OBS! Du kommer att skratta! Du kommer att behöva fundera!

Detta är en ganska annorlunda apologetikbok. Den tar sig an ett antal argument som ateister ofta kommer dragande med och gör slarvsylta av dem med hjälp av humor och genom att dra argumenten till sin absurda spets. Det gör att den är lämpad att läsa även för den som inte ha någon koll sedan innan, då man ganska lätt får en förståelse för varför argumenten inte håller, även om man kanske inte hänger med när han också går på djupet. Det gör det också till en av få apologetiska böcker som jag med lätthet skulle kunna sätta i händerna på en ateist. Är man däremot väl beläst inom den apologetiska litteraturen kommer den kanske inte ge så mycket, mer än många skratt och vissa nya infallsvinklar.

PS. Tyvärr märks det ovanligt mycket att det är en översättning då ordvitsar är svåra att översätta (och brittisk humor inte alltid är lätt att hänga med i), men översättaren gör ofta ett bra arbete utifrån förutsättningarna. ( )

Thankful for Bannister's work.
I keep this book handy for conversations around the New Athiests - which often come up when relating to congregation members who are wrestling with their own faith. ( )

The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist
Or: The Dreadful Consequences of Bad Arguments
By
Andy Bannister

Andy Bannister is a newly discovered joy for me. I am a big fan of authors who are able to write polemical books in an approachable and humorous manner. My exposure to those who have different views than I do has been through such authors and while I may strongly disagree with them, I enjoy their approach.

Well there is no danger of my disagreeing with Andy Bannister. I think we share the same worldview. His book, however, challenged me to think of better ways to engage those with whom I disagree. Bannister has a talent for self deprecation and wit and can disassemble an argument down to the bare bones of the intent. He does this without falling into the trap of setting up a straw man.

Ultimately though, Bannister is writing a defense of faith, and the Christian faith in particular. He is not so much engaging the enemy as explaining why their arguments fall short. And he does this with a humor that often left me with a smile on my face even while I was trying to look up philosophical terms to better understand the concepts. Not that this book is for academics; on the contrary, it is very clearly for the layperson. With such chapters as The Aardvark in the Artichokes (or: Why Not All Gods are the Same) and The Panini Poisoner of Pimlico (or: Why Everybody Has faith), you can be left in no doubt that while Bannisters goal is to inform and teach, his tools are that humor and with that make it fun to do so.

I very highly recommend this book to anyone: atheist, Christian, agnostic! ( )

I like Christian apologetics book as much as the next guy which means not a whole lot. I do like the idea of them. A reasoned, rational defense of Christian truth is a great idea--something that answers questions and addresses difficulties can be very helpful. But let's be honest, most apologetic works suffer from some serious defects. A few are overly simple and don't really offer more than trite answers to tough questions. Some books are just dry and boring. Rare is an apologetics book that answers questions well while remaining entertaining.

The Atheist Who Didn't Exist or: the Dreadful Consequences of Bad Arguments by Andy Bannister is both highly entertaining and thoughtful. Bannister is the Canadian Director for RZIM. Hailing from the UK, his prose is full of British wit, humorous asides and puns. It is rare to read a book where the footnotes are this funny. Bannister takes on the rhetoric of the so-called New Atheists, exposing bad argumentation, false claims, overstatements made by these antagonistic unbelievers. Richard Dawkins, the late Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett and the Derek Zoolander of New Atheists, Sam Harris, are all skewered by Bannister's masterful wit. He also endeared himself to me by taking several cheap shots at the Toronto Maple Leafs (the NHL team in his adopted city). I haven't read an apologetic book this entertaining since Randal Rauser's The Swedish Atheist, the Scuba Diver and Other Apologetics Rabbit Trails.

Each chapter begins with a humorous story (most often a bit fiction) which highlights significant issues with these Atheist's arguments. Bannister then goes on to make some serious points about :what constitutes a good argument, the saneness of Christian belief, the reason why not all gods are the same, the problem with psychological arguments against God, why religion doesn't poison everything, the limits of science's explanatory power, the necessity of God to underscore morality and meaning, why everyone has faith and our reliable knowledge of Jesus. I doubt seriously he would win many converts from died-in-the-wool-atheists, but Bannister certainly demonstrates the warrant for Christian belief.

Bannister focuses on the New Atheists, though some of what he writes applies to 'Old Atheism' as well (he peppers his prose with occasional references to Bertrand Russel and others). What sets the New Atheists apart from the old, is the vitriol they direct at religion and faith. They don't describe religious people as wrong or misguided. They see us as evil. While their arguments against God are not always the most philosophically sophisticated, I've spent enough time on college campuses to hear Dawkins, Hitchens and Harris described as intellectual heroes from bright young people. Bannister does a good job of showing some of the places where their arguments are more flash than substance.

However this book doesn't tackle every issue. One of the stickier points for some unbelievers is God's track record. Atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens point to the Canaanite Conquest and some troublesome stories in the Bible and posit that the God of the Bible is a 'moral monster.' Bannister doesn't explore this issue or theodicy (the problem of evil) in any great depth and yet I think that this is the major issue for many people today. This signals the limits of this volume. A skeptic may follow and appreciate Bannister's points and still come away with their principle objections untouched.

But for an entertaining and thoughtful romp and critique of New Atheism this is well worth reading. I give it four stars.

Notice of Material Connection: I received this book from Monarch Books and Kregel Publications in exchange for my honest review.
( )

loved this book. simple to read and yet deep enough to bring real answers, avoids straw-men arguments, and deals with some of the most common objections to the Christian worldview that are out there. Suggesting to many, not to mention my son...