Why God Won't Go Away

The bottom line: God isn't going away! This book reads like a "State of the Union address." Atheism has taken many twist and turns, but God has not. As a former atheist, Alister McGrath should know. His wealth of theological knowledge sheds light into the greatest darkness that can consume a human soul-Atheism.

Although, what we find in the analysis is that the "new" Atheism really isn't Atheism at all. If you don't believe in God, then how can you blame Him for human pain and suffering. The book reveals many critical holes in the Atheist's argument. They argue that God can't be proved, but neither can most things in Science. McGrath points out that even standard scientific textbooks emphasize that "science rests on faith." He so powerfully states, "In the end, science is about giving us reasons for believing that certain things are true, while at the same time insisting that we realize that future generations may rightly want to challenge these beliefs. That's why science is so successful: it's willing to change its mind in response to new evidence."

McGrath's subtle humor shines through as he states, "I regularly find that one of the easiest ways to make them (Atheists) furious is to tell them that science can't answer some of life's great questions. It appears that in response to reasonable argument, the world's top Atheists (Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens)will resort to "shouting" a debater down . . . by attacking religion as a whole. They simply fail and refuse to follow where the evidence leads.

For the average reader, this is a "heavy" read for the most part. I found the second half to be heavier than the first. In the end, McGrath can simplify the theology as much as possible, but it's still theology. However, it was  not beyond the reach of those who want to commit their mind to understanding Atheism. As McGrath points out, "The ironic fact is that New Atheist anger at the persistence of faith has inadvertently stirred huge interest in the whole God question." In other words, God is getting BIGGER . . . be prepared to share your faith!

You won't want to miss the story at the end of the book . . . it's POWERFUL and made me chuckle. We're all left a a GREAT theological question.  . . . "Should we thank God for Richard Dawkins in our prayers?" It appears Alister McGrath is stumped with that question.

*I received this book for free through the Thomas Nelson BookSneeze program in exchange for my unbiased review.