God?: A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist (Point/Counterpoint) 1st Edition by William Lane Craig (PDF)

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The question of whether or not God exists is profoundly fascinating and important. Now two articulate spokesmen–one a Christian, the other an atheist–duel over God’s existence in an illuminating battle of ideas.In God? A Debate between a Christian and an Atheist, William Lane Craig and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong bring to the printed page two debates they held before live audiences, preserving all the wit, clarity, and immediacy of their public exchanges. Avoiding overly esoteric arguments, they directly address issues such as religious experience, the Bible, evil, eternity, the origin of the universe, design, and the supposed connection between morality and the existence of God. Employing sharp and humorous arguments, each philosopher strikes quickly to the heart of his opponent’s case. For example, Craig claims that we must believe in God in order to explain objective moral values, such as why rape is wrong. Sinnott-Armstrong responds that what makes rape wrong is the harm to victims of rape, so rape is immoral even if there is no God. By assuming a traditional concept of God in their discussion, the authors ensure that they are truly addressing each other’s viewpoints and engaging in a disagreement over a unified issue. The book is composed of six chapters that alternate between Craig and Sinnott-Armstrong, so that each separate point can be discussed as it arises. Ideal for courses in the philosophy of religion and introduction to philosophy, this lively and direct dialogue will stimulate students and anyone interested in the existence of God, regardless of whether or not they believe in God.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐This is a welcome addition to the ongoing believer/doubter dialogue. The debaters were mutually respectful and free of dogmatic assertions. Each had some stronger and some weaker arguments, but in my opinion no absolute clinchers. Other reviewers, on both sides, were able to acknowledge the better arguments of the opposition, even if few minds may have been changed. Rather, this debate serves as an eye-opener in either direction, showing well the reasonable concerns of both parties.Dr. Craig is to be commended on two points especially. First, he describes his arguments as just that, not proofs. Second, he explicitly admits that skeptics can be moral persons, avoiding the all-too-frequent canard that unbelievers cannot be moral. Similarly, Dr. Sinnott-Armstrong does not dismiss religion as mere superstition or the like. These attitudes made for a congenial exchange.Dr. Craig surveys concisely most of the traditional arguments for God–ontological, augmented cosmological (kalam), teleological (design), and moral. Dr. Sinnott-Armstrong has responses to each, but perhaps a bit too brief. He focuses quite a bit on the Problem of Evil. Craig admits the emotional force of this but then goes for a philosophical justification of the existence of Evil. Some of this was new (to me, anyway), but even still I was not convinced.Although good points were made by both, I think even better potential exists on either side. That said, I suspect that Craig came very close to the best apologetics possibilities, whereas Sinnott-Armstrong has more “headroom” for future development.This excellent discussion invites further effort and makes me eager to see what is yet to come.

⭐This was a fantastically concise novel on the debate of God. It’s not too difficult for the average Joe to understand but also not over-simplistic. I would highly recommend this. But, as a note, if you are hoping to find out who “won” the debate, there was no tally of votes taken for an “actual” winner. Most readers will come away with their original belief strengthened (as we are naturally defensive in our beliefs and are looking for proof of being “right”). In my personal opinion, William Craig came out victorious, but it’s obviously all subjective.Craig’s cosmology arguments are particularly convincing whereas Armstrong has good points in terms of the “Nature” of God. That is, a Christian God.The problem with the “moral” argument that Craig proposes is that it is too short to truly get a grasp on. The other arguments (for both sides) were well done and well-covered. But, to no fault to Craig, the “inherent morals” argument is too short. That subject tends to be more lengthy, and needs to be covered more in-depth to legitimately understand.

⭐Christian Philosopher Willaim Lane Craig and Atheist Philosopher Walter Sinnott-Armstrong and engaged in a spirited, yet friendly debate on the existence of God. The book is in two parts with three essays in both parts.The first section, is where Dr. Craig proposes his reasons for faith in God. Dr. Sinnot-Armstrong gives a rebuttle and Craig rebuttles. In the section section, Dr. Sinnott-Armstrong gives an essay for atheism, Dr. Craig rebutts, and Sinnott-Armstrong rebutts.The only real flaws in the book are that both do not really settle anything. They write past each other often enough as to not always tackel the most revelant assertions. Further, no one deals a “death-=blow” to the other. But this is telling – since debates are not where the issues always lie. Although I like philosophy and apologetics, issues of God normally are found in the lives of others.All in all, Graig wins because his standard to achieve victory is less. He asserts that theism is reasonable. Dr. Sinnott-Armstrong could provide an adequate argument to refute the reasonableness of Dr. Graigs points. Dr. Sinnott-Armstrong’s standard is much more difficult to achieve although he tries to lessen the burden by asserting he is not making “proofs in the mathmatical sense.” Here he is trying to discard the “universial negative” principle. Dr. Sinnot-Armstrong also makes the general “Crusades straw-man” arguement and it backfires because Dr. Craig is able to then introduce “atheists” philosophies that killed more people and that were the logical outworkings of these belief systems.

⭐In my observation, people either believe in God or they don’t. What I find interesting is not which side of the line they fall but how sanguine they generally are about it. It seems to me that whether a person is a devout believer or a confirmed atheist, the fact that so many people believe the opposite should cause anybody certain cognitive dissonance.The French mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) attempted to split the difference. He posited that if God exists we face an infinite gain (or loss) from our decision whether to believe. But on the other hand, if God doesn’t exist, the cost of living as though he did exist is small. Consequently, it makes mathematical sense to live as though one were a believer. This has come down to us as Pascal’s Wager.This book consists of two public debates between William Lane Craig, a believer in the Christian God, and Walter Sinnott-Armstrong, a confirmed atheist. The format for each debate is Point, Counterpoint, Re-point, one debate starting with the premise “God exists” and the other with the premise that God doesn’t exist. This results in a total of six excellent presentations.These thoughtful debates should appeal to (a) anyone wanting validation of their stance, (b) anyone still on the fence, and (c) anyone who simply enjoys an exercise in critical thought. It would be a stretch to say that it’s likely to change anybody’s mind as to the existence of God, but it absolutely provides food for thought.

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