Yes it is a very good book indeed. In its 200 pages he covers a wide range of issues, many from a philosophical angle, but he also utilises such fields as physics, information theory and religious experience. He sums up his book by noting that the existence of God explains a number of important things, such as the existence of the universe, the beginning of the universe, the mathematical nature of the universe, the existence of information, the existence of free will, morality and consciousness, and so on. Atheism, however, “lacks an adequate, coherent explanation for any of these things”.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

There is another book recently published in the USA which has received good reviews. It is “A Case for the Existence of God” by Dean L. Overman. I have his preface if you would like it, but he is easily found on Google.

Geoffrey Bullock

Yes, unfortunately one can be a “lovely person” and still have horrendous ideas which results in very unlovely outcomes. As I mentioned in a recent review of a book on Darwin, he too seemed to be a lovely person, but his ideas have resulted in a lot of mischief, to say the least.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

I have noticed a trend amongst atheists and Secular Humanists not to be entirely enamoured with Dawkins even if he is a hero to many. I can’t stand him myself yet an atheist who met him told me he was a lovely person. Best criticism of his views that I have seen is David Stove’s. Dawkins seems to me to have a paranoid personality of which his fantasy of memes running the show is a symptomatic effusion.

John Snowden

On the other side of the fence there is “Contemporary Materialism: A Reader” edited by Moser and Trout. The contributors are the usual suspects, like David Armstrong, Daniel Dennett, J.J.C Smart, Paul Churchland.

John Snowden

Yes it is often difficult to find someone whom one fully agrees with. As would be expected, complete agreement is often hard to come by. Most authors I like may have a few areas I quibble with. But hey, I even sometimes quibble with myself!

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

whoops got the title wrong: Yes I meant the The Last Superstition.

I understand he is very critical of the ID movement because they accept a wrong metaphysical picture of the universe – one based on the old mechanistic picture of Descarte.

I think he is basically right though I would quibble with his Thomism – prefer more of an emergentist picture of the universe along with William Hasker (though don’t accept his open theism).

Damien Spillane

I take it you mean The Last Superstition by Feser (St. Augustine’s Press, 2008). Yes it really is a solid and very well-argued volume, with real substance packed throughout its 300 pages. His approach is to nullify atheism and materialism by utilising the “classical metaphysical picture of the world, which derives from Plato, was greatly modified first by Aristotle and later by Augustine, and was at last perfected by Aquinas and his followers”. For what it is worth, along the way he shows his complete disdain for the Intelligent Design movement.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch

Apologetics is admittedly just one part of the equation here. The New Testament makes it clear that the work of the Holy Spirit in conversion is vital. And of course people become Christians for all sorts of reason, and in all manner of ways. Some non-believers have honest questions which deserve honest answers. Some do not have the need for an intellectual rationale for belief prior to conversion.

And another purpose of apologetics is to demonstrate to believers that their faith is reasonable and built on solid intellectual foundations. So it has a place for both believers and nonbelievers.

There of course are a number of first rank Christian philosophers. One thinks of Alvin Plantinga, Nicholas Wolterstorff , Richard Swinburne, to name but a few, along with earlier heavyweights such as Augustine, Aquinas, Anselm, and so on.

One book of interest is God and the Philosophers, edited by Thomas Morris (OUP, 1994). It features short personal testimonies of top philosophers with a strong Christian faith, including Eleonore Stump, Arthur Holmes, Marilyn McCord Adams, Peter van Inwagen, Jerry Walls and others.

Tell me which books you have highly regarded, eg., the Hume critique and materialism critiques. I can perhaps guess which ones you are referring to, but go ahead and mention them.

BTW, usually when I do a book review, or a top ten list of books, hardly anyone comments on it. So this is a pleasant surprise.

Bill Muehlenberg, CultureWatch