Reviewer Educates Dawkins (if only it were so…)

I just finished reading a great review of Richard Dawkins’ recent book The God Delusion, written by Alvin Plantinga, the John A. O’Brien Professor of Philosophy at Notre Dame, after seeing it referenced on Ben Witherington’s blog.  (I could not get the link on that blog to work, though.  If it does not work for you, you can follow the link I provide below.)

Those familiar with the writings of Dawkins, current Pontifex Maximus of the Church of Evolutionism, are also familiar with his consistent theme and style.  If not, you can pick up much from one of his more popular quotes: “It is absolutely safe to say that if you meet somebody who claims not to believe in evolution, that person is ignorant, stupid or insane (or wicked, but I’d rather not consider that).” (from the New York Times, 4/9/89, “Put Your Money on Evolution”)

(Actually, his tongue is a bit more acidic these days, and that quote from nearly twenty years ago seems a bit mellow when compared to his more recent pronouncements.)

Plantinga has written a particularly solid refutation of the deficient reasoning in Dawkins’ latest delusion, which is a book devoted to reviling the very notion of religion and to ridding the world utterly of the horrible and, as Dawkins believes, helplessly irrational belief in God.  (The reviewer gets in a few whacks at another of Dawkins’ very popular books, The Blind Watchmaker, as well.)

To say Richard Dawkins is an intelligent man is truly an understatement, and he is an incredibly talented wordsmith — a fit and passionate evangelist for his faith, to be sure.  But in The God Delusion he is a bit out of his league, and Dr. Plantinga takes him out to the woodshed for a little talk.

The review does get philosophical and, for some, may seem a bit esoteric, but such is the nature of the beast.  And I can’t say that I stand in complete agreement with every detail of Plantinga’s arguments (e.g., to my ear, his dismissal of Dawkins’ use of the anthropic principle struck one flat note — but within a melody that was otherwise very pleasant to listen to).  If you’ve read The God Delusion, or if you are just interested in seeing Dawkins’ passionate love affair with his own point of view placed in a proper perspective and don’t mind a bit of philosophical discussion, then Alvin Plantinga’s review on the Christianity Today website is for you.  Here’s the link.

4 thoughts on “Reviewer Educates Dawkins (if only it were so…)

  1. Thank you for posting this! On top of everything else I have to read it will be a while until I get to it, but God willing I will in due time.

    Albert Einstein said that most scientists are poor philosophers. He might say the same about Richard Dawkins. Deism was the best Dr. Einstein could muster on his own strength, but he recognized Supreme Intelligence when he saw it manifested in the universe.

  2. Pingback: TIME Magazine's idea of "editing"... « Thoughts En Route

  3. Thomas

    Antony Flew, the former High Priest of Atheism turned deist, has published a review (July 2008 ) on his successor as top atheist Richard Dawkins’ book The God Delusion. Antony Flew questions Richard Dawkins’ intellectual integrity and answers the strong implication made in the book that Flew had converted to accepting that there is a Higher Power at work in the Universe due to dotage.

    The review can be read in full at http://www.bethinking.org/science-christianity/intermediate/flew-speaks-out-professor-antony-flew-reviews-the-god-delusion.htm.

    I first came across a link to the review at http://www.uncommondescent.com/religion/antony-flew-reviews-and-rips-dawkins-the-god-delusion/#comments.

    This is a webpage put up by William Dembski (among others), who is a mathematician and a leading proponent of Intelligent Design. His heading of “Antony Flew Reviews – and Rips – Dawkins’ ‘The God Delusion’” sums it up.

What are you thinking?

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.