Comments on: Is God a Delusion? A Philosopher’s Response to the New Atheists Homebrewed Christianity 53

By: Eric Reitan

Eric Reitan — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:14:17 +0000

JoAnn–A very nice summary/roadmap of some of the ideas I developed in the later part of the interview. Thanks for that. Other listeners might find it useful. You can find similar ideas developed in a somewhat different way in the latter half of my book, especially in Chapter 8, and in scattered entries throughout my blog.

Studious–Hart’s book actually came out a number of months after mine, but like you I was struck by the similarity of the titles: the main title a not-so-veiled reference to Dawkins (my editor pushed for this, for good reasons, I think); the subtitle a reference to Schleiermacher’s 1799 “On Religion: Speeches to Its Cultured Despisers.” In my case, the subtitle is intended to be not merely an homage, but a reference to one of my main philosophical inspirations. Schleiermacher’s theology features prominently in the book. Hart’s book, unlike mine, does not focus on the theological/philosophical questions pertaining to the reasonableness of theistic belief. It focuses instead on the historical and sociological questions pertaining to the cultural effects of religion–essentially an historical essay focused on the early history of Christianity, aimed at challenging the new atheist claim that religion (and Christianity in particular) has been more a source of conflict and violence in history than of positive values. A very good book, but the greatest similarity with mine is found in the title.

By: Tripp Fuller

Tripp Fuller — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 03:07:47 +0000

Studious. I have that book and have emailed him about being on the podcast too. We will see. The two books are totally different, but both good books.

By: Studious

Studious — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 08:07:13 +0000

Not a very original title. David Bentley Hart has already published a book entitled “Atheist Delusions: the Christian Revolution and its Fashionable Enemies.”

By: Jo Ann W. Goodson

Jo Ann W. Goodson — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:24:06 +0000

This is a very good and informative podcast. I must say that I was lost in the very first part where he is discussing the atheists are blogging him with questions about Aquinas and his beliefs. However, it really perked up for me when he began talking about the good morals of some atheists, etc. Then when he began talking about God and Love, he really got my attention. I so believe in what he was saying. Faith is that we live in the hope of a God of love. Some comments he made (paraphrased): we encounter God in relationships, as we love others we begin to understand God’s love and way of loving, we are the channels that God uses to express God’s love, participation in a loving community is a way to connect with God and the community that Jesus formed is a good example of a loving community, we can have a mystical encounter/experience of God but that places love only on a receiving end and love is both the giving and receiving parts of God’s love, he says it is important to be on the receiving end of this mystical experience and we must place ourselves in a position, or be placed in that position by a life experience where we can be one with God’s mystery, being a believer in God places us in a position for God to be with us and give us the energy, strength, etc. that only God can give. This is truly worth the time it takes to listen to the podcast. I had to start and stop too many times and so it was much longer than it could have been but I was so wanting to hear what he had to say that I stuck with it and was greatly rewarded.