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The Miracle of Theism: Arguments For and Against the Existence of God

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This book, together with Swinburne's "Coherence of Theism," is among the most valuable books on the philosophy of religion from an Anglo-American analytical-philosophical perspective. While Swinburne goes back to Anselm and Aquinas, this book considers mostly post-1500 theodicy, still covering the ontological argument from Descartes' and a posteriori arguments from Hume. The full spectrum of the arguments for and against God are here, including Kant, Newman, Kierkegaard, James, Phillips, Leslie, Kung, et alia.

First, a brief exposition of a philosopher's argument is surveyed, followed by an analysis of where the philosopher's strengths and weaknesses lie. There is even a section on the most notorious of all arguments against the existence of God: the existence of evil. In the final analysis, Mackie believes theism is itself a mircle, hence the title. Overall, this book makes a significant contribution to beginning philosophy students who want a rigorous examination of the crucial questions of God's existence and non-existence. The writing is clear, generally concise, exceptionally well-constructed, and only occasionally labyrinthine.

I use this book with my A-Level Religious Studies students to great effect. It clearly and accurately offers thorough-going criticism of all the usual attempts to justify theism rationally. His section on the Problem of Evil should be required reading for all theists.

The Australian philosopher John Mackie, sadly now deceased, has always been one of my favorite philosophers, and when I heard from several religious people that this was in their view the best critique of religion, I decided to buy it at once. The book is indeed highly rewarding of its praise, for it is the most thorough philosophical (here as opposed to scientific) critique of all (mono)theist apologetics written so far.

Unlike such recent anti-theist writers as Dawkins and Dennett, Mackie is extraordinarily charitable to the theists' claims, making sure to mention every possible argument in their favor and using only counter-arguments that could not possibly be considered controversial or contingent on a given scientific theory, etc. In fact, he is much more charitable in some places than is really necessary; I would not have the same patience with the meaningless phrasings of Swinburne or Küng that Mackie has. In any case, Mackie diligently and cordially addresses each of the main issues surrounding theist apologetics: miracles, the ontological argument, the cosmological arguments (including Kalam), moral arguments, the issue of consciousness, free will, the argument from design, the argument from faith alone (Kierkegaard), the argument from popularity (William James), the problem of evil, the possibility of atheist morality, and so on.

Mackie shows himself at his best here - an impressive array of arguments and decisive counterarguments, even against such modern superstars of apologetics like William Lane Craig and Alvin Plantinga, are dealt with in sequence with seemingly no effort at all. Not a single theist argument remains standing, and Mackie is sure to remind us at all times that not only is the burden of proof on the theists, but they also have to show their view more likely than not as well as more likely than naturalist explanations, if their view is to succeed. As Mackie makes abundantly clear, this is a bar far too high for any theology whatever to achieve.

This book is strongly recommended for everyone interested in religion and philosophy, although the work is written at a high level and is not easy or 'popular' reading. To further dig into the issue of ethics and atheism, I would also recommend reading Mackie's defense of ethical anti-realism: Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong.

this volume will serve, for a long time to come, as the supreme case against the existence of God. written with special attention to swinburne's masterful THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, the book is a must have for any reader in the philosophy of religion.
that said, i don't think that mackie's case is quite so strong as many maintain. his argument from evil is, to many, not strong enough to serve as a foundation for affirming the non-existence of God, and for me, not even reason enough to 'flinch' if you are a theist. his rebuttals to various forms of the teleological argument seem to miss the point entirely (see mark wynn's GOD AND GOODNESS). et cetera.
but i would be lying if i didn't admit that this book has force. as a theist, i constantly felt intrigued, but never 'threatened'. i highly recommend this book alongside swinburne's THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. God bless and shalom :-)

Mackie's book discusses the main arguments for and against the existence of God. The book covers many different kinds of proofs for the existence of God, for example, ontological, cosmological, teleological proofs, moral arguments for God, as well arguments from consciousness, and religious experience. He goes back to Anselm, Aquinas, Descartes, Hume and Berkeley, but a lot of his focus is on modern proofs (Plantinga, Hans Kung, Swinburne). Using what I consider nearly flawless logic he argues convincingly against all of those proofs, including the more complex modern versions. However, I do not consider his handling of the cosmological proof fully satisfying. Even though it is correct that the cosmological proof is flawed because it is possible that the Universe has always existed, modern cosmology implies an actual beginning of the universe (including time).

He is also discussing the "problem of evil" (how can evil exist if there is a good and omnipotent God). In particular he argues against Alvin Plantingas' defense of the theistic position (Plantingas defense is based on free will). However, it should be noted that many modern theological belief systems do not require an omnipotent, or all good God, and some also consider evil a "good" in the long run (soul development). So the famous problem of evil does not apply to those systems.

The book is well written, coherent, concise, and uses well constructed and correct logical arguments throughout. It is an excellent book in philosophy. However, I question its relevancy to the average theist and atheist alike. For example, I have never met anyone who is basing his faith on the ontological proof for God's existence. Clearly religious faith is often an adaptation to the faith of your family and society. However, faith is also sometimes based on very personal and profound religious experiences, which may not be relevant to other people, but are compelling to the experiencer himself. In addition, the scope of the book does not cover many modern forms of spirituality, some that does not even require a "classical definition of God".

So in conclusion, the book is a great book on philosophy, but it is far from the last word on spirituality and faith.

I don't agree with Mr. Mackie's ultimate conclusion, but that is not the point of my review. Mackie has addressed the question in the proper fashion. He shows proper respect for the arguments of those with whom he differs and he lets the case stand or fall on its ultimate merits. Were I an atheist this book would be my model for argument. Compared to Mackie the recent works of Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins seem to be the work of crackpots. "The village atheists screaming at the village idiots" to parphrase Chesterton. I can actually envision having a rational debate with Mackie on the topic. I only hope that I would be able to hold my own. He quite cogently for his point of view and even though its not mine
any person of faith and any non believer who is interested in the concept of God from a philosophical point of view will be enriched by reading this work.

This book is a worthwhile investment for anyone interested in topics on the Philosophy of Religion. Topics covered include : (1) The nature of claims of miracles and whether these justify the existence of God ; (2) Descartes' and Berkeley's ideas of God ; (3) Discussion on whether the notion of the existence of God can be rationally defended along with discussions of whether "belief beyond reason" is intellectually worthwhile ; (4) Discussions and criticism of the various arguments commonly brought up in favour of the existence of God - ontological arguments, arguments for design, moral arguments for the existence of God etc.

Mackie masterfully demonstrates this subject area to be one of breadth and variety. He relates the knowledge of great thinkers such as Hume and Kant to his discussions and shows the Philosophy of Religion to be related to themes in meta-physics and epistemology, among others. He not only critically and fairly discusses arguments from both spectrum of the argument, he also reveals the flawed nature of many's perceptions relating to Thiesm. An example of this is his claim that when many claim of the existence of religious miracles, they speak of these literally. In fact, literal claims of miracles can often be demonstrated to be extremely unlikely, yet not beyond the laws of nature (as necessary for a true religious "miracle")

However, the tremandous content of this book is badly worn down by Mackie's tedious and long-winded style of writing - 6 or 7-line sentences are far too common. These long sentences often obscure his arguments and frequently result in the need for repeated readings in order to ascertain their meaning. A confused presentation of arguments, where he regularly jumps back-and-forth between them, stretches one's level of tolerance. In short, Mackie's lack of writer's craft drastically limits the audience of this otherwise fine piece of work.

Mackie is thorough and fair in his analysis and subsequent destruction of the case for 'rational theism'. This book is a must read for theists and atheists alike, and of course a standard text for any university student. In dealing with the problem of evil Mackie is convincing, but perhaps not forcful enough in his conclusion, but overall this is an excellent book.

In "The Miracle of Theism" J.L. Mackie examines the arguments for and against the existence of God from an atheistic perspective. John Mackie is a highly respected twentieth century philosopher and along with Anthony Flew has been one of the most capable contemporary proponents of atheism.

Written almost a quarter of a century ago, "The Miracle of Theism" remains a classic in the field of religious philosophy and is widely considered to be one of the best-stated arguments for atheism in print. Unfortunately, many popular works supporting the atheistic perspective come across as unduly angry and self-righteous. In contrast, Mackie's work is a much-needed breath of fresh air. One may disagree with Mackie while at the same time respecting his views. The book touches on a wide range of important issues, I offer the following thoughts for potential readers:

The approach is largely evidentiary in nature - Mackie examines different arguments for and against the existence of God and assesses the overall likelihood of theism in light of his analysis of these arguments. This is not an uncommon approach, however, theists often argue that it is the wrong way around and that a more direct awareness of God is available (see Plantinga's Warranted Christian Belief for an opposing view).

Mackie does a good job in handling the ontological argument. On examination this classic "proof" does seem to possess more force than is initially evident. Despite its subtle attractiveness, however, I tend to agree with Mackie that something does quite feel right about it. At the end of the day the attempt to define God into existence seems more like a logical -linguistic exercise than a compelling argument.

The handling of the cosmological argument is not as strong. Current scientific and philosophical thought favours an actual beginning for universe (including space and time). Traditionally, atheists had taken the tact that the universe had always existed and hence did not require an explanation. Although this supposed beginning does not let the theist entirely of the hook (an uncaused God can be a conceptual challenge), it is doubly problematic for the atheist who is faced with the universe not only being created out of nothing but also for no reason. To be fair to the author, however, much of the scientific and philosophical thought, which added to the cosmological argument's theistic appeal is subsequent to Mackie's work. A good starting point in this area for interested readers is Craig and Smith's "Atheism, Theism and Big Bang Cosmology".

Mackie's handling of the teleological (or argument from design) is interesting if a bit dated. From my perspective Mackie reliance on Hume is a bit excessive (he is an accomplished Hume scholar and his comments if not always salient to the current argument are of value in themselves). Similar to the cosmological argument, recent developments in science have also weakened the atheist position in this area. The complexity of life and the apparent fine-tuning of the universe has made its "accidental appearance" extremely improbable.

The argument from evil - i.e. that the existence of evil and a wholly good God are logically incompatible is widely viewed as the best argument for atheism. While it retains some of its emotional appeal it has lost much of its intellectual bite. It is now widely accepted that there is no logical incompatibility between God and the existence of evil and consequently the argument has shifted to a less forceful approach - i.e. how much evil is compatible with a theistic model.

Although atheism remains a popular worldview, many commentators recognise that the intellectual ground has shifted toward the theistic position. The argument from evil, while still possessing some force, has been weakened whereas the teleological and cosmological arguments in support of theism have been strengthen by developments in philosophy and science. Flew himself has recently acknowledge that theism is the more likely explanation (he appears to be advocating a deistic perspective) - it is interesting to speculate where Mackie would be given current thought?

Overall, though the argument for atheism has weakened in recent years Mackie's work remains its best and most compelling statement. It is an excellent book and I highly recommended it to all readers - atheist or theist.

I unhesitatingly recommend Mackie's book to anyone who is even remotely interested in the subject matter. Clearly and eloquently written, _The Miracle of Theism_ pinpoints the fatal flaws in the traditional arguments for the existence of God. Far from being the dry-and-boring treatise it could have been, _The Miracle of Theism_ is easy to read and consistently entertaining. A highlight in this regard is Mackie's devastating critique of Plantinga's ontological argument.

While the book's intent is more critical than constructive (it could hardly be otherwise), it is by no means without constructive value: readers will find their knowledge of philosophy and argumentation broadened by Mackie's critique. As such, _The Miracle of Theism_ makes scintillating reading.