I've read a few Scott Hahn books now, so I can imagine the book above will be easy to read, well thought out and devastatingly refute Dawkins' case against religion. I mean with a cover like that - what else would you expect?
Related Link: Answering the New Atheism ~ Amazon
OO! I love Scott Hahn. Looks promising.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine the book above will be easy to read, well thought out and devastatingly refute Dawkins' case against religion.
ReplyDeleteI predict that readers who already hate Richard Dawkins and disagree with everything he says will find it a devastating refutation. I furthur predict readers who agree with Dawkins will find the book shallow and ill-tought out and be utterly unconvinced. I also predict Hahn will make enough money selling his book to buy his wife a new car and get his garden landscaped, while Dawkins new next book will enable him to pay off the mortgage on his apartment in St-Germain and significantly increase the size of his private art collection.
Ain't philosophy grand?
Danyl, actually Hahn's arguments are generally very well thought out, if you've ever read one of his books (which you probably haven't). Then again, I haven't read any of Dawkins' books, but I've read enough about them to know that his arguments are generally very weak.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure if God were to appear in the sky and say, "Richard, here I am", he'd find some way of explaining it away.
Actually I speed-read a book Hahn wrote with his wife several years ago when I was trapped at my Grandparents house one Christmas Day. I wasn't terribly impressed. But I'm sure his arguments seem very well thought out and compelling if you already agree with everything he has to say.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to read a book that actually made me think 'Hey, maybe there's something to this whole faith thing', then I recommend you pick up a copy of Tolstoy's 'The Kingdom of God is Within You.' And while Dawkins is pretty amazing at writing popular biology books he doesn't even come close to Bertrand Russell when he's arguing for Athiesm - as you can see here:
http://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html
They really don't make 'em like they used to.
Personally I don't care how people subjectively experience a piece of literature. I care only how objectively true and effectively written it is.
ReplyDeleteScott Hahn is not perfect nor are his books but he's generally pretty good. Dawkins on the other hand is hated by many Atheists let alone Theists. I personally LOVE a book that challenges me as these supposedly damning atheistic pieces of literature are meant to do. That rush of blood as the brain really gets processing, searching out all four corners of the problem and all it's implications I personally find exhilarating. Dawkins fails miserably, along with his pals Hitchens and Harris at even producing a slither of a challenge. I was thoroughly disappointed by "The God Delusion" as well as "God is Not Great" and "Letter to a Christian Nation."
Personally I don't care how people subjectively experience a piece of literature. I care only how objectively true and effectively written it is.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating approach! How do you get past your own subjective experience of a book to arrive at an objective measure of its truth and effectivity?
1. I'm about buy JS Gould's "Structure of Evolutionary Theory", it's pricey, so does anyone have any caveats or endorsements?
ReplyDelete2. Answering Danyl's comment about "they don't make them like they used to". I hold the opinion that culture was broader and deeper prior to the great wars, i.e. what wasn't killed in WW1 was annihilated in WW2.
So much of what now passes for public discourse, semi-private blogging, private conversation, and most privately our interior life is barely beyond diatribe and uncharitable bigotry.
I guess I am alluding to Thomas Mann's 'prophetic' book "Magic Mountain". (I guess I am also blaming a lack of reading!)
Post-WW2 we have become balkanized technocrats with the cultural memory of crustacea. The meagre writing of the "opinion leaders" such as Sam Harris or Kere Woodham reflect the deficit of our own expectations and inability to express otherwise.
3. "Personally I don't care how people subjectively experience a piece of literature. I care only how objectively true and effectively written it is. "
Life is not a scientific research paper. Even then your standard is still too high! How does one "objectively" measure Cervantes, Montaigne, or Balzac?
Hi Greg,
ReplyDeleteRe: SJ Gould, it really depends how much you've already ready about evolution. Sturcture is giant, unwieldy and frequently rambling, I think someone called in non-fiction's answer to Finnegans Wake. But then Gould was pretty amazing, the historical analysis he brings to the ideas he talks about is really interesting. And reading it should do away with any feeling that Natural Selection is the only interesting thing in Evolution.
I think in short if you've read Dawkins, Gould's essays and maybe Mayr, Maynard Smith and Lewontin then go for it. Otherwise I'd get a succinct books to start with.
It's US$43 at amazon and has mixed reviews so I wanted to be more encouraged; I am now so cheers.
ReplyDeleteBiology holds no terrors for me and rambling books where clever-clogs pull together the threads of their life's work are exactly my cup of tea!
It looks interesting Lucyna. I read about another book, written and reviewed by atheists interestingly who are tired of 'evangelical atheism' and its constant attacks on Christianity. So you can imagine that it's quite a fresh approach. You can check the review .
ReplyDeleteSorry, don't know how that link ended up as a date. But if you click on the date, it should take you to the review...or it could take you to some undernet from Siberia.
ReplyDeleteOOps...feel free to delete the last comment, Lucyna. The link doesn't work. Here it is:
ReplyDeletehttp://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,2265395,00.html
"Actually I speed-read a book Hahn wrote with his wife several years ago when I was trapped at my Grandparents house one Christmas Day."
ReplyDeleteShit Danyl - and here I was thinking you would be the life of the party...you should have gotten stuck into your grannies sherry.
Samuel Skinner
ReplyDeleteYou know what would be nice? Arguments. I know- you can compose an entire book in a paragraph... actually you can. Ex. God Delusion-God doesn't exist and faith is dangerous. Uses burden of proof, 747 analogy, definition of faith and critiques all the common arguments for god.
See? That wasn't hard. Now can some here do that- I find theists are completely incapable of doing so, but it is worth a shot.
1. I'm about buy JS Gould's "Structure of Evolutionary Theory", it's pricey, so does anyone have any caveats or endorsements?
ReplyDeleteMy caveat would be to buy something else, unless you are planning to become an evolutionary biologist. For a fraction of the price you can buy 'The Richness of Life' which is an excellent collection of Goulds writing and contains excerpts from 'Structure of Evolutionary Theory'.
Yeah, thanks Danyl I've read that one. I want something comprehensive and beasty.
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