Christian Focus

If you engage the people around you in conversation about spiritual things, you will quickly find that skepticism seems to be ruling the day. As with any movement, there are an elite few influential leaders who are leading the charge, especially through books and other media. One such influential leader amongst the skeptics is Oxford professor Richard Dawkins. His well-known book The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006) is still wildly popular several years after its publication with some 1693 reviews on Amazon. A non-fiction book with this many reviews five years after its publication clearly has a following. As we consider the level of influence garnered by books like The God Delusion that oppose a Christian worldview, an important question Christians need to ask themselves is, "How should a Christian respond?"

One person who decided to respond to Richard Dawkins is David Robertson. During the winter of 2006-2007, he wrote a series of open letters responding to concerns raised by Dawkins in The God Delusion. The first of these letters made its way to Dawkins' web site and received numerous responses. The chord that his letter seemed to have struck, encouraged David to write more letters in response to Dr. Dawkins, which ultimately led to the creation of this book. Robertson's aim is "to challenge some of the basic myths Dawkins uses and encourages in his book, in order that you may think and consider these things for yourself." (p. 9). With the exception of the introductory letter to the reader and the final letter to Dawkins (new to the revised edition), there are ten letters in the book, each of which correspond to a chapter in Dawkins' book and responds to one or more of the atheist myths that are discussed in that chapter.

The writing style of these letters feels very conversational, coming across as humorous, friendly, and deeply pastoral. If you happen to be reading The God Delusion or have a friend or acquaintance who is reading it, I would suggest picking up a copy of The Dawkins Letters to read in conjunction with Dawkins' book in order to get a balanced perspective. The Dawkins Letters is widely available from Amazon, Westminster Books and elsewhere.

Author Information:
David Robertson is a columnist, author and pastor of St. Peter's Free Church of Scotland in Dundee.

Disclaimer:
This book was provided by the Christian Focus Publications for review. The reviewer was under no obligation to offer a favorable review.

Shaun Tabatt - Bible Geek Gone Wild

Thank you David for the gift you have to dismantle the arguments and myths that Dawkins presents in his book. You have given me the confidence to be able to speak up against these myths the next time I am in conversation with someone who believes in the atheist view of life and the universe. And you are a good example of how to converse with good humour and politeness!

Lizzie McClean, Peebles