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Anders Bjorn Drachmann (1860-1935) was a Danish classical philologist, son of the physician Andreas Georg Drachmann and half brother of the poet Holger Drachmann. In 1887 A. B. Drachmann studied classical philology and won a competition for a professorship at the University of Kristiania. In 1892 he became an associate professor at Copenhagen University. His works include: Moderne Pindarfortolkning (1891), Scholia Vetera in Pindari Carmina (1903) and Christendommens Oprindelse (1919). ... Read more

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Militant atheism is on the rise. In recent years Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have produced a steady stream of best-selling books denigrating religious belief. These authors are merely the leading edge of a larger movement that includes much of the scientific community. In response, mathematician David Berlinski, himself a secular Jew, delivers a biting defense of religious thought. The Devil's Delusion is a brilliant, incisive, and funny book that explores the limits of science and the pretensions of those who insist it is the ultimate touchstone for understanding our world. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (115)

the devils delusion
Very interesting book, very educational and for people who want to learn about the problems that concern this generation.


















very interesting, but not any truth in it.Larry York










l

Sublime and Insightful
I sympathize with the faithful atheists; this book commits blasphemy against their chosen faith system. I do not sympathize with their "reviews," as it is extremely doubtful any of them have touched the book, let alone read it.

Berlinski is his usual sarcastic self, but done with humor and style -- and always making a point. A worthwhile read on the subject. The best "rebuttals" I've read about the book is that (a) Berlinski is a "fundamentalist Christian" and everyone knows they are very dumb (he's an Ivy League secular Jew, and a postdoctorate fellow in mathematics and molecular biology) and (b) and he has done work for the Discovery Institute, and since they support Intelligent Design Berlinski is obviously very dumb and very, very bad (you see, if you support intelligent design or doubt materialistic, atheistic neo-Darwinism, you are a very bad person -- where that moral law comes from has not really been stated...and even in the unlikely event you aren't "bad" you are by definition dumb because if you were smart you'd accept materialist, atheistic neo-Darwinism...nice and tidy, albeit it is rowing with one oar in the water).

Lies and ad hominem. Substantive and thoughtful rebuttals to his critiques, those I have not yet encountered. Read the book for yourself, enjoy a thoughtful and well written critique of the philosophical system known as neo-Darwinism and be that much better informed on the subject.

Blowing the doors off pseudo-science
Berlinski is a man of dry and sometimes knee-slapping wit, and maybe the best mathematician breathing.He is an intellectual of the first rank and knows the difference between poop and payola.And so do his many sources, which he cites with professionalism and insight.

The facts about the dead-end and death knell of "biological evolution" and other pseudo-science Berlinski posits are out there for the mainstream media to print, were they so inclined to report reality instead of politically correct bias.So Berlinski's work is actually news reporting that is ignored by those outlets for which scientific inquiry is simply a way to prop up their cultural point of view.And science's progress has not helped the cause for atheism in the last century, much less the last decade.

Read Berlinski's book.It is one you will find helpful when you need to call nonsense on "know-it-alls" who get their science from Richard Dawkins' website and talk-show.

5-stars!

Ironically Pretentious
I picked up this book after seeing Berlinski in Expelled. I found his arguments against evolution and against the scientific community's resistance to alternative ideas in the film very compelling, But this book was not a good follow-up. He complains that the scientific community is pretentious and close-minded, but makes the same errors when criticizing his own opponents! For example, he cuts into Sam Harris and Letter to a Christian Nation, but if he'd read Harris' first and longer work, End of Faith, he would have seen Harris had already addressed those. He accuses Harris of being a moral relativist, but Harris writes vigorously against moral relativism in End of Faith. Also, Berlinksi spends too much time criticizing his opponents' writing styles instead of criticizing the content of their arguments. Incidentally, his own writing style isn't that hot accessible either. He seems to go out of his way to use erudite language, odd for a book aimed at the mass market.

Best philosophy of science book I have read
This is the best philosophy of science book I have ever read. It is extremely well written and is the first book that I have read that seeks to curtail what has become the wholesale worship of science in western culture. Science is a wonderful tool and has given us a standard of living that is likely the best this world has seen, however it has its limits and these limits are under assault in the modern age by those who should know better. It stands in stark contrast to books that have become popular of late that make large, sweeping statements generally based on a set of assumptions with little evidence to back up their claims. In reading Dawkins in particular (as a mathematician) it is a constant frustration to read the "proofs" that are continually offered up by someone who clearly does not know what a proof is. We are directed to have our "imagination" inspired by Darwin in order to come up with outlandish schemes about how things might have happened. Quite frankly it is hard to believe that anyone can put any stock in this kind of reasoning. Speculation is fine and imagination is a wonderful thing but it is not science and claims such as those that are too frequently made need to be backed up with something other than "imagination". This is what has been typically known in the past as science fiction and that seems to be what Dawkins is best at.
Berlinski makes this argument better than I can as he is clearly better read and has been immersed in the fields of mathematics and philosophy for some time. Dawkins and the rest are intellectual lightweights compared to Berlinski and this is evident even in a casual reading of the book, though most of Dawkins arguments can be picked apart even by myself. The most refreshing part about this book is that Berlinski clearly understands the limits of science and is willing to talk about them where most seem to not be willing to go there. I have had several conversations, particularly with biologists, that when pressed on many issues dealing with evolutionary evidence, or the lack thereof, they put up a fight for a few minutes then state in the end "well, that isn't really my field of focus". It is a constant frustration that there seems to be no interest in solving any of these issues within the scientific field. While Dawkins complains that ID supporters run to God for cover...anytime anything hard comes up they just say "God did it", Dawkins has reversed this to say that "Darwin did it". In the end we have exchanged God for Darwin and it seems to me that we have got the worst end of the deal.
The book is very refreshing in that it seems to honestly be seeking to reveal where we are now, what science has accomplished, what it has not accomplished, and what it cannot accomplish. Unlike the popular writings that it is critical of, it is not condescending or arrogant but clearly reveals where these other authors have overstepped their bounds often in a way that is quite witty and piercing in it's critique.
It is a truth that we each approach science with our own pre-conceived notions that larely shape what we are looking for, where we look, and in the end what we see. Berlinski has the advantage of being agnostic and so quite possibly is approaching the issue with the most objective mind. In reading the book it seems that he is coming to the defense of God and, though He doesn't need it, it is nice for those of us on this temporal globe to see someone this deep in the field bring forth a book that at least makes the attempt to be objective. If he seems to come to the defense of God it is only because God's attackers have become somewhat rabid in their attack and in using "science" to do so have undermined all of science by using it in a manner that it was never intended to be used. It is more to the point that Berlinski is coming to the defense of science because he understands that if this hijacking of our universities and centers of academic thought continues then scientists will soon have no more influence than our mainstream modern "journalists". ... Read more

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Interesting
This is an interesting read, and certainly stands out amongst recent attempts to get clear about Heidegger's religious proclivities (or lack thereof).The author judiciously treats some of the most important parts of Heidegger's work, and does much to illuminate Heidegger's position on matters theological.

While the book has a clear thesis - one looses touch with it during the course of the discussion.In the end, it seems like this is really a book about the author, Marion, and Derrida, rather than a piece of Heidegger scholarship. ... Read more

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Opposition to atheism flourished in the seventeenth century, and famed scientist-philosopher Robert Boyle (1627?91) was so opposed to it that he had planned throughout his life to publish a work on his various objections, a project that never came to fruition. Despite this, a great deal of his thought on atheism still exists within the manuscripts he left behind after his death.

With Boyle on Atheism, J.J. MacIntosh has culled the Boyle manuscripts held at the Royal Society Library in London and transcribed the portions that relate to atheism, arranging them in the order Boyle appears to have intended (as outlined in one of the pieces). The volume contains Boyle?s views on the causes (and remedies) of atheism, the nature of God, various possible arguments for God?s existence, the excellency of Christianity, and the character of atheists and the deficiencies to be found in their arguments.

To round out the volume, MacIntosh has added a short biography of Boyle, a general introduction to the text, introductions to the various sections, and explanatory footnotes. Boyle on Atheism provides, for the first time, and at length, publication of the material that Boyle himself thought worth marshalling on a subject of great personal importance.

Customer Reviews (1)

A compilation of writings by seventeenth-century scientist-philosopher Robert Boyle
Boyle On Atheism is a compilation of writings by seventeenth-century scientist-philosopher Robert Boyle (1627-91), who throughout his life felt a deep opposition to atheism and planned to publish a text delineating his objections. Though he died before publishing a book on the subject, his many writings rationally resisting atheism survive. Now J.J. MacIntosh (Professor, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Calgary) presents Boyle's transcribed and edited papers, with extensive and informative notations. Boyle On Atheism presents Robert Boyle's views on the causes and remedies of atheism, the nature of God, arguments for God's existence, the virtues of Christianity, and deconstructs the character of atheists as well as the deficiencies in their arguments. A valuable insight not only into philosophical and religious debate, but also greater understanding of seventeenth century society.
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1922. Contents: Conception and Treatment of Denial of the Gods in Antiquity, Accounts of Deniers; Naive Criticism of Popular Religion, Xenophanes; Ionic Naturalism, Diagoras; Sophistic and Its Influence; Socrates and the Socratics; Hellenism; Period to the Roman Empire; Middle Ages and Recent Times; and Retrospect. ... Read more

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This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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This contribution traces the development of atheism in Britain. The author ranges over three centuries of thought, providing biographies of philosophers and politicians who believed in atheism and describing the general shift from atheism to religious belief. ... Read more

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As the influence of religion increasingly insinuates itself into society, aided by media messages touting the personal and social advantages of Christian-defined moral virtues, the need to express well-developed criticism of religious propaganda and to support clearly-stated secular ideals assumes a new urgency. Freethinkers, atheists, agnostics, sceptics, and rationalists will rejoice to discover that Dr. Gordon Stein has returned to the rich history of free-thought to compile an impressive collection of powerful and thought-provoking atheist and rationalist literature.A superb complement to his first book, "An Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism", "A Second Anthology of Atheism and Rationalism" features twenty essays and twenty-nine samples of atheist and rationalist verse by such masters as G.J. Holyoake, Robert Browning, John Keats, Annie Besant, Rudyard Kipling, Thomas Hardy, and Charles Bradlaugh, to name but a few. Many of the essays and poems in this exceptional anthology have been out of print or nearly impossible to procure for over 100 years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Nice to have some freethought history
Prometheus' second anthology is not, I would say, as good as the first one, but it is still a nice read.Most of the selections are at least a half-century old, and most are much older. The biblical criticism of Bradlaugh and Wheless shows its age, and many of the other essays have beenoutdone by contemporary works. But the best feature of the anthology isthat it shows the past of freethought and atheism.There were courageousmen and women years ago, when prejudice and bigotry were even more intenseagainst heresy, who were unafraid to speak out for the truth.I enjoyreading these works and getting a feel for the passion and intensity ofthose brave individuals.Freethinkers would also do well to familiarizethemselves with our past.It lends encouragement.Our generation is notthe first to question religious authority, and we will not be the last. The poetry selections are interesting, too, for those with a taste for it. Read and take heart. ... Read more

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The indeterminacy of the modern concept of God has made the distinction between belief and unbelief increasingly problematic. Both the complexity of the religious response and the variety of skeptical philosophies preclude simplistic definitions of what constitutes belief in God. Making the discussion even more difficult are assertions by fundamentalists who dismiss the philosophical perplexities of religious claims as unreal pseudo-problems.Atheism & Philosophy is a detailed study of these and other issues vital to our understanding of atheism, agnosticism, and religious belief.Philosopher Kai Nielsen develops a coherent and integrated approach to the discussion of what it means to be an atheist.In chapters such as "How is Atheism to be Characterized?", "Does God Exist?: Reflections on Disbelief," "Agnosticism," "Religion and Commitment," and "The Primacy of Philosophical Theology," Nielsen defends atheism in a way that answers to contemporary concerns. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Wonderful service
The book was as good as it was described and delivered in timely manner

Boring but good
Kind of slow and not to enjoyable although there was some good quotes through out the book. I would recommend Michael Martins Atheism a philosophical justification which is much more geared toward positive modern atheism. ... Read more

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Are there legitimate uses for atheists' critiques of religion? Westphal says yes, if we take a closer look not at the atheists' arguments against the existence of God, but at their observations about the sometimes disreputable functions of religious practice and belief, as demonstrated in the "atheism of suspicion", put forth by Freud, Marx, and Nietzsche. ... Read more

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Excellent Book on Atheism's use of Religion
Merold Westphal is an excellent philosopher, and this book shows that.He does a terrific job to show that Singmund Freud's, Karl Marx's and Friedrich Nietzsche's critique of religion are all a very biblical critique.

Westphal rightly notes the failures of any forms of Positivism to critique religion, and although Freud was a thorough-going positivist, his critique or religion did not rest on those assumptions.His critique of religion was that it was a wish-fulfillment.And in many ways, we Christians do make God into what we "wish" for Him to be.He had the most chapters on Freud, because his thinking is very complex and he had to go over all the facets of his thought.

The section on Karl Marx was very good, too.Marx (and Nietzsche for that matter) rested their critique of religion on ideologies.Marx relied heavily on Feuerbach's critique of religion for his crituqe, although he said Feuerbach didn't go far enough.Marx critisized religion because of the so-called German state being "Christian".The state was being oppresive.What Christians need to realize is that the Gospel does have political consequences and that God does care for the poor, and Marx definitely shows this.He compared Marx to the prophet Amos.

The section on Nietzsche is very good, also.Nietzsche was a terrific Philosopher, even though I definitely do not agree with him on everything.He has many good things to say.He bascially said that we use religion to get revenge on others.That is often the case, too.He said that we used religion to use our own "will to power".He compared Nietzsche's critique to Jesus' critique of the pharisees.

This was a terrific book on describing how these men's critique of religion is much like the biblical critique of religion, and is a very powerful look at human nature.

A good prophetic witness via good old fashioned philosophy
Back in 1992 I attended a lecture entitled "Nietzsche as Christian Philosopher." I was curious, and so went and heard a brilliant talk about the deep understanding Nietzsche had of theChristianity of his day, and why he found it necessary to reject it. The lecturer did not try to make Nietzsche into a Christian, of course, for Nietzsche was not one.Still, he pointed out that Nietzsche's critique grew out of his view, in part, of Christianity as a religion with a "slave mentality," one utterly lacking in a will-to-power. Apparently, Nietzsche had been reading Paul.

Westphal has also been reading Paul, and Augustine, and Luther, and Kierkegaard, in addition to the three founders of the "school of suspicion" as Ricoeur calls them: Frued, Marx, and Nietzsche.Westphal has brought back from his travels with these men a powerful and critical message for the church today; and when criticized, the church should pay close attention to the criticism.All three of these philosophers raise valid and very important concerns about not only the praxis of Christianity, but Christianity qua Christianity, as belief system and structure.

Nietzsche is indeed a Christian philosopher insofar as he shows us the will-to-power implicit in belief.He is correct thatthe Christ-idea of Christianity is antithetical to a will-to-power or a triumphalistic worldview, and that it would never and could never produce der Übermensch (that, in part, is why he hated it so). When Christianity weds itself to power, any power at all, it needs to read Nietzsche.It also needs to read Freud, badly, if it hopes to confront its wish-fulfillments in this-worldly "Kingdom of God"-speech, and its death-wishes in indulging apocalyptic orgies (note to Tim LaHaye: read more Freud). Christianity should also read Freud if it wants to really get an insight into Paul's "what I want to do, I do not, and what I do not want to do, I do," as well as a lot of Luther. Finally, a good re-reading of Marx (Marx has never really been given a good try, not since Lenin got him first and ruined him) might just show us why, after all, we not only cannot simply render unto Caesar, but why we constantly confuse Caesar and God. Great book by an important thinker.

Valid critiques of Christianity from atheism's pillars
This book is unique in that it is written by a Christian who uses the arguments of Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx to critique some of the shortcomings Christianity has shown over the last 2000 years.Its important to know that the author (Westphal) is strongly committed to the truthfulness of Christianity, but he wants other believers to know that we can learn something by listening to the words of these men.While many may ignore such advice when considering the source, I believe Westphal makes a lot of valid points in this book.He likens the critiques of Nietzsche, Freud, and Marx to those of the Old Testament prophets and Jesus.However, Westphal is careful not to blindly accept every criticism which comes from these men.He listens to what they have to say and then acknowledges when they're on the mark.Christians today could learn much by doing likewise. ... Read more

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Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free.This is an OCR edition with typos.Excerpt from book:secretary, for the place of chaplain to the English merchants at Lisbon, Mr. Zachary Cradock, afterwards provost of Eton Colledge, and famous for his uncommon genius and learning, and his abilities as a preacher.In Jan. 165$, he wrote the following letter to Secretary Thurloe, upon his design of publishing some Latin discourses in defence of Christianity against Judaism."sir," Having this opportunity offered by Doctour Solater, who desires to waite upon yon, upon your kind invitation, which I acquainted him with, I could do no lesse than accompany him with these few lines to present my service to you. I am per- swaded, you will be well satisfied in his ingenuity, when you are acquainted with him. Now I have this opportunity, I shall use the freedom to acquaint you with another busines. I am perswad- ed by friends to publish some discourses, which I have prepared in Latine, that will be of a polemi- call nature in defense of Christianity against Juda- isme, explaining some cheef places of scripture controverted between the Jewes and us, (as Daniel's prophecy of the 70 weekes, never yet sufficiently cleared and improved) and withall extricating many difficulties of chronologie. Which taske I the rather undertake, not onely because it is suitable to my Hebrew profession, and because I have lighted on some Jewish writings upon the argument, as have scarcely ever been seen by any Christians, which would the better inable me fully to confute them ; but also because I conceive it aworke proper and suitable to this present age. However, though I should not be able myselfe to be any way instrumental to these great transactions of Providence (not without cause, hoped for of many) amongst the Jews; yet I perswade myselfe my pains may not be alltogether unprofitable for the sellin... ... Read more