Customer Reviews

Atheism Remix: A Christian Confronts the New Atheists

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This short book (108 pages) is an informative guide to the challenge of the New Atheists and their challenge to Christian theism. Mohler targets the "four horsemen of the New Atheism" - Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens.

Chapter one briefly surveys the history of atheism and situates the new atheism within secularism.

Chapter two is the most helpful chapter of the book; it discusses New Atheism's assault on Theism by giving thumbnail sketches of the "four horsemen,"then pointing out eight common features of their assault on theism: (1) The New Atheism is marked by an unprecedented new boldness; (2) There is a clear and specific rejection of the Christian God of the Bible; (3) The New Atheists explicitly reject Jesus Christ; (4) The New Atheism is specifically grounded in scientific argument; (5) The New Atheism is new in its refusal to tolerate moderate and liberal forms of belief; (6) The New Atheism attacks toleration; (7) The New Atheists have begun to question the right of parents to inculcate belief in their own children; and (8) The New Atheists argue that religion itself must be eliminated to preserve human freedom.

Chapters three and four discuss the defense of theism poised against by the New Atheists by various theologians and philosophers, including Alistair McGrath, Alvin Plantiga, Tina Beattie, and John F. Haught. While agreeing with some points of their arguments (especially McGrath and Plantiga), Mohler's primary criticism is that these responses represent various levels of accomodation. In contrast, Mohler argues that "Evangelical Christians simply cannot surrender biblical authority, propositional revelation, and biblical theism in order to meet the various challenges presented to us in the twenty-first century" (102). There are only two alternatives, atheism or biblical, Christian theism.

Unfortunately, this book does not itself present an argument for biblical theism. The book doesn't deliver on its subtitle, "a Christian confronts the New Atheists," for there isn't much confrontation with, and no detailed argumentation against, the New Atheists. That was disappointing. Readers who want thoughtful engagement with the New Atheists will have go elsewhere. (I'd suggest Timothy Keller's The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism.)

That said, the second chapter of this book made it worth reading for me. I appreciated the review and summary of the various NA books.

Albert Mohler's Atheism Remix is divided into four sections. In the first, he examines the history of atheism, from its presence in the Bible ("The fool says in his heart, `There is no God'") to Nietzsche and beyond. He explores how the "conditions of belief" in our world have changed from "impossible not to believe" to "impossible to believe," and how this paves the way for the New Atheists.

The second chapter profiles the "Four Horsemen of the New Atheism," viz., Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, touching on their lives and work. The third chapter examines the responses to these writers by Alister McGrath and Alvin Plantinga, while the final section touches on more liberal responses to the New Atheism. Mohler is dissatisfied to some extent with all of the responses, as even McGrath and Plantinga allow for the possibility of evolution; in the book's last few pages, Mohler asserts that Christians must make a stand for biblical theism, not any accomodationist form of theism that would seek to appease the New Atheists.

The book serves as a decent review of the state of the debate, in that the middle two chapters consist more of long quotations from other authors' work than Mohler's own analysis or argumentation. However, his objection to McGrath's and Plantinga's otherwise cogent arguments is only barely sketched, rather than advanced, and he ultimately fails to make a case that in no form can evolution and God co-exist. In the end, Mohler's work may be a rallying point for conservative evangelicals who share his views, but does little to "confront" the New Atheists--or persuade others of his ideas.

I cannot say for certain what I expected from Dr. Mohler's book. However, I will say I was disappointed to learn that the lecture series was really only a history of atheism and not comments related to the current trend in atheism. If you are a student of apologetics and need a historical background and trends for atheism, than this book may be a decent addition to your studies. Otherwise, your money might be better spent elsewhere.

The sub-title says "A Christian confronts the new Atheists." If that's the case, the publishers left those lectures out of the book.

In his recent book, Mohler documents and reacts to four of today's most prominent and evangelistic atheists. The new atheists, Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens. Or, as Mohler likes to call them, "the four horsemen of the new atheism".

Mohler himself is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville Kentucky. He also hosts a self-titled national radio program. He is the author of the recent book Culture Shift, and is one of my favorite bloggers, writing mostly about culture issues.

Mohler's style of writing is easy to read. Like something you'd find in a commentary section of a newspaper. The content is compelling, but the language and structure is not overwhelming. It should be an easy read for most and a breeze for heavy readers.

Remix is short. Surprisingly short. 108 pages, spread over four chapters, sliced into about six chapter subsets (again, why'd it take two months to finish?). But length doesn't necessarily mean much. Mohler says quite a lot in a little bit of space.

This New Atheism is unprecedented, as Mohler sees it. Unlike atheism movements in the past, it's popular. Mohler sites how long these proponent's books have taken residence on best seller stands. He also addresses the distinct lack of moral grieving over the loss of something previously seen as beautiful: faith. There's quite a lot more to say. That's why Mohler wrote a book.

The subtitle is "a Christian confronts the New Atheists", but the subtitle is misleading. When I first received the book from Amazon, I was disappointed at the size. I thought to myself, "really? this dude is effectively going to go up against four of the most outspoken members of the atheist movement in just over a hundred pages?". Well, he doesn't. In fact, he doesn't even try to. The final chapter of the book makes clear that this text was not written to confront them, or even their followers. It's written for Christians, living in a culture that's shifting as a result of this emerging "New Atheism".

And for us, he writes convincingly, with conviction.

Dr. Mohler does an excellent job of bringing together information. Much of the pages are made up of discussing other opponents attacks on the New Atheists. I find this reads with a refreshing humility. It gives us the sweetest points of popular rebuttal but also lends to an argument that feels much larger that is actually contained in the book.

Mohler saves the biggest chunk of his own opinion for the final chapter (which is also typical of his blog), titled "New Atheism and the Future of Christianity". In it he gives Christians an encouragement not to shrink from the discussion but to read, study, learn and pray.

Overall, I recommend this book to most all Christians. If you're unfamiliar with this new movement, this will serve as an excellent introduction. If you're already pretty well informed, this will be an easy read and an important reminder. It's certainly no waste of time.

The 3 star rating came because of my disappointment in what I hoped to get out this short book and in the fact that I think it could have been expanded a bit and made more of a tool that could be used by conservative Christians who are dealing with people involved in the New Atheism.

The four chapters are what was claimed in the introduction, they are the text of 4 lectures given by Dr. Mohler at Dallas Theological Seminary. The four lectures are quite well done and the book reflects that. His background on Atheism and also on what he calls "The Four Horsemen of the New Atheist Apocalypse," Richard Dakins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, is very good. Well thought through and well documented.

What I found disappointing was that there was some repetition in the 4 chapters. I think this happens because the four lectures are not done back to back, but one day after the other, so as any good teacher there is a bit of review and drawing on previous material as you build your thesis to the final conclusion. But in a book format you don't need to go back over material already covered. I think that the book could have been edited a bit for this and then some expanded material added to give more information to we the Pastoral community that don't have the advantage of being in the classroom setting to discuss these lectures.

Please, again, don't get me wrong. Dr. Mohler does a good job of presenting the material. It is interesting and laid out well.

My concern is that I was hoping for a bit more practical material that I could use in working with young people who I am running into who are buying into this New Atheism. I now have some historical background and better understand many of the intellectual players in this game and so I can better address those aspects, but I still need more information. This has been a good start but now on to some more material to get the rest of what I needed.

I do believe that if you want a primer on this issue that you will not be disappointed with Dr. Mohler's book. But keep in mind that it the essence of four lectures and only a short booklet at 108 pages in length.

But do enjoy!

This brief volume provides a concise overview of the New Atheism and four of its leading proponents - Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens. What distinguishes the New Atheism from its intellectual forbears is its unbounded delight in the death of God. According to the New Atheists, it was impossible for pre-Enlightenment man not to believe in God. The Enlightenment changed everything; it became possible not to believe in God. We now live in a third stage of human development that is shaped by the Darwinian revolution, and which makes belief in God impossible. The New Atheists shed no tears over the death of God. Unlike atheists of previous generations, his demise is counted an unqualified good. Theists are dangerous people, and the sooner the world is rid of theistic belief the better off the world will be.

Mohler notes eight characteristics of the New Atheism.

* Unprecedented boldness.
* Clear and specific rejection of the Christian God of the Bible.
* Explicit rejection of Jesus Christ.
* An atheistic worldview grounded in scientific argument.
* A refusal to tolerate moderate and liberal forms of theistic belief.
* An attack on religious toleration.
* A challenge to the right of parents to inculcate theistic belief in their own children.
* The conviction that religion itself must be eliminated in order to preserve human freedom.

Mohler provides a concise critique of the scientific and philosophical foundations of the New Atheism, and also of the the defenses of theism offered by Alister McGrath and Alvin Plantinga.

Mohler concludes: "The Christian church must respond to the challenge of the New Atheism with the full measure of conviction. We are reminded that the church has faced a constellation of theological challenges throughout its history. Then, as now, the task is to articulate, communicate, and defend the Christian faith with intellectual integrity and evangelistic urgency. We should not assume that this task will be easy, and we must also refuse to withdraw from public debate and private conversation in light of this challenge."

Chances are that you will encounter vocal advocates of the New Atheism, or those influenced by its arguments. Atheism Remix is a helpful tool in preparing for the challenge.

This is a really quick read, definitely a solid book that I would recommend to all Christians. This book brings our attention to the new face of atheism (hence the title the New Atheists). This group has four heads that are basically behind most of it: Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennet, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. They are after the collapse of theism, especially Christianity, and replacing it with an evolution and naturalism worldview as the only healthy and correct perspective. This is what they (the four gentlemen) feel will bring freedom to humans. Mohler will provide what they believe and why we as Christians must stand opposed and do it well. This is not going to provide much detail in what they believe or in how to stand against in the form of scientific reasoning or data. If you're wanting to find something that provides details upon details this isn't the book.

The only thing lacking from this book is purpose of the gospel in all of it. It will tell you the flaws in the arguments and how to overcome many of the lies that the New Atheists adhere to. The issue is that overcoming these objection and arguments will not save anybody. It can open the door and be a starting point which is what I believe Mohler's objective is. Refuting points and being an intellectual never saves anybody. Still it's a good read, and I would recommend so individuals are at least not ignorant of what is developing amongst many within the world, especially scientific community (not all, just some).

I read a good chunk of this book while waiting for my order at a vegetarian Chinese restaurant in Vancouver. That says something about how popular the restaurant was. It says even more about how small the book is.

Mohler is a good writer. He's well-informed and thoughtful. But why is Crossway pretending this book is some sort of answer to the New Atheism? I kept waiting for him to make a few arguments. But basically all he says, is, "Evangelicals have to believe in God, so we shouldn't accept some of the 'answers' to the New Atheism that are on the market." Or in his own words, "Evangelical Christians simply cannot surrender biblical authority, propositional revelation, and biblical theism in order to meet the various challenges presented to us in the 21st century."

No kidding.

But how about answering those "challenges?"

There ARE good answers to the New Atheism -- I like to think I wrote one. So, I feel, did John Lennox, Dinesh D'Souza, Tim Keller, and no doubt others with whom I have yet to share tea. The only answers of which Mohler seems aware, however, are the two books by Alister McGrath, which are also pretty watered-down, in my opinion (though the first contains some valuable material), and an essay by Alvin Plantinga.

What there is of this book, is often interesting. Even there, though, I think the author falls short, on occassion. "When it comes to vioence, Hitchens would argue, Jesus makes the God of the Old Testament look like an amateur?" Oh, come on. Tendentious curmudgeon though he is, surely Hitchens doesn't believe "Jesus" is defined by the Book of Revelation! Nor should Harris' political ideals be read exclusively through a few intemperate and stupid comments he makes about not tolerating religion any longer -- he shouldn't be let off the hook, but let's extend him a little more charity of interpretation, especially since he disavows the desire to persecute believers.

I also disagree with Mohler's explanation of what defines the New Atheism. Most of the characteristics he names (the boldness, rejection of Jesus, scientism, refusal to accomodate, etc) were also true, say, of the Left Hegelians, including Marx and Engels, of the mid 19th Century. Bertrand Russell and others in the 20th Century often also resemble those remarks -- not least Marx' millions of followers.

I am sure Dr. Mohler could write an excellent book on this subject. This might do as a lecture, and even there, I think he should rethink some of his ideas.

Pointed apologetic?
Unequivocally.
Cogent and concise volume?
You bet.
Clear warning about the New Atheists?
Absolutely.
Comprehensive treatise defending Christian theism?
Not really.

Dr. R. Albert Mohler, Jr. delivers a precise analysis and inspirational call for Christian theists to engage the non-believing dogma of the New Atheists. He exposes the anti-Christian aims of Hitchens, Harris, and Dawkins and then refutes their self-smiting assertions and groundless worldview. Dr. Mohler is the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is considered by CNN, Time Magazine, and Christianity Today as a leading evangelical thinker. Time named him the "reigning intellectual of the evangelical movement."

This breezy page-turner is based upon Mohler's "Griffin Thomas Lectures" given at DTS in 2008 (page 13). Thus this book is succinct, brief, and dynamic. "Atheism Remix: A Christian Confronts the new Atheists" offers numerous anecdotes which help make this volume a excellent pastoral resource (and other public speakers). Dr. Mohler outlines and adds fine commentary on recent theistic works by McGrath and Plantinga aimed at intellectually rebutting the New Atheism (p.p. 65-87). The author provides a brief overview of the history of atheism and notes that the "word atheism did not appear in the English language until the sixteenth century. The `Oxford Dictionary' documents the first use of the word to 1568, when it was coined ... by Miles Coverdale" (p. 17).

Since all non-Christian thought is anti-theistic Professor Mohler rightly asserts that "it's atheism or biblical theism. There is nothing in between" (p. 108). Additionally: In refuting atheism the real issue "is not metaphysics, but epistemology"(p. 85).

My favorite quote has Dr. Mohler confuting atheism at its rational pre-committments when he argues that Christians need a sustained and credible apologetic that refutes atheism at the "worldview level, including the pre-theological patterns of thought ..." (p. 65).

This little book may not be a broad and extensive refutation of atheism, but it is a good read for the beach or on a plane ride (for a comprehensive answer to atheism see McGrath or the book:
Truth, Knowledge and the Reason for God: The Defense of the Rational Assurance of Christianity
orGod Does Exist!: Defending the faith using presuppositional apologetics, evidence, and the impossibility of the contrary.

Al Mohler is no stranger to those within evangelicalism. The Southern Seminary President has been a voice of consistently clear and faithful biblical articulation throughout recent years. Thankfully his influence is expanding through his radio show, website and various appearances on television and in the paper. The fact that Dr Mohler is now beginning to crank out books is met with thankfulness from many corners. In my view he just needs to keep reading, writing and talking; he is a blessing to the church and a light to the world.

Atheism Remix is based on the W.H. Griffith Thomas Lectures Mohler delivered at Dallas Theological Seminary early in 2008. The book is a small hardback (112 pages) and is easily digested.

The book is broken into four sections that basically identify how we got to this new atheism, what its proponents are doing, what the answer to them is and where we are going.

You may be wondering, "What is the new Atheism?"

There are four men who prominently play into this "New" Atheism. They are referred to by some as "The Four Horsemen of the New Atheist Apocalypse". They are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. Mohler aims to help us to become "at least conversant with these men and what they are about" (p.39).

Specifically Mohler identifies 8 characteristics of the New Atheism:

It is marked by unprecedented boldness.

There is clear and specific rejection of the Christian God of the Bible.

There is a explicit rejection of Jesus Christ (particularly his restrictivism).

It is grounded specifically in scientific argument.

It relentlessly attacks toleration.

There is a consistent ethical questioning of the rights of parents to inculcate their beliefs to their own children.

They believe that religion itself must be eliminated in order to preserve human freedom.

The strength of the book is Mohler's ability to distill oceans of information from the various and sundry books on both sides of the issue and present it in a bite-sized format.

In the chapter that defends theism Mohler relies largely on Oxford Theologian Alister McGrath and Alvin Plantinga, a professor of philosophy at Notre Dame. The defense that Mohler gives amounts to more quotes from these men and some moderate interaction with them.

I would have liked to hear more from Dr Mohler himself on this. He did a great job bringing helpful material to the table, but at the end of the day, it was not his. This would not have been a disappointment for me had the subtitle of the book not been, "A Christian confronts the New Atheists". I think a more appropriate and accurate sub-title would have been, "A survey of the chatter surrounding the New Atheists". But regardless of subtitle, this book is a thoughtful and helpful introduction into the debate that continues to intensify. Mohler's research and clarity are a worthwhile read for all who desire to become familiar with the issues.

The book closes with Mohler resetting the coordinates of "ground zero" in this debate: a personal, supernatural, self-disclosing, authoritative, and exclusive God. It is here that Christians must most certainly and fervently "know whom we have believed".