Wednesday, 28 November 2018

The Atheist Who Didn't Exist by Andy Bannister

Firstly, I should point out that this is not an apologetics book for Christianity.  Though the author is a Christian, you will not read the book and magically become a Christian, you will probably not change any of your beliefs, and you will not find a discussion about any of the 'difficult' bits of Christianity.
This is a book that looks to break down bad arguments, focusing on those from "New Atheists".

The blurb on Amazon reads:
In the last decade, atheism has leapt from obscurity to the front pages: producing best-selling books, making movies, and plastering adverts on the side of buses. There’s an energy and a confidence to contemporary atheism: many people now assume that a godless scepticism is the default position, indeed the only position for anybody wishing to appear educated, contemporary, and urbane. Atheism is hip, religion is boring. Yet when one pokes at popular atheism, many of the arguments used to prop it up quickly unravel. The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist is designed to expose some of the loose threads on the cardigan of atheism, tug a little, and see what happens. Blending humour with serious thought, Andy Bannister helps the reader question everything, assume nothing and, above all, recognise lazy scepticism and bad arguments. Be an atheist by all means: but do be a thought-through one.
There is a lot of humour throughout the book, and I confess to literally laughing out loud at some of the footnotes; however if you are not a fan of Monty PythonHitchhikers, Red Dwarf or any of that ilk, this probably isn't the book for you.

I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to theists and atheists alike, at a minimum so that if you do try to argue about points of faith you don't fall back on easy soundbites.  It is an easy read, without too much heavy philosophy, and should be accessible for all.


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