Does God Exist?: The Debate Between Theists & Atheists [Paperback]

J. P. Moreland (Author), Kai Nielsen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1993

Is there a God? What is the evidence for belief in such a being? What is God like? Or, is God a figment of human inspiration? How do we know that such a being might not exist? Should belief or disbelief in God's existence make a difference in our opinions and moral choices, in the way we see ourselves and relate to those around us? These are fundamental questions, and their answers have shaped individual lives, races, and nations throughout history.On 24 March, 1988 at the University of Mississippi, J. P. Moreland, a leading Christian philosopher and ethicist, and Kai Nielsen, one of today's best-known atheist philosophers, went head-to-head over these questions. This book records their entire lively debate and includes questions from the audience, the debaters' answers, and the responses of four recognised scholars - William Lane Craig, Antony Flew, Dallas Willard, and Keith Parsons. Noted author and philosopher, Peter Kreeft has written an introduction, concluding chapter, and appendix - all designed to help readers decide for themselves whether God is fact or fantasy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books (April 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0879758236
• ISBN-13: 978-0879758233
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #816,445 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

43 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Atheism was poorly represented, March 20, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Does God Exist?: The Debate Between Theists & Atheists (Paperback)

This book is divided into three sections: (i) the transcriptof the oral debate on the existence of God between Christianphilosopher J.P. Moreland and atheist philosopher Kai Nielsen; (ii) commentaries on the debate by two Christian philosophers (William Lane Craig and Dallas Willard) and two atheist philosophers (Antony Flew and Keith Parsons); and (iii) concluding thoughts by Moreland and Nielsen. I agree completely with the conclusion of Craig's flow of the debate, that Moreland won the debate. In fact, Moreland's victory in the debate was so decisive I am left wishing that Keith Parsons had been Moreland's opponent; I wonder if Nielsen even took the debate seriously. In light of this, I am baffled why a secular humanist publisher like Prometheus Books would choose to pubish this particular debate, given that the atheist side was so poorly represented. For that matter, I am surprised that even Thomas Nelson originally published the book, for even theists should want the atheist position to be given its best representation. However, Nielsen's critique of theism is not representative of most atheist philosophers. Nielsen relies upon a critique of religious language in which he argues that "God" is literally meaningless. Not only do most atheist philosophers not use such an argument, they disagree with it! Unfortunately, as a result of Nielsen's "strategy" of putting all his eggs in an ineffective basket, readers are deprived of the opportunity to see an exchange between Moreland and atheist philosophers who make substantive objections to Moreland's arguments. To be sure, Antony Flew and Keith Parsons both make excellent, *representative* objections to Moreland's case, and Moreland responds to those objections in his final remarks, but we are reprived the opportunity to see how Parsons and Flew would respond to that, and so on. I therefore discourage *buying* the book.

However, I encourage interested parties from both sides to borrow the book from someone who already owns it (e.g., a professor or a local library). I just wouldn't recommend spending money on the book when the atheist debater did such a poor job representing atheism. Even theistic philosophers would agree that Nielsen could have defended atheism in the debate better than he did -- much better in fact -- and that's why I discourage buying the book. And because theistic philosophers care about the truth, even they would admit that atheism wasn't represented as well as it could have been. (For example, most theistic philosophers I have read endorse J.L. Mackie's _Miracle of Theism_ as one of the best philosophical cases for atheism. They don't agree with the book, but they agree that Mackie's book is one of the best cases for atheism in the philosophical literature. And if you asked any of those theistic philosophers, they would tell you that Nielsen did not use any of Mackie's arguments. Therefore, Nielsen's arguments are not representative of the best arguments for atheism.)

Moreland gave two arguments for theism: the comsological argument and the argument that God resurrected Jesus from the dead. We have responded to both of these arguments (thought not necessarily to Moreland specifically) on the Secular Web, and would welcome an exchange with Moreland should he want to answer our rebuttals.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars TheContributors Win, July 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Does God Exist?: The Debate Between Theists & Atheists (Paperback)

This book is a written version of the debate between J.P. Moreland and Kia Nielsen. Both men are well known in their respective fields. Moreland a Christian theist and Nielsen an Atheist, "duke it out" and try to convince us if there is or is not a God. Even though I like J.P. Moreland, and he clearly wins the debate, he isn't at his top form. Further, Nielsen is sloppy and presents an old and already disgarded argument.

The strength of this book are the contributors: Lane Craig and Willard (Christians) and Flew and Parsons (Atheists) right good strong rebuttals. They all write their position with dynamic passion. I'm partial to William Lane Craig in this book, but must admit that all the contributers did a fine job and therefore, make this book a must read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Contributors win, July 4, 2000

By 

K.H. - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Does God Exist?: The Debate Between Theists & Atheists (Paperback)

I've always eagerly read, listen, and disucussed this very serious matter of ultimate questions: Does God Exist? This book is well edited by Peter Kreeft. Unlike many books of this sort, Kreeft's introduction aids the reader into the debate and if one is new to the questions of philosophy, the background provided become even more important. The debate itself is average. Even though I admire JP Moreland and think he is a great Christian theist, he would receive an average rating. Kai Nielson, however, does a poor job and I agree with another reviewer that Moreland would have been better "stacked" against Keith Parson, one of the book's contributors.

The book's strength are the writings from the editor (Kreeft) and the contributors (Christians: Craig and Willard/Atheist: Flew and Parsons). The contributions are thought provoking and the writers takle the subject head on. Even though I'm parcell to Dr Craig, I think all the contributors did an outstanding job in analyzing the debate. For their comments alone, this book is well worth the time and price.