Discussion Forum (4)

The God Debate

Advocates of religion and science continue to butt heads into the 21st century. Theists and atheists have written books arguing their position, from Sam Harris to Dinesh D'Souza. These books have inspired even more books which continue to be published. But who has captured the heart of this debate best?

Reading List

Sam Harris, The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason (W.W. Norton, reprint edition, 2005) and Letter to a Christian Nation (Knopf 2006)

Daniel C. Dennett, Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (Penguin, reprint edition, 2007)

Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin, 2006)

Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (Twelve, 2007)

Michel Onfray, Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (English language ed., New York: Arcade Publishing, 2005)

Victor J. Stenger, God: The Failed Hypothesis: How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist (Prometheus Books, 2007).

For a critical discussion of Dawkins, Dennett, and Harris, see Michael Novak, “Lonely Atheists of the Global Village,” National Review (March 19, 2007).

See also Heather Mac Donald, “God and Man and Human Suffering,” with a reply from Novak, American Spectator (December 2006/January 2007).