TGD Commentary 1

These commentaries, responses and questions were all written with the author in mind. I do hope to compile all of these typed responses and send them in an e-mail to Richard Dawkins when I'm finished. The following should be read and considered in this light. I am not perfect, and my understanding of Christianity is not perfect either. I have commented based on the best of my knowledge, and will seek to include Scriptural reference wherever relevant. Please don't hesitate to add more verses or discuss my theology at any point.

Dear Richard Dawkins,

I read your book The God Delusion and liked it very much. I think it made me smarter. For example, I now know the anthropic principle. I will be upfront and say that I am a Christian. So sorry, you didn't make a convert out this reader! At least you'll always have Douglas Adams. Anyway, I took notes during the read and I have some genuine questions to ask you as the author. Some of these questions or comments may be stupid. Some may be easy to answer and maybe some more difficult. Some may simply be my ill-supported musings. I hope that some of them at least will make you think. Whatever they are, they are not intended to be rhetorical- I'm really looking for a response from you the author (and in this blog, I'm looking for any responses from atheists who may read it. Please post, comment, or e-mail me luther.flagstad@gmail.com). I appreciate your time. I know you have a very busy schedule and understand if you cannot write back; however, I though it might be worth a shot. All page references are from the book published by Houton Mifflin with ISBN# 0618680004. Thanks, Luther.

Let's begin.

My initial reaction to the book The God Delusion (TGD) is this: I am ashamed. I am ashamed at myself and my fellow Christians who have misrepresented Christianity so grievously. Dawkins quotes many people who say they are Christians, yet their quotations are not Biblical. He sites many examples of behavior by Christians throughout history that are simply atrocious. And I think about my daily life and how many of my actions hurt people. Add to this their knowledge that I'm a Christian and Christianity, yes even Christ, becomes a despicable thing to them. This is so sad, regrettable, shameful.

pg. 52. Dawkins cites Bertrand Russell's celestial teapot parable. Russell says that the onus must be on dogmatists to prove their dogmas (aka Christianity) rather than on skeptics to disprove them. He brings forth the hypothetical situation that there is a teapot orbiting the sun somewhere between Earth and Mars. The teapot is too small to be revealed by our most powerful telescopes. "But if I were to go on to say that, since my assertion cannot be disproved, it is intolerable presumption on the part of human reason to doubt it, I should rightly be thought to be talking nonsense. If, however, the existence of such a teapot were affirmed in ancient books, taught as the sacred truth every Sunday, and instilled into the minds of children at school, hesitation to believe in its existence would become a mark of eccentricity..."

I see what Russell is getting at here, and I say this: But there aren't ancient writings about teapots. People don't claim to have been spoken to by a teapot. We don't teach about the teapot in our schools today. There are ancient writings about the Christian God. The historical evidence should make the possibility that Christianity is the Truth more likely than the Celestial Teapot is the Truth. Why is it that millions of people happen to believe in Christianity and not a teapot? Did it just happen to turn out that way?

pg. 54 Ok, we see Richard Dawkins say it cannot be proved that God doesn't exist (in the same way we can't prove there isn't a teapot orbiting the sun). His argument lies with probability.

pg. 47 Dawkins is very logical with the following thoughts, and I quite like him for it:

TAP - Temporary Agnosticism in Practice. "There really is a definite answer, one way or the other, but we so far lack the evidence to reach it" Either there is a God or there isn't a God -and one of them is true- we just don't know yet which one is. One day we hope to know.

pg. 61 Richard Dawkins doesn't know what prayer really is. If you want to know what Christianity is, go to the Bible. It's totally fine if you think it's a bunch of bunk or if you disagree. That's not the point. It doesn't matter. The Bible is what Christianity is. Look to it for what Christianity is, not to how Christians behave. You want to know what prayer is? Read every verse that has to do with prayer. Look at who uses it and when and what the results are. Read what the authors have told us to do with prayer. Think critically then write a definition based on the text. Give it some thought. Compare it to the culture of the time. Look up cross references. Just don't get your definition from what Joe Shmoe Christian tells you.

pg. 66 In response to The Great Prayer Experiment. The point of prayer isn't to get what we want. Read about prayer in the Bible. It's not a formula where we ask for something and then God delivers.

pg. 55 I don't believe NOMA. Dawkins doesn't believe NOMA (NOMA is basically the argument that science and religion don't overlap). I've never tried to espouse it. I think science and a creator are inseparably intertwined. If there is a creator of the universe he should be completely compatible with the physical realm. In fact, the physical realm will point to him. Totally agree on the NOMA is bunk statement.

pg. 67 Gerry Coyne writes that "While religion can exist without creationism, creationism cannot exist without religion." I disagree. Creationism can exist without religion if that's what happened. I made a similar point when I gave my testimony at a Navigators meeting last semester: God exists far outside of my ability to say he does. Too often we as Christians cite evidence from our own lives for his existence. While this has its place and is often very helpful for others, it shouldn't be the basis for a proof. God simply is. He was here before we were. Our belief in him doesn't make him any greater, and our disbelief doesn't make him any less. If there were no people on this earth to think about him, he would still be. This isn't a proof, nor is it intended to be. It is a statement that, if this worldview is true, then this is what is.

On a related note, I rarely close my eyes when I pray. God doesn't just exist behind my eyelids. He is everywhere and his presence is always around me. I talk with him the same way I talk with a friend sitting with me in the room.