A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil [Hardcover]

David G. Myers (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0470290277 | ISBN-13: 978-0470290279 | Publication Date: September 2, 2008 | Edition: 1

A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists helps readers—both secular and religious—appreciate their common ground. For those whose thinking has moved from the religious thesis to the skeptical antithesis (or vice versa), Myers offers pointers to a science-respecting Christian synthesis. He shows how skeptics and people of faith can share a commitment to reason, evidence, and critical thinking, while also embracing a faith that supports human flourishing—by making sense of the universe, giving meaning to life, connecting us in supportive communities, mandating altruism, and offering hope in the face of adversity and death.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Social psychologist Myers adds to the numerous apologetic texts that have emerged since the neoatheist movement began. But this quick jaunt into potentially dangerous waters is head and shoulders above the rest. The author admits that many people throughout history who have claimed to believe in God have caused much evil in the world. He is respectful of his atheist interlocutors, like Richard Dawkins, preferring to discuss how Surely, in some ways I'm wrong, you're wrong, we're all wrong. Believers and skeptics could learn much from each other, and the author's willingness to build a bridge between two sometimes hostile territories is what makes his work so welcome. Myers's psychological training enables him to grasp the human person in a unique way, and he is able to introduce an intellectual element into the God debate. While never attempting to prove that God exists, Myers works to show that religious people can be faithful and psychologically healthy. (Sept.)
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Review

"As a scientist, open-minded skeptic (who cheers on challenges to irrationalism), and a man of faith, [Myers] seeks to transcend the skeptic/believer divide by suggesting how faith can be reasonable, science-affirming, and humane."
–Skeptical Inquirer (January/February 2009)

"Reading Myers will not set to rest all the incongruities or failures of Christianity; but it will demonstrate, in a thoughtful and readable format, that God is good and that to follow in the steps of Jesus your soul will become bigger, better and more gracious."
– Youth Worker Journal

"The humility with which Myers writes and the intelligence with which he composes his arguments could disarm the most jaded cynic."
– Worship Leader Magazine

"Believers and skeptics could learn much from each other, and the author’s willingness to build a bridge between two sometimes hostile territories is what makes his work so welcome. Myers’s psychological training enables him to grasp the human person in a unique way, and he is able to introduce an intellectual element into the God debate."
–(Sept.) (Publishers Weekly, July 7, 2008)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Jossey-Bass; 1 edition (September 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470290277
• ISBN-13: 978-0470290279
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #347,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David G. Myers, Psychology of Psychology at Michigan's Hope College, is the author of seventeen books, and of articles in three dozen academic periodicals, from Science to the American Psychologist, and in four dozen magazines, from Scientific American to The Christian Century. For more information and free resources visit davidmyers.org.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A "Friendly" Approach to Bridging the Chasm Over Faith from a Noted Scholar in Psychology, August 26, 2008

By 

David Crumm "Editor of ReadTheSpirit magazine" (Canton, Michigan) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil (Hardcover)

Dr. David Myers easily could rest on his laurels as the author of the most widely studied psychology text on college campuses. In fact, much of his time is consumed, these days, researching the cutting edge of psychological research to prepare future editions of his textbooks.

But, in his mid-60s, his lifetime as a scholar, a teacher and a man of deep faith has driven him toward another vocation: Building bridges that may help millions of us to cross over the social chasms of our age.

This includes his work on improving conditions in public places for hearing-impaired people and encouraging a fresh discussion between gay and heterosexual people over faith. If you're interested in those themes, take a look at his earlier books, "A Quiet World: Living with Hearing Loss" and "What God Has Joined Together: The Christian Case for Gay Marriage."

Dr. Myers is an equal-opportunity bridge builder. His eye, his mind and his heart all are focused on the timeless promise of compassionate community that lies at the heart of nearly all of our faith traditions. What fuels his work, year after year, is his vision of what he calls "human flourishing by making sense of the universe, giving meaning to life, connecting us in supportive communities, mandating altruism and offering hope in the face of adversity and death."

That's a pretty good summary of the purpose of faith, right? He's really preaching a message that's universal. Who could disagree with these goals?

And yet -we do find so many issues around which we want to hunker down and dig deep trenches between "us" and "them."

What's so fascinating in recent years is that people of faith suddenly discovered that an influential group of best-selling writers, commonly called "the new atheists," had completely outflanked the religious community. These elite writers are digging their own trenches to separate their new circle of voices from the religious community they seem to despise.

One thing you must understand about Dr. Myers -- and I know this from talking with him and occasionally interviewing him in depth over the years -- is that he's got a boundless, constructive optimism in the way he approaches all questions. In short, think of Mister Rogers.

About the same time as the release of Myers' book, Michael Novak released "No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers," a book with a similar purpose -- a full-scale response to the new atheists. Novak's book also is a good read on these issues, raising fresh examples and arguments that are different in a number of ways from Myers' own approaches. But the central difference here, I think, is that Novak's book is more muscular, more strident, more the voice of a debater in a TV studio. Novak's book is more Catholic in its cultural references; Myers' is more mainline Protestant.

Both books are good choices, if you're an individual reader wanting to weigh both sides in this fascinating debate. If you're looking for material to read in a small discussion group and you're making a choice between Novak and Myers, then you'll probably find Myers' book, as the title says, more "Friendly."

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Surprisingly convincing, February 3, 2009

By 

J. Davis (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil (Hardcover)

An impressive book written by a humble, respectful religious moderate. Myers makes little effort to convince the reader that miracles are true or that there have been virgin births; he focuses on the usefulness of religious belief. He shows, through empirical data, that believers have better marriages, are happier, and give much more to charity than secularists. While conceding the harm religion has done through the ages, he believes strongly that it has done more good than harm. Being a nonbeliever, it gives me no pleasure to say this, but Myers makes a strong case for faith. I would love for Dawkins, Harris, or Hitchens to read this book and respond to its arguments.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing new, but worth the time., January 22, 2010

By 

DALwrites - See all my reviews

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This review is from: A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil (Hardcover)

I'll be honest; I had a hard time getting through this book. Not because it was boring, or poorly written, or non-thought provoking, but because I had to pause every so often to write margin notes. And there are many, many, of them.

I first heard Mr. Myers speak on the Reasonable Doubts podcast, and was very impressed by his calm, easygoing demeanor, as was the host. I immediately had the urge to read his book, and ordered it soon thereafter. Other than Francis Collins' "The Language of God", I have not read any other titles by a Christian apologist, but once you know the main arguments, everyone else is simply saying the same thing in so many ways (I suppose most atheist literature is guilty of this as well).

I didn't even get past page one of the preface before I started my margin notes. Myers writes, "The faith tradition that has nurtured me shares considerable common ground with the new atheists. It encourages the humility and curiosity that underlies free-spirited science...And it does not view God as a celestial vending machine controlled by our prayers."

Mr. Myers is certainly liberal in his perspective of Christian theology, as is Mr. Collins, though I'd venture to say such perspectives are the exception rather than the rule. The passages Mr. Myers utilizes to justify his interpretation of his faith are from the very same book Fred Phelps uses to justify his point of view. Where Mr. Myers may see humility, another may see superiority. Where Mr. Myers sees curiosity, another sees the devil's handiwork. And where Mr. Myers sees commonality between science and religion, another sees the former quickly impinging on the latter.

Throughout the book, my most often used margin note was "picking and choosing." The sheer fact that the Bible has spawned so many thousands of sects, each with their own interpretation of scripture, is a testament unto itself, one which I feel undermines every argument put forth by the author. If Mr. Myers feels justified in his position based on scripture, as I'm sure does Fred Phelps, and the two are diametrically opposed, who's right? You got it; they both are! And if these two positions can coexist on the same platform (the Bible), how can anyone determine right from wrong utilizing the book as a guiding light? The answer? The individual determines what they will and won't take to heart. If each person reading the book gleans different lessons from the same stories, then of what use is it in the first place?

My biggest dissapointment in the book was Mr. Myers' continual use of thoroughly debunked lines of argument; Pascal's wager, Albert Eistein quotes, and the association between atheism and crimes against humanity (Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, et. al.).

Ultimately though, I appreciate Mr. Myers religious position, and should Christianity's god stick around for another couple thousand years (and not go the way of Zeus, or Ra, or countless other deities), I would hope more followers would be led to the same conclusions as he. But if the current state of Christianity is any indication of its future, I won't hold my breath.