God Debates

John R. Shook is Vice President for Education and Research and Senior Research Fellow at the Center for Inquiry in Amherst, New York. He also is Research Associate in Philosophy at the University at Buffalo. His recent books include The Future of Naturalism (2009) and Dewey's Philosophy of Spirit (2010).

"I do, however, think that the book will enable readers to enter into debates about God in a fully rational way, and with an awareness of the complexities of theistic arguments. It is one for students of the philosophy of religion to study, and they will do so with profit." (Church Times, 20 May 2011)"The book reminds us, also, of how many of the current debates about God at best beg the question and at worst take the form of ranting dogmatism." (Network, 2011)"As a philosophy instructor (who frequently teaches philosophy of religion), I find Shook's book to be comprehensive in its coverage. The theological arguments, as well as the atheological responses to them, are presented in accessible terms, and analyzed perspicuously." (Metapsychology, February 2011)"The God Debates is a clear, accessible, up-to-date account of philosophical wrangles about the existence of God. Shook re-organizes the arguments in an interesting way ... [and] takes on more esoteric arguments such as the claim that we must presuppose the existence of God if we are to engage in reasoning and scientific inquiry. In all, this is a lucid, concise, up-to-date, yet comprehensive account of intellectual debates about the existence of God. It is easy enough to be used by senior high school students, and could certainly be useful in undergraduate courses in philosophy of religion." (Metamagician and the Hellfire Club, October 2010)"John Shook, author of The God Debates, will discuss effective ways for nonbelievers to engage believers over that very question: 'Does a god exist?' Maybe it's not the old, familiar arguments themselves, but new strategies and tactics that make the atheist message get heard and produce results." (Science in the City, February 2011)

• Preface ix 1 Debating Religion 11.1 Religion under Scrutiny 21.2 Debating Dogma 71.3 Theology and Atheology 121.4 Could Atheism Prove God Doesn't Exist? 231.5 Could Religion Disprove Atheism? 262 Five Types of Theologies 302.1 Categorizing Theologies 312.2 Theology From The Scripture 352.3 Theology From The World 372.4 Theology Beyond The World 402.5 Theology In The Know 422.6 Theology Into The Myst 443 Theology From The Scripture 473.1 Scientific History 483.2 Scientific History and Scripture 513.3 The Argument from Divine Signs 653.4 The Argument from Apostolic Faith 703.5 The Argument from Divine Character 783.6 The Argument from Pseudo-history 804 Theology From The World 844.1 Theology and Science 854.2 Arguments from Nature 914.3 Arguments from Design 964.4 Arguments from Religious Experience 994.5 Arguments from Morality 1104.6 Explanations for Reason 1214.7 The Ontological Argument for God 1264.8 The Argument from Pseudo-science 1315 Theology Beyond The World 1335.1 The Existence of Nature Argument for God 1345.2 The Fine-tuning Argument for God 1375.3 Why Would God Create? 1445.4 The Problem of Evil 1485.5 The Argument from Pseudo-cosmology 1526 Theology In The Know 1556.1 Arguments from Ignorance 1566.2 Religious Epistemologies 1606.3 Knowledge, Justification, and Truth 1666.4 The Religious Community 1716.5 The Arguments from Pseudo-theology 1787 Theology Into The Myst 1847.1 Believing in God without Knowledge of God 1857.2 Believing in God without Concepts of God 1927.3 Belief, Faith, and Pseudo-faith 1987.4 The Argument from Pseudo-faith 2028 Reason and Faith 2048.1 Liberal Modernism and Its Rivals 2058.2 Twelve Worldviews 2118.3 Faith and Reason Realigned 218References 223Further Reading 230Index 235