A Shot of Faith to the Head: Be a Confident Believer in an Age of Cranky Atheists
I’m going to have to read this book again. Slower, maybe in a group.
This is a book of philosophy that attempts to prove, logically, that belief in God is rational, and that atheistic arguments to the contrary are not valid.
It’s roughly divided into three parts:
- Belief in God is rational
- Science does not disprove God’s existence
- Evil does not disprove God’s existence
This book is…complicated. It gets deep into philosophical and logical arguments.
It starts off with a bang by denying “evidentialism,” or the need to have evidence for something. Essentially – I think – it’s saying that we depend on our senses for our beliefs, but how do we know are senses are valid? We trust our eyesight, but why trust that more than a built-in sense of God?
Again, I need to re-read this. I started to read faster towards the end, because I knew I was going to go back through it.
It’s an important book. The writer is smart, and approaches the subject methodically, building an argument a chapter at a time. The chapters are quite short, and each one has summary points at the end.
I didn’t like some of the flippancy of it. The author tries to cheekily dismiss atheists the same we they dismiss believers, which I feel is counterproductive. Also, the author tends to assume his own persuasion – “As we’ve seen, evidentialism is quite dead.” Well, is it? You’re assuming you’ve persuaded me.
There’s an audiobook version coming in November. I’ve pre-ordered it. Until then, I’m trying to find some people to read this with, in a group.
Book Info
- I have read this book. According to my records, I completed it on .
- A softcover copy of this book is currently in my home library.