The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World Reprint Edition, Kindle Edition

In the Twilight of Atheism, Alister McGrath gives readers a historical overview of atheism that includes its strengths and its flaws. His analysis is both insightful and honest without disrespect to the many great minds that believe in a godless universe. McGrath, as a Reformation scholar, even suggests, by drawing together a number of scholarly studies on the origins and development of Protestantism, that there is a significant link between the Reformation and the emergence of atheism.
He reminds atheists, who seem to forget, that "The belief that there is no God is just as much a matter of faith as the belief there is a God. If `faith' is defined as `belief lying beyond proof,' both Christianity and atheism are faiths. While this suggestion may seem astonishing to some atheists, it is not only philosophically correct but also illuminating in shedding light on the changed fortunes of atheism in recent years."
For those who think one cannot be a legitimate scientist and still have a belief in God, McGrath cites a major survey of the religious beliefs of scientists carried out at the beginning and end of the 20th Century. The original survey taken in 1916 showed that 40 percent of scientists had some form of personal religious beliefs while 40 percent had none and 20 percent were agnostic. In 1996 the survey was repeated and the amazing results were exactly the same. One noted scientist, Albert Einstein, denied being an atheist.
Walter Isaacson in his biography of Albert Einstein writes this about the great scientist beliefs, "Throughout his life, he (Einstein) was consistent in deflecting the charge that he was an atheist. `There are people who say there is no God,' he told a friend. `But what makes me really angry is that they quote me for support of such views.'" Isaacson also writes of an interview Einstein gave to George Sylvester Viereck shortly after his fiftieth birthday. Viereck asked Einstein if he believed in God and Einstein said, "I'm not an atheist. The problem involved is too vast for our limited minds. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written these books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws but only dimly understand these laws."
The reality is that there are no definitive answers on either side of the debate, so it comes down to a person making a choice as to what they believe. My problem is with the name calling that has recently been evident in the atheist camp. This new tactic takes the position that if you can't prove something empirically then you need to verbally bludgeon the opposition by name calling such as: simple-minded, stupid, imbecilic, and other deprecatory rhetoric. This has become one of Richard Dawkins weapons against theistic belief.
George Orwell in his novel Down and Out in Paris and London describes the character of Bozo in this way, `He was an embittered atheist (the sort of atheist who does not so much disbelieve in God as personally dislike Him). This seems to describe Dawkins's recent diatribes against religion
McGrath, at the end of the book, takes a more reasonable stand. He says this about the attitude believers need to have, "Atheism stands in permanent judgment over arrogant, complacent , and superficial Christian churches and leaders. It needs to be heard. In the closing pages of this work, its concerns will be taken seriously and to heart."
The debate, I'm sure, will continue with no definitive answers ever achieved, so perhaps it is more civil to have each side simply respect the others beliefs and let the condescending name calling finally end.

Oh wow! My mind lit as I avidly ravished it's thought-provoking content. When he said:"the church is not necessarily the oppressor nor atheism the liberator: the role they play is predicated on the historical context". Also, "people want to belong, not just to believe"; I marveled. These statements are profound. Although he takes the liberty to make a few commentaries on church history, it however remains one of the most informative piece of literature I ever laid my eyes on.

In "Twilight of Atheism" Alister McGrath tells the story of atheism from classical times through the present. He especially concentrates on the events and figures that made atheism the preeminent philosophy behind much of Western culture in the last two to three-hundred years. Within this history he also sets forth a challenge to the conventional wisdom that atheism is on the rise with secularism in the West. On the contrary, McGrath argues that atheism's glory days are nearly forty years in the past and it is fast waning in influence in both scholarly and popular culture. Atheism is untenable, according to the author, and it is becoming more and more evident the longer we live with it. Want to know why? Read the book for McGrath's explanation.

The writing is very readable and the narrative is compelling. His thesis would be an open an shut case if he had documented his assertions properly. Instead of footnotes and a bibliography McGrath offers the discerning reader a huge list of "Works Consulted" that is impressive, but not very helpful for tracking down facts or guidance for further reading on the people and ideas he critiques. That huge omission is why this book gets a 3 1/2 stars rather than four. Although the argument rings true it is immensely difficult to check and see if it actually IS true b/c of the lack of citations.

So read this for something thought provoking, but not for proof of any kind. Not that proof wins the argument over the existence of God anyway

Not knowing what this book would be about, I was a bit hesitant to jump right in to reading it. But it was recommended by a trusted friend, who proved to be right on how much I'd be able to relate to the content of the book.

Twilight of Atheism traces the timeline and geography of atheism that has encompassed different parts of the world. His style of writing makes what could be a boring subject into a riveting one. My mind soaked up his arguments and explanations like a sponge. The history contained within this book is rich-I learned new things about things that I (wrongly) thought I already knew much about. I come away from reading it humbled by how little I know about the history of Christianity and other world religions.

I also found several sections of the book to be "autobiographical" to me. In other words, I could see myself in several paragraphs. Alliston Mcgraff, the author, shared his story of how he came to be believer, echoing much of my own story. I saw myself on many pages of this book.

Easy to read, but challenging enough to cause one to review history lessons they may have long forgotten, and put together pieces of history that may not have seemed to have a connection, only to find out that they are connected in much deeper fashion. I would agree with the author that this is the twilight of atheism.

I would highly recommend this book. You can purchase by clicking on the picture of the book in the sidebar.