).

In Breaking the Spell, Dennett spends most of his time articulating arguments that would explain the existence of religion. He does not really attempt to prove or disprove anything, including the existence of god. Rather he states repeatedly that his purpose is to "break the spell" of holding religion on a different level and keeping it immune from rational, scientific inquiry. As Mr. Woolard states before me, Mr. Dennett's central idea is that religion is a very important topic in the world today and is arguably the topic most in need of a rational, open, scientific discussion. This book is an attempt to make some of those rational arguments and foster discussion. Mr. Dennett concedes quite early in the book that that is his intent--to raise important questions and give possible answers that need research, not to provide definitive answers.

Regardless of the fact that definitive answers aren't going to be found in this book, it is worth the read by anyone interested in the subject. Mr. Dennett does a great job of "breaking the spell" and bringing some illuminating arguments regarding the existence of religion and its continued ability to thrive in human society. I would also recommend doing a search of "Daniel Dennett" on youtube for an introduction to some of the arguments he makes in this book.

Editorial Review:

For all the thousands of books that have been written about religion, few until this one have attempted to examine it scientifically: to ask why—and how—it has shaped so many lives so strongly. Is religion a product of blind evolutionary instinct or rational choice? Is it truly the best way to live a moral life? Ranging through biology, history, and psychology, Daniel C. Dennett charts religion’s evolution from “wild” folk belief to “domesticated” dogma. Not an antireligious screed but an unblinking look beneath the veil of orthodoxy, Breaking the Spell will be read and debated by believers and skeptics alike.

The Wisdom Jesus: Transforming Heart and Mind--A New Perspective on Christ and His Message

Cynthia Bourgeault

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Editorial Review:

If you put aside what you think you know about Jesus and approach the Gospels as though for the first time, something remarkable happens: Jesus emerges as a teacher of the transformation of consciousness. Cynthia Bourgeault is a masterful guide to Jesus's vision and to the traditional contemplative practices you can use to experience the heart of his teachings for yourself.

50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

Guy P. Harrison

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 16 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Many books that challenge religious belief from a skeptical point of view take a combative tone that is almost guaranteed to alienate believers, or they present complex philosophical or scientific arguments that fail to reach the average reader. Guy P. Harrison argues that this is an ineffective way of trying to encourage people to develop critical thinking about religion. In this unique approach, Harrison concisely presents fifty commonly heard reasons that people often give for believing in a god. Then he raises legitimate questions regarding these reasons, showing in each case that there is much room for doubt.

From religion as the foundation of morality to the authority of sacred books, the compelling religious testimony of influential people, near-death experiences, theories from intelligent design, and much more, Harrison respectfully describes each rationale for belief and then politely shows the deficiencies that any good skeptic would point out. He also offers something in return--a hopeful and optimistic view of science, the universe, and humanity without the divisiveness, prejudice, and hatred caused by conflicting religious doctrines.

Drawing on his experiences as a nonbeliever and his extensive travels around the world, Harrison makes poignant arguments that are sure to inspire thought-provoking discussions. Whether you're a believer, a complete skeptic, or somewhere in between, you'll find his review of traditional and more recent arguments for the existence of gods refreshing, approachable, and enlightening.

10 Conversations You Need to Have with Your Children

Shmuley Boteach

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 20 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Why do I have to repeat everything? Why does every conversation end in an argument?

Communicating with our children. Conversing. Connecting. When did it become so difficult? And how do we begin to change it for the better?

This book was designed to help parents answer these important questions, and it is based on two fundamental ideas: The first is that there are no bad children, and no deliberately bad parents -- but that sometimes, despite the best of intentions on both sides, there can be bad relationships between parents and children. The second is that, as parents, we must do everything we can to save those relationships, to reach out and really communicate with our children, because it is only through talking to them that we can create an environment for inspiration and change.

In this compelling book, Shmuley Boteach, passionate social commentator and outspoken relationship guru, walks you through the critical conversations, including: cherishing childhood; developing intellectual curiosity; knowing who you are and what you want to become; learning to forgive; realizing the importance of family and tradition; being fearless and courageous. As a father of eight, Rabbi Shmuley speaks from a wealth of experience. He has written a book for parents of children of all ages, from toddlers, who are just beginning to become aware of the world around them, to adolescents, who must learn to navigate all sorts of tricky social and academic pressures.

10 Conversations will help you stay connected to your children so that they develop the kind of strong moral character that leads to rich, meaningful lives.

Messy Spirituality

Mike Yaconelli

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 64 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Live life Messy! 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This book spoke directly to me! Messy Spirituality is a keeper!

I am a mess. I have always and consistently struggled with discipline, being consistent. I guess you could say the only thing consistent in my life is my inconsistency. I love lists and enjoy marking things off of a list, but I am absolutely terrible at not just sitting around and being lazy. Here are the two things that suck up most of my time: TV watching and Spider solitaire. It's terrible.

So, I am a mess. But, this book spoke directly to me.

At first I questioned it. Was this book only going to give me an excuse to be messy, an excuse to not strive to be disciplined and consistent.

No, it didn't. But, it did give me the understanding that (what I would assume) most Christians struggle to be consistent, especially in today's time and society. Our life is busy and in our busyness, we don't slow down and allow ourselves time to spend with God.

This book allowed me time to explore why I try to hide my messiness; why am I not honest with people about what is going on in my life? Why am I afraid to say I struggle with being single? Why am I afraid to let people know I struggle with having a passion for the Word? Because somehow we are afraid to live authentically. Its as if we are afraid that if we live authentically then we won't be good Christians.

What Yaconelli does is calls us to live authentic lives. To realize that growth and maturity in faith comes at different paces for all people and at different times. By living his life authentically through this book he shows us that it is ok to be messy, to live messy lives and to call each other to be messy.

Bibically speaking, it is only when we live in the light that we can ever begin to address the sin and allow God to work.

So, if you find yourself busy and quickly putting God aside, then pick up this book. It helped me reevaluate my priorities and also allowed me to extend grace to myself in my busyness. This book, Messy Spirituality, is a keeper my friends!

Editorial Review:

What!? You're not perfect? That's all right, God loves you anyway. He even loves the author of this book, and he's really a mess. There is a spirituality for people who often don't feel very spiritual and it will bring you closer to God. Find it in this book.