The Case Against Christianity [Paperback]

Michael Martin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 29, 1993

In this systematic philosophical critique of the major tenets of Christianity, Michael Martin examines the semantic and epistemological bases of religious claims and beliefs. Beginning with a comparison and evaluation of the Apostles' Creed, the Niceno-Chalcedonian Creed, and the Athanasian Creed, Martin discusses the principal theological, historical, and eschatological assumptions of Christianity. These include the historicity of Jesus, the Incarnation, the Second Coming, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection, Salvation through faith in Jesus, and Jesus as a model of ethical behavior. Until now, an adequately convincing criticism of Christianity did not exist. Martin's use of historical evidence, textual analysis, and interpretations by philosophers and theologians provides the strongest case made to date against the rational justification of Christian doctrines. Author note: Michael Martin, Professor of Philosophy at Boston University, is the author of "The Legal Philosophy of H.L.A. Hart (Temple) and Atheism: A Philosophical Justification (Temple)."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Martin has said something fresh and fruitful that theologians and philosophers of religion simply cannot afford to ignore....Every serious student of Christian doctrine would do well to spend time on Martin's insightful chapters."
—Free Inquiry

"A thorough, logical examination of the major tenants of Christianity by a professional philosopher (not a theologian).... [This] is the best book for the intelligent reader that examines the case for and against Christianity.... The book is must reading for all who discuss (or defend) Christianity from a critical point of view."
—American Rationalist

"An insightful and provocative rational analysis of the major doctrinal claims of Christianity.... While a creative critique in its own right, this work is in the tradition of Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell, Paul Kurtz, and Edmund Cohen among others...."
—Choice

From the Publisher

A rational critique of Christianity --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Temple University Press; First edition (March 29, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1566390818
• ISBN-13: 978-1566390811
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #724,648 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 77 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A systematic critique of the Christian religion, August 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Case Against Christianity (Paperback)

In this book, Michael Martin does an excellent job of dissecting the Christian religion with a tone of objectivity. The reader knows the author's conclusions from the title of the book, but it does not weaken his intellectual style. Though his position as philospher instead of theologian has brought his credibility in doubt, I was at least insured he would not jump to conclusions and keep them with stubborness. He states the problems with each Christian doctrine, reviews rebuttals to his arguments, and goes on to show the fallacy of the rebuttals. Some Christians, especially evangelicals, will quickly be unimpressed with his arguments when he doubts the probability of miracles. I personally thought his conclusions on miracles were rational and reasonable, but it takes an unbiased mind to appreciate his logic. Overall, I recommend this book to any person interested in religion because the book is based upon facts and philosophy, and I find it a devastating blow to Christianity's reasonableness. In conclusion, I find it to be a rational belief to accept Michael Martin's conclusions on Christianity and its doctrines.

35 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Takes no prisoners!, August 1, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Case Against Christianity (Paperback)

I was reluctant to read this as I thought I had read all of the arguments against religious belief that existed. I expected a rehash of the old arguments from David Hume and Thomas Paine. It turns out that Martin has much to add that is new. If you value rationality, and want to make your mind superstition proof, you can strengthen yourself with this book. If you are an atheist, this will only make you more self-confident about the nonsense of believing in the christian god. If you are a believer, watch out! This will plant more doubts in your mind than you may wish. But that's okay! As a former christian, I can tell you that I am much happier as an atheist than I ever was when I wasted my time on believing in god.

56 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A bit of a plod, February 8, 2003

By 

Tom Munro "tomfrombrunswick" (Melbourne, Victoria Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case Against Christianity (Paperback)

Martin is a reasonably well known free thinker who has a background as a academic philosopher. This book is an attempt to suggest that Christian doctrine is not true. The methodology of the book is to suggest that a Christian is someone who accepts the doctrines outlined in the three major Christian Creeds. That is that Jesus existed as a historical figure and was God incarnated, he died and was resurrected, he was born of a virgin and will come again.

As a text some of it is a bit plodding. The reason for this is that unlike other books rather than just outlining his position, he advances his argument by contrasting it to other arguments against his position. Thus in the chapter about the resurrection he discusses at some length the position o Habermas a thinker who suggests that the resurrection is a historic event. He then responds to those arguments at some length but the narrative flow is rather poor.

The arguments around the resurrection and the historical nature of Jesus are the same arguments which have been running around free thought circles for years and have been outlined by such people as Remsberg (The Christ) and Cutner (Jesus God, Man or Myth). That is that the biblical accounts of Jesus life are contradictory and the Gospels appear to have been written years after the event. The structure of the Gospels suggest stories which are mythical or elaborated and there is a complete absence outside Christian sources to verify what is meant to have gone on. Martin tends to labour these points a bit and in my view Remsberg is by far the strongest exponent of these arguments.

The rest of the book is however reasonably original. The argument against the incarnation is in short that the biblical account of the temptation of Jesus is inconsistent with his divine nature. How could the supreme God of the world be tempted by Satan and entity who had in reality no power? How could a God, who does not have human appetites and is a perfect moral being suffer from temptation? This then leads to a discussion about how it would be impossible for the natures of God and man to co-exist. The discussion of Christian Ethics and their general incoherence is well done as is the problems around the notion of salvation.

The problem with the book is that it is very much a work that is written by an academic philosopher. It discusses the topic by the use of a series of abstract theoretical arguments which have force but take a bit of getting through. Other free thought writers such as Remsberg and Ingersoll write with much greater clarity passion and sense of the absurd aspects of Christian belief.

The part of the book that I enjoyed most was the second appendix which discussed the diverse theories of the Atonement. The main advantage of the book is that is presents in a reasonably accessible form a series of arguments which otherwise are contained in a number of volumes. The main difficulty with the book is probably the first chapter which tries to set up a basis for suggesting that Christians should adopt a rational approach to belief instead of relying on faith alone.