Reason Rally and True Reason: Ebook Review
Reason Rally 2012 -- it's probably something you've heard about if you are into Christian apologetics at all (and even if you happen to be a non-believer, you have probably heard of it). It's a rally that wishes to promote "science, secularism, and reason," and it includes such speakers as Richard Dawkins, PZ Myers, and Lawrence Krauss, to name a few. The rally will be held on March 24, the weekend after St. Patrick's Day.
But with this celebration of reason comes a challenge to Christianity: the atheistic appeal to "reason" that purports that Christianity is irrational. But is that really true? And is atheism really a rational point of view?
Enter True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism, a new ebook which released yesterday. I have the privilege of reviewing this excellent work.
The book --- written by thirteen authors, including Dr. William Lane Craig, Sean McDowell and members of the Christian Apologetics Alliance -- is especially concerned with addressing atheistic leaders and whether or not their claims to rationality are well-founded.
Some might assume it is a personal attack on atheism, but the book actually addresses the claims of leading atheists (via their own writings and debates) rather than using ad hominem attacks against the persons themselves (particularly in the first section of the ebook). After all, these are the same leaders who are spear-heading the Reason Rally... Is it not fair, then, to examine what they actually have to say?
At the same time, however, True Reason argues for the rationality of the Christian faith:
"We believe furthermore that there is good reason to believe that Christianity as a whole is more reasonable than atheism." ~ Tom Gilson
Here is a general outline of the book:
Chapters 1-7 focus on Atheism and Reason. As mentioned previously, the main gist of this section is that "Throughout their books, talks, and websites, the New Atheists consistently promote their allegiance to the glory of reason," yet they are often irrational in their views, particularly the so-called leaders of atheism.
As such, this section deals with several examples such as Dawkin's (who is one of the Reason Rally's key speakers) failure to use reasoning and logic in many cases and his unreasonable attacks against Christianity; and Sam Harris' connection with Project Reason while appealing to emotion in his debate with Dr. William Lane Craig. Dr. Craig even lends an excellent example of this in chapter 3,where he writes about Dawkin's Delusion! I particularly enjoyed this section of the book for its success in evaluating atheistic arguments and statements from the leaders of the New Atheist movement.
A section on Christianity and Reason follows next for the duration of chapters 8-14. In a nut-shell, the title of chapter nine demonstrates the purpose of this section: "Reason in a Christian Context." It focuses mainly on defining "reason" and it's connection to faith, science, meaning and ethics. I was especially delighted to see that Sean McDowell even contributed a chapter on Christianity and science: "Are Science and Christianity at Odds" (chapter 11)! Following that is a chapter by Tom Gilson on why "God and Science Do Mix." As someone who has studied science, seeing both sides of the creation vs. evolution debate, I really appreciated these chapters especially; they don't get into the nitty-grittys of fact versus fiction within the debate, but they instead get to the heart of the issue: God is not incompatible with Science as most atheistic evolutionists think.
This section of true reason ends with a chapter on the historical evidences for the Gospels (demonstrated through miracles, oral tradition, and historical accuracy; this chapter is a bit on the technical side) and with one on a good God and the problem of evil before coming to the final section. Chapters 15-16 close True Reason with an appeal to the "reasonableness" of Christianity.
I am well aware that some atheists may wish to claim that this book is full of attacks against atheism (most likely without even reading it before hand). However, I am happy to report that there is no ad hominem attack or straw man found at all in this book (and, quite honestly, I would have been disappointed if it were not so). Each point presented in True Reason, was thoroughly evaluated and supported by evidence, demonstrating the true reasonableness of Christianity; each chapter lends its support by building upon the next in a very systematic way to prove this.
In many ways, this ebook was a "refresher" course for me, personally -- there were many things that I had learned previously but had since forgotten, and also many things that I gained a new perspective on. This ebook is a must-have, not only for the apologetics student or layman, but also for those non-theists who have heard the atheistic rhetoric on "reason" but may not have given it much thought. I highly recommend this excellent work.
For more information, please see this link - New Ebook, True Reason, Releases Today - where you can view purchasing information and see what others are saying about the book, as well.
But with this celebration of reason comes a challenge to Christianity: the atheistic appeal to "reason" that purports that Christianity is irrational. But is that really true? And is atheism really a rational point of view?
Enter True Reason: Christian Responses to the Challenge of Atheism, a new ebook which released yesterday. I have the privilege of reviewing this excellent work.
The book --- written by thirteen authors, including Dr. William Lane Craig, Sean McDowell and members of the Christian Apologetics Alliance -- is especially concerned with addressing atheistic leaders and whether or not their claims to rationality are well-founded.
Some might assume it is a personal attack on atheism, but the book actually addresses the claims of leading atheists (via their own writings and debates) rather than using ad hominem attacks against the persons themselves (particularly in the first section of the ebook). After all, these are the same leaders who are spear-heading the Reason Rally... Is it not fair, then, to examine what they actually have to say?
At the same time, however, True Reason argues for the rationality of the Christian faith:
"We believe furthermore that there is good reason to believe that Christianity as a whole is more reasonable than atheism." ~ Tom Gilson
Here is a general outline of the book:
Chapters 1-7 focus on Atheism and Reason. As mentioned previously, the main gist of this section is that "Throughout their books, talks, and websites, the New Atheists consistently promote their allegiance to the glory of reason," yet they are often irrational in their views, particularly the so-called leaders of atheism.
As such, this section deals with several examples such as Dawkin's (who is one of the Reason Rally's key speakers) failure to use reasoning and logic in many cases and his unreasonable attacks against Christianity; and Sam Harris' connection with Project Reason while appealing to emotion in his debate with Dr. William Lane Craig. Dr. Craig even lends an excellent example of this in chapter 3,where he writes about Dawkin's Delusion! I particularly enjoyed this section of the book for its success in evaluating atheistic arguments and statements from the leaders of the New Atheist movement.
A section on Christianity and Reason follows next for the duration of chapters 8-14. In a nut-shell, the title of chapter nine demonstrates the purpose of this section: "Reason in a Christian Context." It focuses mainly on defining "reason" and it's connection to faith, science, meaning and ethics. I was especially delighted to see that Sean McDowell even contributed a chapter on Christianity and science: "Are Science and Christianity at Odds" (chapter 11)! Following that is a chapter by Tom Gilson on why "God and Science Do Mix." As someone who has studied science, seeing both sides of the creation vs. evolution debate, I really appreciated these chapters especially; they don't get into the nitty-grittys of fact versus fiction within the debate, but they instead get to the heart of the issue: God is not incompatible with Science as most atheistic evolutionists think.
This section of true reason ends with a chapter on the historical evidences for the Gospels (demonstrated through miracles, oral tradition, and historical accuracy; this chapter is a bit on the technical side) and with one on a good God and the problem of evil before coming to the final section. Chapters 15-16 close True Reason with an appeal to the "reasonableness" of Christianity.
I am well aware that some atheists may wish to claim that this book is full of attacks against atheism (most likely without even reading it before hand). However, I am happy to report that there is no ad hominem attack or straw man found at all in this book (and, quite honestly, I would have been disappointed if it were not so). Each point presented in True Reason, was thoroughly evaluated and supported by evidence, demonstrating the true reasonableness of Christianity; each chapter lends its support by building upon the next in a very systematic way to prove this.
In many ways, this ebook was a "refresher" course for me, personally -- there were many things that I had learned previously but had since forgotten, and also many things that I gained a new perspective on. This ebook is a must-have, not only for the apologetics student or layman, but also for those non-theists who have heard the atheistic rhetoric on "reason" but may not have given it much thought. I highly recommend this excellent work.
For more information, please see this link - New Ebook, True Reason, Releases Today - where you can view purchasing information and see what others are saying about the book, as well.
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