Book Review title


Why People Don’t Believe
by Paul Chamberlain
Baker Books, 2011, 172 pages, $14.99 (paperback), ISBN-13: 978-0-8010-1377-5

If you have ever wanted a book that specifically counters and refutes modern atheist attacks on belief in God, this is the book for you. It is not a general apologetics book, but rather responds point by point to the attacks on faith by Richard Dawkins and Sam Harris. Chamberlain begins by presenting the views and attacks of Dawkins and Harris. The seven challenges he discusses are: (1) religion breeds violence, (2) religion is irrational and lacks evidence for its claims; (3) religion is anti-scientific; (4) biblical morality is appalling and promotes violence; (5) religious teaching of an afterlife is scandalous and dangerous; (6) religion engenders intolerance and exclusivity; (7) religion leads believers to impose religious teachings on others.

Chamberlain answers each of these challenges in a convincing and clear way, drawing on scholarship, history, logic, and historical evidence. After refuting the arguments of Harris and Dawkins the book talks about “living the way Jesus calls us to live.” It has a great chapter titled “Christianity’s Gifts to the World,” which discusses the good things Christianity has brought to this planet.

This is an outstanding book. It is well written, brief, to the point, and easy to understand. We recommend it highly.
 

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