Exploring the Crux of Faith: Examining Why the New Atheists Have Missed the Mark

Michaela S.: "Gunning for God" ist ein erstaunliches Buch, das speziell für Atheisten überzeugend sein kann. Der Autor präsentiert auf überzeugende und logische Weise Argumente, die dazu anregen, den Glauben an Gott neu zu überdenken. Die gründliche Analyse und die klare Darstellung bieten eine neue Perspektive auf religiöse Fragen und ermutigen zu einer offenen Diskussion. Es ist definitiv ein Buch, das man gelesen haben sollte, um den eigenen Standpunkt zu hinterfragen und eine tiefere geistige Auseinandersetzung zu ermöglichen.

Germany on Jun 07, 2023

Uber Geezer: For a summary of this review: The book has a few flaws, but it is worth purchasing anyway.

I found three flaws that gave me pause:

[1] On pages 23-24 Lennox says, "Some believers are undoubtedly stupid (witness the creationists)..."

There are two issues here.

First, the statement is false. For a listing of the qualifications of the 8-member research team at the Institute for Creation Research (see their Web page, and drill down into their research team's information). All but one of the persons listed has a doctorate in their area of specialization. This is just a representative example of the qualifications and formal education that can be found amoung the creationists Lennox calls "undoubtedly stupid."

Second, it is curious to me that Lennox is more charitable towards those who are trying to win converts to atheism than he is towards those who are trying to win converts to Christ.

If Lennox wants to take creationists to task on their methodology or arguments, he is certainly at liberty to do so. Resorting to the tactic of deriding the people involved with name-calling is embarrassing, and unduly calls into question the integrity of the...

United States on Jan 25, 2020

Paul, Northern Ireland: John Lennox is a man who puts his money where his mouth is. He isn't an ivory tower academic with a load of untested theories and untried arguments. He has tested, tried and proved them in the arena of public debate with the most prominent atheist spokespersons.
This book gathers up much of the material Lennox has used so effectively in taking on the cultural phenomenon of the New Atheism. He shows that it is sadly wanting in philosophical sophistication, lacking in intellectual firepower and totally devoid of an evidential basis. He makes his case from science, history, morality, philosophy and scripture, taking on the attacks and arguments (such as they are) of the New Atheists, showing that not only does Christianity survive the attacks but it shines in them.

He commences in his first chapter by addressing the common misconception of there being a conflict between God and faith on one side and reason and science on the other. He most helpfully points out that right from the beginning God encouraged science. Lennox also reminds us that modern science was birthed in a Christian culture and sprang from a belief in a rational God who created an intelligible universe...

United Kingdom on Jan 13, 2016

Euclidean Norm: Lennox is an Oxford Mathematician and a Christian. He has a style of writing that I enjoyed and I can thoroughly recommend this book. The book is essentially in two halves, I should say sections as the split is more like 2/3 and 1/3. The first is a deconstruction of New Atheism and draws on both the published works of the likes of Dawkins, Harris and Hitchens; and, also on public debates between the author and Dawkins and, separately, Hitchens. The deconstruction is essentially a “glass houses” argument and as an atheist I agreed with much of Lennox’s analysis. The second half of the book concentrates on miracles and the resurrection of Jesus. I found the chapter “Did Jesus rise from the dead?” the most interesting and thought-provoking, despite it being largely Christian orthodoxy.

Before a more detailed review I should make it clear that whilst I’m an atheist I am no fan of New Atheism. I have read Dawkin’s “God Delusion” and Harris’ “Letter to a Christian Nation” and found them vulgar and derivative. Lennox makes several references to a symposium called “Beyond Belief: Science, Reason, Religion & Survival” organised by The Science Network...

United Kingdom on Apr 12, 2015

trini: This is a truly excellent book. It is yet another book which totally demolishes the illogicality of the position of the `new atheists'. I speak of their `position' and not of their `arguments', because the overwhelming impression which I receive from reading the `new atheists', and about them, is that they do not state a case and then argue for it, but first make an act of blind faith in a naturalistic, materialistic view of the world, explicitly excluding the possibility of any cause of the universe, or indeed of any reality within the universe, outside of mere material atoms; but they are then totally unable to prove this atheistic position by either using the `raw' science which they profess to practise, or by the science of philosophy, since they deny the very existence of philosophy, indeed of reason, of rationality.

Lennox's book performs the double role of both demolishing the unsubstantiated atheistic claims, and then establishing the opposing case for the necessary existence of a pre-existing omnipotent Creator God. An increasing number of other books take the same line as Lennox, in whole or in part, and I shall quote from some of these, because the demolition of...

United Kingdom on Oct 03, 2013

AL: A very informative book on the subject. I've known a few atheists in my life, but
they were never like Dawkins & co. I will touch on a few points & make a few
comments of my own. To save space, JL = John Lennox, RD = Richard Dawkins, and
NA = the new atheists.

The introduction is excellent. JL does a good job at laying out his premise. He
gives sources for the many quotes in the book. There are chapters on the miracles
(chap 7), the resurrection of Christ (8), also several chapters on the objections
the NA have against belief in God, for instance the "God of the Old Testament" (5).

The sources of the quotes are a good idea, because some of the things you will read
are quite astonishing. For instance read some of the ideas Darwin and others had such
as predicting that natural selection would eliminate the "lower races" of humans in
chap 4 (pgs 104-5). Imagine if snyone made a statement like that today! Reminds one
of some 20th cent regimes. True, many who call themselves Christians (chaps 2-3)
have done some terrible things, which is against what Christ taught (MATT 5:43-45,
JOHN 18:36, ROM 12:19-21), but the NA seem more...

United States on Jul 07, 2012

Shane: I gave John Lennox's previous book "God's Undertaker" a fairly positive review, because although he ultimately fails in his objective of showing that belief in the gods remains a respectable intellectual position, at least he made an effort in putting forth the very best arguments that theists had to offer in the Religion vs Atheism debate. In truth, the arguments were the best of a bad lot, so I was hoping that in "Gunning for God" Lennox would up his game a bit, and perhaps take things to a more interesting level.

Sadly, it seems there is no game to up. "Gunning" is a much worse book than "Undertaker" for a number of reasons (hence this rather long review). The declared objective is to take on the "Four Horsemen of New Atheism" as they have sometimes been called, and to provide an argument for Christianity. The "Four Horsemen" epithet gets Lennox in something of a comedy fluster; aware of the allusion in Revelation he priggishly fails to see the joke. Our doughty and doubty renegades are (or were, as one of their number is sadly no longer with us) Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, Dan Dennett and Sam Harris. In the middle of the last decade their books...

United Kingdom on Apr 11, 2012