A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil |...

A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil | David G. Myers | Great book!

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A Friendly Letter ...

	A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists: Musings on Why God Is Good and Faith Isn't Evil David G. Myers Jossey-Bass, 2008 - 160 pages average customer review:based on 6 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Friendly Letter to Skeptics and Atheists helps readers?both secular and religious?appreciate their common ground. For those whose thinking has moved from the religious thesis to the skeptical antithesis (or vice versa), Myers offers pointers to a science-respecting Christian synthesis. He shows how skeptics and people of faith can share a commitment to reason, evidence, and critical thinking, while also embracing a faith that supports human flourishing?by making sense of the universe, giving meaning to life, connecting us in supportive communities, mandating altruism, and offering hope in the face of adversity and death.

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perfect timing: the necessary bridge between seemingly disparate worlds

I just finished David Myers' latest book in his never ending quest to write enough to fill a book shelf in my basement. I think this is his 17th book. He has earned the trust of readers with his careful scholarship and willingness to share his personal beliefs and biases so that we know where he stands on issues so that we can formulate our own interpretation. If only more authors did this.

Its brief, extremely readable, and as only David can do, he burrows through the nuances between people who are religious and people who don't believe in a supernatural, higher power with gentleness and humility to uncover common ground. If read with a receptive, open mind by enough people, I suspect this book can make a real difference. From my reading, the goal is not to change anyone's belief system. Whether you believe that religious works were written by excellent human storytellers or whether you believe that freethinkers are missing out on the big picture, this book provides a case for why there is no reason for animosity and hatred to spillover between these groups.

Sure, there are plenty of things I disagree with but as Myers points out, it is only from arguments between friends that hatred will dissipate.

good stuff. if only this level of discourse could play out on the larger stage of politics and policy makers. If only people could say what they really think and be respectful and curious about the other side (resisting labels, categories, and preconceived notions).

I am glad he has the courage to tackle the difficult, hot button issues. As long as we play it safe with our articles, books, and discussions, the
impact of any writer, thinker, and public figure will be unnecessarily capped. Hearty skepticism, debate, arguments, and questioning have to be part of our toolbox. Still not enough of it.

I hope people read this as a complement to the other excellent books out there by evolutionary psychologists (The Moral Animal) and philosophers (Dawkins, Harris, Dennett, Shermer, etc.).

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Great book!

A balanced, thought provoking book,and an easy read at the same time. Dr. Myers addresses with equal clarity those for who faith is an illusion, and those for whom it is a cudgel. A wonderful book for the those who choose to think rather than adhere to doctrinaire rigidity on either side of the faith question.

Walking the tightrope

Myers respectfully defends his faith to skeptical scientists as only a fellow empiricist could. Through a series of short chapters Myers takes up the critical points of the neoatheists with an engaging "Yes, but have you thought about this?" approach. Faithheads will welcome the clarity with which Myers comes to their rescue. However, they too will find themselves challenged, reexamining their beliefs, assumptions and even their practices.

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Go to the source

"Why can't we all just get along", says Myers, as he dives right into the deep end of the Christian vs. anti-Christian pool. I use these terms specifically, because while consistent skeptics or atheists profess themselves against all "non-scientific" thinking, I have found that in their comments on my Amazon reviews that they have specifically attacked Christianity with a venom only attainable by those who have a faith-based interest in a competing belief system.

Myers does a reasonable job searching for a middle ground defending faith for its human efficacy in areas of physical and mental health, quality of life, charitable giving and volunteerism, civil rights, contributions to science. Myers, a psychologist who teaches at a Christian college, relies heavily on reason, history, and psychological studies in his apologetics. Most of it is familiar territory but in need of repeating in the face of a resurgent body of specifically and aggressively anti-Christian literature from Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion), Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything), and others.

The main problem, aside from the scorched-earth policy of these writers to invalidate any opposition to their theory, is judging Christianity by the results of human action. Admittedly, religion has a checkered record at times, with slavery, Inquisition, anti-Semitism, and hypocrisy at the hands of ever-sinful men.

But religion is a man made concept only tangentially related to our spiritual condition. The Bible records God's history and plan for salvation that depends on individual acceptance of God's plan through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus Christ. All that eternally matters is how each individual responds to this plan. How man has perverted religion, how atheists have attacked religion, and whether religion has any temporal value is irrelevant.

Each reader must go to the source and deal with it in their own mind and soul.

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Too Friendly

The author appears to be trying too hard to be a "friend" to God's enemies. I find some of his conclusions abhorrent. I will probably finish his book, but I'm in no hurry to do so.

reviews: page 1, 2

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