Reviews

Atheist Overreach: What Atheism Can't Deliver by Christian Smith

jrboyne's review against another edition

5.0

Christian Smith is probably my favorite sociologist. In his book he dives deep down the rabbit hole of the atheistic worldview to show how it is lacking in fundamental ideas of humanity and society. He makes is a point again and again that this book is not meant to convince people either against atheism or for theism of any kind. While I appreciate his purpose of presenting clear logical arguments against atheism, I hope this ends up being only a part 1 where he does then go on to show how theism, and specifically Christianity does provide grounded answers for all of the issues he raises in this book. Smith primarily goes on to show in this book how the atheistic view of the world, relying solely on empirical naturalism fails to provided logical answers as to why an atheist can be "Good without God" on a universal basis, how there can be a universal acceptance of benevolence and basic human rights, and why science is simply lacking in its ability to answer our fundamental ontological questions. He finishes the book by providing a clear discussion on why humans have an innate tendency to be religious and often choose to either accept that or repress that, an argument that goes right against the atheists dream of a completely secularized society.

I highly recommend this book to sociologists and people interested in worldview studies. As a Christian, it provides clear arguments against atheism that can easily be used in any ontological discussion on the existence of God and meaning of life.

ashleyyll's review against another edition

4.0

Read this after Tim Keller recommended it. It was very good - in part a rehashing of responses to atheism and its lack of reasonable grounds for a universal morality that I'd heard before, but delivered succinctly and articulately. Although I'm a Christian, I appreciated that in this case he did not appeal to or attempt to validate Christian or any religious beliefs, but instead refuted atheist claims largely on their own terms, because, yeah... I enjoy engaging with (okay, debating) atheists and I know any respectable atheist worth their salt will shoot all kinds of holes in appeals to any transcendent authority. Smith's approach is pretty solid that way, though it may turn off those who would want him to venture into attempting to "prove" any religious truth claims. For those who would like a more assertively Christian exploration of similar ideas, I recommend Proper Confidence by Lesslie Newbigin.