The God Argument: The Case Against Religion and for Humanism

Description

There has been a bad-tempered quarrel between defenders and critics of religion in recent years. Both sides have expressed themselves acerbically because there is a very great deal at stake in the debate. This book thoroughly and calmly examines all the arguments and associated considerations offered in support of religious belief, and does so in full consciousness of the reasons people have for subscribing to religion, and the needs they seek to satisfy by doing so. And because it takes account of all the issues, its solutions carry great weight. The God Argument is the definitive examination of the issue, and a statement of the humanist outlook that recommends itself as the ethics of the genuinely reflective person.

A.C. Grayling is Professor of Philosophy and Master of the New College of the Humanities, London. He believes that philosophy should take an active, useful role in society. He has been a regular contributor to The Times, Financial Times, Observer, Independent on Sunday, Economist, Literary Review, New Statesman and Prospect, and is a frequent and popular contributor to radio and television programmes, including Newsnight, Today, In Our Time, Start the Week and CNN News. Grayling's other works directly and indirectly related to this one include The Good Book and Towards the Light: The Story of the Struggle for Liberty and Rights that Made the Modern West.

A lucid, informative and admirably accessible account of the atheist-secular-humanist position * New Statesman * Precise and incisive ... Mr Grayling is a talented apologist. His brand of humanism comes across as sensible, reasonable and characterized by generosity of spirit that is often absent from religious structures, many of which involve compiling lists of what is forbidden and dreaming up creatively horrendous punishments for those who fall short * Economist * A calm and intelligent look at different religions and their various arguments for the existence of their gods * Daily Mail * Grayling writes with clarity, elegance and the occasional aphoristic twist ... straight alpha material * Independent on Towards The Light * There is an immense depth of human wisdom on display here, and five minutes with any passage will have you contemplating all day * Independent on The Good Book * Undeniably thought-provoking * The Sunday Times * Professor Grayling himself neatly exemplifies the values of calm rationality which are at the heart of Stoicism, and which influenced early Christian thought * Church Times * Debunks the teleological, ontological and cosmological arguments employed throughout Christendom for the literal existence of God ... Those looking for a succinct analysis of these centuries old debates will appreciate Grayling's insights * Washington Post *