The Devil's Delusion: Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions | 
 enlarge | Author: David Berlinski
Publisher: Crown Forum
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
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Rating:  44 reviews
Sales Rank: 2180
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.8 x 1.1
ISBN: 0307396266
Dewey Decimal Number: 215
EAN: 9780307396266
ASIN: 0307396266
Publication Date: April 1, 2008
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Product Description
Militant atheism is on the rise. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have dominated bestseller lists with books denigrating religious belief as dangerous foolishness. And these authors are merely the leading edge of a far larger movement–one that now includes much of the scientific community.
“The attack on traditional religious thought,” writes David Berlinski in The Devil’s Delusion, “marks the consolidation in our time of science as the single system of belief in which rational men and women might place their faith, and if not their faith, then certainly their devotion.”
A secular Jew, Berlinski nonetheless delivers a biting defense of religious thought. An acclaimed author who has spent his career writing about mathematics and the sciences, he turns the scientific community’s cherished skepticism back on itself, daring to ask and answer some rather embarrassing questions:
Has anyone provided a proof of God’s inexistence?
Not even close.
Has quantum cosmology explained the emergence of the universe or why it is here?
Not even close.
Have the sciences explained why our universe seems to be fine-tuned to allow for the existence of life?
Not even close.
Are physicists and biologists willing to believe in anything so long as it is not religious thought?
Close enough.
Has rationalism in moral thought provided us with an understanding of what is good, what is right, and what is moral?
Not close enough.
Has secularism in the terrible twentieth century been a force for good?
Not even close to being close.
Is there a narrow and oppressive orthodoxy of thought and opinion within the sciences?
Close enough.
Does anything in the sciences or in their philosophy justify the claim that religious belief is irrational?
Not even ballpark.
Is scientific atheism a frivolous exercise in intellectual contempt?
Dead on.
Berlinski does not dismiss the achievements of western science. The great physical theories, he observes, are among the treasures of the human race. But they do nothing to answer the questions that religion asks, and they fail to offer a coherent description of the cosmos or the methods by which it might be investigated.
This brilliant, incisive, and funny book explores the limits of science and the pretensions of those who insist it can be–indeed must be–the ultimate touchstone for understanding our world and ourselves.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 39 more reviews...
 A concise, thought provoking and very entertaining book July 2, 2008
I read the book cover to cover and loved it. Dr. Berlinski's writing style is very concise and a little unique. The resulting concentration of ideas and references had me re-reading portions occasionally to make sure I didn't miss anything. The main topic is to throw very well reasoned arguments back in the face of some prominent atheists to show that their confidence is rather misplaced and to do so with the maximum of wit and humor. Topics covered include the real results of atheistic world views in government, the evidence for and against the possible existence of God, Darwinism, the "many worlds" interpretation of quantum mechanics, the mind, computers, the Standard Model and the big bang.
It's only 225 smaller-sized pages in 10 chapters. It is a quick read in one place but perfect for that nightly chapter that you can think about the next day. If you have an open mind you will like this book. If you are a Christian, you will like this book. If you are a determined atheist you will not like this book (see the one star reviews).
Not Bad, Could have Been Better July 1, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Good book, it makes some interesting points about hardcore Atheism. Never knew that some Atheists actually believe in a existing Universe before our own. Berlinski in this book, rightfully points out the non-scientific value of the hypothesis. To me, it's not scientific at all, I can understand why some would believe in it because they know fully well, something cannot be created out of nothing by itself on accident. So in order to explain it they come up with such unproven stories, like the alien hypothesis, other universes hypothesis, and so on...The book is lite in reading and easy to understand, worth the price!
cosmological romp June 26, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
Dr. Berlinski is extremely well-read in philosophy, physics, mathematics, biology, history, and theology. He does an amazing synthesis in his lines of reasoning, proving if not the existence of God, then certainly the impossibility of proving the non-existence of God. Berlinski takes great delight in showing how scientific atheists have been insisting on an irrational agenda, fabricating any theory imaginable to skirt around the cosmological inconvenience of the Big Bang.
This was as much fun to read as C S Lewis' "Mere Christianity," though Dr Berlinski, as a secular Jew, comes to a few different, though not irreconcilable conclusions.
"We live by love and longing, death and the devastation that time imposes. How did they enter into the world? And why? The world of the physical sciences is not our world, and if our world has things that cannot be explained in their terms, then we must search elsewhere for their explaination.
We may allow ourselves in the twenty-first century to neglect the Red Sea and to regard with unconcern the various loaves and fishes mentioned in the New Testament. We who are heirs to the scientific tradition have been given the priceless gift of a vastly enhanced sense of the miraculous. This is something that the very greatest scientists- Newton, Einstein, Bohr, Goedel- have always known and stressed."
How Can A Book That Teases Atheists NOT Be Fun? June 25, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
David Berlinski is a gifted writer and he is a witty and persuasive writer. That is an interesting and fun combination.
In fact, Berlinski's wit can make his arguments seem even more forceful. Don't get me wrong, I think his arguments are strong anyhow, but you know how it is, the humor helps. Here are some examples of the Berlinski wit:
Speaking of Hector Avalos, atheist professor of religous studies at Iowa State University, "He is a member in good standing of the worldwide fraternity of academics who are professionally occupied in sniffing the underwear of their colleagues for signs of ideological deviance."
Here's another, "The details may be found in Hawking's bestselling A Brief History of Time, a book that was widely considered fascinating by those who did not read it, and incomprehensible by those who did."
Okay, one more, "When asked what he was in awe of, Christopher Hitchens responded that his definition of an educated person is that you have some idea how ignorant you are. This seems very much as if Hitchens were in awe of his own ignorance, in which case he has surely found an object worthy of his veneration."
Suddenly, it occurs to me that those comments may not seem quite as funny when they are not read in context. But they made me laugh when I was reading the book.
I know, humor is subjective.
Berlinski's book, is basically a defense of God and religion against the recent attack of atheism--particularly the haughty form of atheism that pretends to draw all of its ontological stature from a pure and inescapable scientific reason. The Devil's Delusion is even more interesting because Berlinski is a "secular Jew"--his description--with a Ph.D. from Princeton who has spent many years writing about mathematics and science. In other words, this is an apologetic for God and religion coming from a highly educated, secular man who has signficant experience in, and great respect for, science.
One of the interesting ideas that I took from the book has to do with the similarities between the faith in God that existed in the pre-Modern era and the faith in Science--yes, sometimes blind faith--of the Modern and Post-Modern eras.
If you're rolling your eyes, right now, and saying, "Oh, come on, there are no similarities between faith in God and faith in Science" my response would be: Read The Devil's Delusion.
Dan Marler
Oak Lawn, IL
 Silly straw man logic June 20, 2008
6 out of 18 found this review helpful
The Author sets up a silly strawman then knocks him down.
Can the Bible stand up to this type of Logic?
Where does the Bible explain how new animals are created and others go extinct?
Does the Bible explain how the Stars in the Sky are other Suns like our own??
Does the Bible Explain Disease caused by Bacteria and Viruses?
Does the Bible Explain that Leprosy can be cured by anti-biotics?
Does the Bible explain the Periodic table of Elements?
Did the Bible foretell the abolition of slavery and the equality of women?
How much of Biblical Law is legal today?
We have separation of Church and state, likewise we need separation of Religion and Science. Many Christian Universities teach Modern Science on their campuses. They could have been `science free' zones. They decided that for their students to compete in our modern society, they need all knowledge - religious and secular.
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