Books that refute Dawkins' God Delusion

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What are some good books that refute Dawkins’ God Delusion book? Thanks
 
What are some good books that refute Dawkins’ God Delusion book?
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Very interesting question…you’re asking for a book that refutes something that Dawkins can neither prove or disprove.
I have a very good friend who links himself constantly to philosophers…he just occasionally forgets that their writings are nothing more than another human’s opinion.

John
 
It takes a while for books to come out in response to other books. When was Dawkins’ book out? Like a year or two ago?

I read a story in Newsweek about a Presbyterian minister who wrote a book that maybe addresses some of Dawkins’ material.

newsweek.com/id/109609

Tim Keller, “The Reason For God”.

I haven’t read the book, just the Newsweek story. I found the Newsweek story slightly annoying because it acted as if finding a smart, thoughtful, engaging pastor leading an active, intelligent, involved congregation was something completely unheard-of in Christianity. (I know of numerous Catholic parishes that fit that description quite well, thank you!) But anyway, the book may be worth checking out.
 
I thought i saw one at Borders and figured there would be more than one of them, like all the books that came out all at once it seemed against the DaVinci Code. Actually, i think the book i saw was called the Dawkins Delusion.I just wondered if there was a Catholic one. Actually, i have found one: **Fr. Thomas Crean, O.P., author of God Is No Delusion: A Refutation of Richard Dawkins **
 
I recently purchased a book titled “The Confutation of Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion” by Malcolm McLean. I believe it was independently published from Lulu.com, from which I ordered the book. The author used to post on these forums and I found out about it from a link on his signature (but I think he was banned recently).

The book is short but interesting, each chapter gives a synopsis of Dawkins’ arguments and then the author’s responses. McLean could have given stronger counter-arguments and I think he gives Dawkins too much credit at times, conceding certain points, but I suppose he is just being charitable and respectful of his opponent. Overall a decent read.
 
Dawkins’ arguments in the GD are really shoddy. YOu could probably refute them yourself. Alvin Plangtiga did a write up of the book in Christianity Today and said, in effect, that Dawkins could be refuted by those who passed a freshman class in philosophy.
 
I just got my new Ignatius Press catalog, and there are a couple of titles dealing with this topic. They may even have already been mentioned, but I don’t remember them from my quick perusal. So check out Ignatius Press’ website, and I am sure you will find something.
 
The Irrational Atheist, by Vox Day.

You can get it from any bookstore, or even download it from irrationalatheist.com/

It not only takes Dawkins apart, but Harris & Hitchens too.

C
 
My bad… the ones I saw in the Ignatius Press catalog were dealing with the author of the His Dark Materials books, not Dawkins. Sorry!
 
just read Thomas Aquinas. Jeez, c’mon people this God Delusion stuff are basic arguments that every Catholic should be able to refute easily.
 
Why bother refuting him? Just ignore him and pray that he goes away. Time spent worrying about that hack is time spent not getting closer to God.
 
thomasf said:
Why bother refuting him? Just ignore him and pray that he goes away. Time spent worrying about that hack is time spent not getting closer to God.
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Because, there comes a time to defend the faith from those who would spread their errors throughout the world on the unsuspecting and innocent. Especially someone like Dawkins who has such a wide audience due to his prestige and influence.
 
thomasf said:
Why bother refuting him? Just ignore him and pray that he goes away. Time spent worrying about that hack is time spent not getting closer to God.
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Ever hear of evangelizing? Being Catholics, it is our duty as the sole defenders of Truth to wage war against forces of relativism and other related evils.
 
CapIV said:
Ever hear of evangelizing? Being Catholics, it is our duty as the sole defenders of Truth to wage war against forces of relativism and other related evils.
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I guess my question is, what reason are you looking for those works? If you’re already a catholic and a christian believer, will anything that Dawkins writes really shake your beliefs and end your faith? Do you really need to read a refutation of what he has to say to secure your faith? If so, imo, you should work on strengthening your faith and not work on refuting him line by line.

If you’re looking for refutation works to give someone else, why not simply skip what Dawkins has to say and give them the truth of the faith to begin with? Isn’t that what our call is to do? Jesus said to spread His word, not refute Dawkins. IMO, by giving this guy refutation we’re giving him attention, and credibility. If we answered people like this by simply giving the truth of the gospels, and ignored what he has to say, it is much stronger. And it makes this guy look like the idiot he is.

Furthermore, if you’ve got a staunch aethiest that throws in with Dawkins big time, are they really going to listen to a point by point refutation? From my experience, these people have closed minds and closed hearts. You’re probably better off praying for them and asking them to open their hearts than trying to go point by point up against them.

I have no problem with spreading God’s word. That’s our mission. And I have no problem answering an aetheist. But there’s a difference between answering and refuting. We can answer them without giving them creedance while spreading God’s word.

But imo, we’re better off working on our own faith, and praying for the guy that he opens his heart, than by satisfying ourselves by refuting what he says point by point.

Frankly, I don’t pay these guys much attention. From the way they act, they seem like little kids looking to prove that they don’t have to believe in God to their mommies and daddies. I’d rather concentrate on strengthening my own faith, and actually spreading God’s word.
 
thomasf said:
If you’re looking for refutation works to give someone else, why not simply skip what Dawkins has to say and give them the truth of the faith to begin with? Isn’t that what our call is to do? Jesus said to spread His word, not refute Dawkins. IMO, by giving this guy refutation we’re giving him attention, and credibility. If we answered people like this by simply giving the truth of the gospels, and ignored what he has to say, it is much stronger. And it makes this guy look like the idiot he is.
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I disagree. The Catholic Church has a much stronger view of reason. While it is not enough to save us, the Church infallibly declares that one can know the existence of God through reason alone. If the Church bothered to define that as a dogma (Vat. I), I think it’s important, and therefore important to defend when attack by the likes of Dawkins. The truth is, that Dawkins doesn’t have a philosophical leg to stand on and by not demonstrating that, we are sending the message that he does…and that the Church doesn’t. He’s on our turf. God is the God of reason as well as faith. It’s our duty to refute those who attack reason and faith and God by way of atheism.
thomasf said:
Furthermore, if you’ve got a staunch aethiest that throws in with Dawkins big time, are they really going to listen to a point by point refutation? From my experience, these people have closed minds and closed hearts. You’re probably better off praying for them and asking them to open their hearts than trying to go point by point up against them.
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As for this individual staunch atheist, our job is to give him the truth–in the form of faith as well as reason. It’s up to him what he does with it. It’s wrong to not give an answer because we judge his heart and think he won’t listen. Who knows what he will take to heart. Who knows what sentence may come back to haunt him years later when his atheistic foundation begins to crumble. Furthermore, while our efforts may not convert many it shows those (for generations to come) who could otherwise be swayed by the new atheists that they are ultimately self-contradictory and self-refuting. There are many honest youngsters out there that are confused in their search for truth. By not answering the new atheists, we are sending the message that they are unanswerable.
thomasf said:
But imo, we’re better off working on our own faith, and praying for the guy that he opens his heart, than by satisfying ourselves by refuting what he says point by point.
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I don’t think it’s either/or. We can work on our own faith, pray for open hearts, and wage battle in the arena of reason. It’s our arena after all. And it’s part of the New Evangelization called for by JPII
thomasf said:
Frankly, I don’t pay these guys much attention. From the way they act, they seem like little kids looking to prove that they don’t have to believe in God to their mommies and daddies. I’d rather concentrate on strengthening my own faith, and actually spreading God’s word.
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Awesome! But it’s just as legit for those to do so who feel the desire/charism to wage battle in the arena of reason
 
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