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In his new book Outgrowing God, Richard Dawkins purports to demolish the claims of mainstream religion, starting with belief in a Creator. All of life’s big questions can apparently be answered by science.
But does he even understand what he rejects? Rupert Shortt’s answer in Outgrowing Dawkins is a resounding ‘No’. The high priest of New Atheism quite literally doesn’t know what he’s talking about, because the deity he rejects is a childish parody. From this flow many further muddles and straw man arguments. Shortt’s incisive rebuttal includes positive suggestions for advancing an often sterile debate.
Rupert Shortt is Religion Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and a former Visiting Fellow at Oxford University. His recent books include Benedict XVI, Christianophobia: A Faith under Attack, God is No Thing: Coherent Christianity and Does Religion Do More Harm than Good?
‘A masterclass.’ – Church Times
‘A penetrating, concise and informed critique of Richard Dawkins. This is now the best starting point for anyone wanting to assess his views on science and faith.’ – Alister E. McGrath
‘A great read. Rupert Shortt demolishes Richard Dawkins’s arguments with consummate elegance.’ – Julia Neuberger
‘A bracing demonstration that a Christian can myth-bust an atheist quite as effectively as vice versa.’ – Tom Holland
