The Atheist Who Didn't Exist ~ Review

The Atheist Who Didn't Exist
       Or the Dreadful Consequences
                              of Bad Arguments
By Andy Bannister

          with a Foreword by Ravi Zacharias

The Atheist Who Didn't Exist is an intriguing and rather amusing look at the off the wall arguments that are used to justify personal beliefs.  In the case of this book the arguments to justify not believing in God are examined.  What can seem, on the surface, like a profoundly intelligent argument can in fact be a bunch of confusing word play.

Atheists don't believe God is dead, rather He never existed and the New Atheist movement has some interesting arguments to backup this belief.  What is a "New Atheist" you ask - well this is a small group of media savvy Atheists who have taken to attacking all religions and Christianity in particular with books that have an angry and confrontational tone.  

Some of the arguments presented are an attempt to ridicule one into thinking that only the uneducated person could believe in such an impossible myth.  After all God was merely a crutch to create rules and guidelines that individuals were forced against their will to adhere to.  

This book questions the foundations that Atheism bases its beliefs on.  Belief in non-belief is powerful draw to many today who are searching for meaning while trying to exclude God from ALL aspects of life.  I found the chapter "Humpty Dumpty and the Vegan" to be quite amusing.  The vegan friend's argument that he was a liberal vegan was rather humorous while at the same time sad as many use the same type of arguments to reject God.  In essence the vegan's justification in eating meat was he that he would determine for himself what the term vegan meant for him.  

All too often this same argument is used to define good and evil.  Who or what is the definer of good and evil when we reject God.  Without God how can there be a measure to justify or vilify any one person or groups actions?  

This book is a plea with all people to think and to ponder what they believe.  Do you believe in God? A higher being? Or your own-self?  Then question is Why do you believe?  Is it something you thought through?  Or were you just following along with others and not truly making the decision for yourself?

This is a book that will make one think, which is after all the author's intention in writing it.  This would make for an interesting book club selection and I would love to hear the various readers and their individual takes on the book.  Atheist or Christian there is much food for thought in this book whether or not  you agree with the author's views.

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher through the Kregel reviewer program in exchange for my honest review.

About the book:

Addressing some of the more popular atheist sound bites about the Christian faith, The Atheist Who Didn't Exist clears the space for a deeper and more honest discussion about the big questions of life.

Our culture now assumes that atheism is the default position--indeed, the only position for anyone who wishes to be seen as educated, contemporary, and urbane. In the media, atheism is usually portrayed as scientific and rational versus religion, which is seen as stuffy, outdated, and irrational.

Blending humor with serious thought, The Atheist Who Didn't Exist will help readers to think a little deeper about the popular claims of atheism. Whether the reader is a Christian who desires to be able to start a conversation with secular friends or simply an agnostic dissatisfied with some of the arguments that pass for serious thought, Andy Bannister shows that when it comes to the most important questions of life, we need to move beyond simplistic sound bites.