Chris Hallquist's Short Review of my Book
Nothing smells so sweet as a favorable review of my book! At amazon.com here's what Chris Hallquist wrote:
Why I Rejected Christianity provides a skeptical introduction to philosophy of religion and Christian apologetics from a former apologist who studied under William Lane Craig. It covers standard issues like proofs of the existence of God, evil, and miracles, as well as less-discussed issues like theories of salvation. As I was familiar with most of these issues, it's a little hard for me to judge how well it works as an introduction, but where I'm not familiar with the material, I have found Loftus' book quite helpful. I also have no trouble saying the section on the problem of evil was top-notch.
Of course, an introduction with many topics will never be as effective on a given issue as the best one-issue treatments. However, Loftus' extensive use and citation of existing material makes this an excellent guide to the literature for anyone who wants to do further reading.
There are also a few real gems originality thrown in there. One is the section where Loftus goes through the Bible using nothing but it to show how superstitious the people of the ancient world were--and how reluctant we should be to trust them as a source of divine revelation. The best section, though, is at the beginning, in a setion called the Outsider Test: "Test your beliefs as if you were an outsider to the faith you are evaluating." Here, Loftus solidifies an idea that has floated around in much skeptical rhetoric for some time. He opens up the possibility of consistently applying an idea that has so far only been applied haphazardly. When this is done, the effect is utterly devestating to religious belief. The Outsider Test should earn Loftus a permenant place in the history of critiques of religion.
Thanks Chris!
Why I Rejected Christianity provides a skeptical introduction to philosophy of religion and Christian apologetics from a former apologist who studied under William Lane Craig. It covers standard issues like proofs of the existence of God, evil, and miracles, as well as less-discussed issues like theories of salvation. As I was familiar with most of these issues, it's a little hard for me to judge how well it works as an introduction, but where I'm not familiar with the material, I have found Loftus' book quite helpful. I also have no trouble saying the section on the problem of evil was top-notch.
Of course, an introduction with many topics will never be as effective on a given issue as the best one-issue treatments. However, Loftus' extensive use and citation of existing material makes this an excellent guide to the literature for anyone who wants to do further reading.
There are also a few real gems originality thrown in there. One is the section where Loftus goes through the Bible using nothing but it to show how superstitious the people of the ancient world were--and how reluctant we should be to trust them as a source of divine revelation. The best section, though, is at the beginning, in a setion called the Outsider Test: "Test your beliefs as if you were an outsider to the faith you are evaluating." Here, Loftus solidifies an idea that has floated around in much skeptical rhetoric for some time. He opens up the possibility of consistently applying an idea that has so far only been applied haphazardly. When this is done, the effect is utterly devestating to religious belief. The Outsider Test should earn Loftus a permenant place in the history of critiques of religion.
Thanks Chris!
5 comments:
I liked your book, too, John. The parts that Chris mentioned were some of my favorites. I've been blogging about the parts that struck me over the last few days at http://www.theresafrasch.com/.
I grew up in the Catholic church and then in high school became involved first in the charismatic movement and then with the born-again Jesus Freaks of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa.
After I was married my (ex)husband and I went to Ministries Institute in Eugene OR and became pastors. We pastored churches in Joseph OR, Hermiston OR and finally ended up in Seattle where I became entirely disillusioned with church, Christianity, ministers, and my marriage. I eventually gave them all up and now call myself a born-again unbeliever. It was a long process, but one well worth the time and effort!
Thanks Theresa! Email me. I'm looking for a woman's perspective here at DC.
Valuecrop,see here. You apparently still have the blinders on. ;-)
James, I can tolerate all kinds of half-baked and misguided criticisms about my book, but not when it comes to my personal life, because it's my personal life. If you think I'm not a sincere honest doubter then why did I write about "the good the bad and ugly?" Sit back and throw stones at another person's life all you want to, because that's what Christians resort to doing when they cannot deal with the arguments. And that's one reason why I criticize the church. But before you do, write about those times you've done wrong and spell out your justification for doing wrong for all the world to see. Then let some nitwit blast you for what you did and let him twist it like you did to show he obviously doesn't want to understand it. See what you think about it.
If you don't want to deal with the arguments stay away from here.
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