Product Description

When Richard Dawkins published 'The God Delusion', David
Robertson wanted there to be an intelligent Christian response. After some
ill thought through interventions in the media it was obvious that no one
was really going to answer the real issues so David Robertson wrote an open
letter to Richard Dawkins on his church website. This has found its way
into Richard Dawkins website, where it generated the largest response of
any posting before or since.

This ferocity of the responses and the shallowness of the thinking that it
exhibited, spurred David to write this book. Christians need to know where
Dawkins is weak and we need to explain things better! It draws upon David's
experience as a debater, letter writer, pastor and author.

This is a very honest book. It agrees with Dawkins where appropiate but
also does not hesitate to point out where some of his thinking does not
hold together - It is written in a gentle spirit of enquiry.

If you want ideas and answers to the challenges of 'The God Delusion' then
Dawkins Letters is the place to find your answers!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #32983 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-20
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 144 pages

Christian Marketplace May 2007
This book is a more than useful contribution to the `Dawkins
Debate' and one which has helped me to understand more about the flawed
arguments contained within `The God Delusion'. The book comprises a series
of ten letters to Dawkins, the first of which was published on Dawkins' own
website, which counter the arguments in Dawkins' book chapter by chapter.
Robertson is clearly well-read and marshals his arguments in a balanced and
intellectually sound way. But this is not an inaccessible academic
treatise; he writes clearly and understandably in such a way that most
people will be able to grasp the arguments easily. He avoids the temptation
to `rubbish' Dawkins, just dismantles and challenges his arguments frankly
and cohesively. The final letter (to the reader) "Why Believe", contains a
very useful and extensive reading list which most will never get to read in
entirety but is helpful to have.
Clem Jackson, Editor

Richard Dawkins' Website April 2007
"Wow, this is an intelligent and well-crafted view of RD's book."
Anonymous Atheist

Richard Morris, Wesley Owen Bookstore
No preacher or church leader should be without this remarkable
book. Arch-atheist Professor Richard Dawkins is campaigning to banish
religion in general and Christianity in particular from our schools,
government and all significant areas of public life. Dawkins' big idea is
that Christianity does more harm than good and he's aggressively
campaigning on both sides of the Atlantic. He won't succeed but he will do
a great deal of damage as his poisonous lies permeate Western culture.
David Robertson has written a brief, brilliant and compelling rebuff to
Dawkins' latest book, `The God Delusion'. It is a remarkable apologetic for
the Christian faith and an essential tool in winning the battle of ideas.
I'd give it ten stars if I could! (5 stars out of 5)

Customer Reviews

Preaching to the converted
I purchased this book from Amazon marketplace, for less than the cost of the postage, and it was certainly worth the money. I have read several of the books inspired by the God Delusion, and thought this would be a good one largely on the basis of some of the reviews here. Having read it, and then re-read some all of the reviews here, it is hard to believe we are all talking about the same book. I can say with confidence that this one will definately not change anybody's mind, whatever their current stance, and I am fairly confident that the author is not even seriously trying to do this. It is clearly preaching to the converted, which the author argues is exactly what Dawkins is doing. Not that I found it any the less interesting to read as a result of this, particularly as it was cheap to buy, short, and easy to read. However, potential readers should be aware of this, and not buy it hoping to read a well-argued, balanced, response to Dawkins.

I think it is an honest, genuine response to TGD, and I like its honesty. It is not an intellectual or scholarly work, and I do not think the author is trying to pretend that it is (see introductory letter). I do not wish to rehash the comments made by earlier reviewers. My main criticism is that I felt a lot of the time Robertson was just as prone to the kind of things for which he criticises Dawkins, e.g.

-Preaching to the converted is a major one, and the reviews here seem to polarise nicely between Christians, who unsurprisingly like it, and non-Christians, who do not. I particularly liked the review which states that this book shows the flaws in Dawkins arguements, and then follows it up with the statement "I haven't read TGD yet".
- Being inconsistent (other reviews have covered this). In chapter 3, he puts forward the view that atheists are in fact neither rational nor tolerant. He focuses on homophobia (I assume he does not consider himself homophobic), and cites an example on p.38, of the Christian Union in Birmingham, which was suspended for refusing "to amend its literature to include references to gays, lesbians and those of transgender sexuality". He then follows this by asking what was the logic "for leaving out polygamists, bestialists or paedophiles". With this statement, the clear implication is that he considers homosexuality in some way equivalent to beastiality or paedophilia. I do not see how this question can be seen as anything other than homophobic.
- Being patronising to those who do not share his viewpoint, e.g. p. 42 "So I do pray for you and for all those who have been deluded into thinking that there is only material, and that their Creator does not exist". How are statements like this any less patronising than referring to Christians as deluded?
- Attributing attrocities to atheists, which were in fact carried out by non-atheists. Hitler is probably not a good example, because there is obviously strong disagreement about whether he was atheist or not. However, on p.81, Robertson cites the burning of 77 Norwegian churches by "over-zealous young atheists". Well, those who responsible who voiced a particular stance, claimed to be Satanists. How can self-proclaimed Satanists possibly be atheists?
- Getting his facts wrong, and misrepresenting the literature. He acuses Dawkins, and other atheists, of doing this with the bible, but then does exactly this in chapter 8, when discussing a Darwinian explanation of morality. I am always uncomfortable when I read the words Darwinian and genetics, as genetics was not incorporated into evolutionary theory by Darwin, whose hypothetical mechanism for heredity was pangenesis. However, the serious problem with this chapter is on p.90, where Robertson states criticises evolutionary explanations of altruism as deterministic, to the extent that "There is no concept of free will, choice or responsibility". He says this approach ligitimises any behaviour, by claiming it is all in the genes. This is completely misrepresenting the facts. There is not a single evolutionary biologist, psychologist or behavioural scientist of any profession who argues for this.
- Simply taking something Dawkins has said, and then attempting to simply twist it round and apply it to atheism, e.g. in Chapter 10, he suggests that many atheists do not believe in heaven, hell and an afterlife because they take comfort from that viewpoint. This is clearly just a little fantasy in his head, as he cites no evidence to suggest that a single atheist actually does think in this way.

I will stop there, as this is turning into a far more negative review than I intended. This book has a place, as it does outline a particular form of Christian belief, and I would rather people read it than ignore it. But I cannot help thinking that it inadvertently ends up strengthening Dawkins position, rather than weakening it. I have no doubt that a well-argued, response to TGD, capable of really challenging what is says is possible: but we are not there yet.

enjoyable, reasoned and entertaining response to TGD
Really enjoyed the book. It was gracious, self deprecating at times, well researched and, well, real fun to read! Thankyou David Robertson as very few books cause me to devour the words as quickly as did yours. Did it need to be as thick as TGD? Nah! Does it cause one to think, both believer and atheist alike, yep! But hey that's my opinion!

Failing to address the lack of evidence
For Robertson a lack of evidence is unimportant. He still believes. Yet why should I believe without solid evidence for the existence of God? On a critical scale the book falls staggeringly flat. Until the believer community addresses this issue there is no way I will change my outlook on life. I cannot follow what is not supported by evidence, and Robertson should consider that.

More alarming is the arrogance of the author, labelling Muslims as people needing God. So, it's possible that one deity without any supporting evidence can be better than another. Robertson also claims to speak for the Pantheist community, that they should be upset at their belief system being described by Dawkins as little more than 'sexed up' atheism. Well, as a pantheist myself, that is what it essentially is.