"The God Delusion"

I am reading this book at the moment. I have been looking forward to it for a while, and now is the moment I've been waiting for. I've approached it eagerly, pen in hand, ready to engage with him and see how theism stands up against his attack.

The cover of the book is promising...one guy called Stephen Pinker (who I heard of in my linguistics days) calls him "one of the best non-fiction writers alive today" and calls the book "characteristically elegant". Sounds good!

But I've read 97 pages now, and it's disappointing, isn't it? Dawkins doesn't write like a scientist, nor like a rational arguer. He dismisses theology as a non-field but makes so many theological assumptions without justification that any educated theist has every reason not to trust him when he writes about other areas he claims to speak authoritatively on.

So far, I think it's fair to boil his main argument down to this: "Intelligent people don't believe in God. I am intelligent, and I don't believe in God. Therefore if you want to be intelligent you should not believe in God either." [Those who have read it - do you agree?]

He does this by ridiculing theists at every opportunity (and not just about their belief in God), by praising atheists at every opportunity (and not just in relation to their atheism), by using any and every argument against God which he can get his hands on (ignoring occasions where they have been disproved or seriously challenged by other thinkers), and by speaking with overwhelming confidence on matters he has not researched very thoroughly. It reads more like a mad mud-slinging frenzy than a careful and serious argument.

But so many people seem to love it... amazing. I like to scribble in the margins (in pen) and dump the book unceremoniously on the floor when I've finished. Maybe I'm just blinkered by my religious upbringing... or maybe I'm waiting for someone with something serious to say against my God to stand up and make their point with grace and clarity.

In any case, I accept that my brain is currently not big enough to grapple with every single scientific, philosophical and theological issue that exists in the world. So I have to trust someone with my life, my soul, and my eternal destiny. And when I look at Jesus, his words and his character, and at Dawkins, his words and his character, there's no question of who that's going to be.

Holidays are here again!

After a crazy semester of little to no blogging, you'll be pleased to know that the holidays are here once again, which means I have time to think again, and maybe even hopefully a bit of time to upload my stream of consciousness into the public domain!

I noticed that the blog's friend counter is on 1981 - that's one hit for every year between Christ's birth and mine - now that's gotta be significant in some way! Surely?!

So, what am I doing with my holiday, I hear you ask? Here's a quick list.

1. Wake up (Derek being up long ago)
2. Laze around in bed for a while (listening to the rain/thunderstorm usually)
3. Derek returns for Bible reading and prayer
4. Get up
5. Walk around our new unit, just because I can (after a year of studio accomodation I don't think I'll ever get tired of walking up and back, up and back, into one room, then into another...)
6. Get some brekky - old Vita Brits that we transported from Canberra a year ago, still going strong
7. Translate a few verses of Romans with Derek
8. Potter around, emailing, unpacking, rearranging the study, washing up, etc
9. Practice a song or two of the Messiah (shut all doors and windows first!)
10. Lunch
11. Make a Christmas card or two
12. Write a Christmas card or two
13. Walk around a little more
14. Pick up Richard Dawkin's "The God Delusion", pen in hand (more about this in next post)
15. Dinner
16. Train off to the Opera House for Messiah rehearsal/concert!
17. Home late, crash in bed.

Happy days!
We're off to Tasmania next Monday, how exciting! Really looking forward to catching up with family. I haven't seen my sister and her family for 2 years!

It is also exciting that our niece and nephew tally is now up to 16! Only 4 of them are girls. Come on team!

Sing Hallelujah...

Hi faithful few who still read this blog! Thankyou!

Just a quick note to let you all know that I am singing in the Messiah this week, at the Sydney Opera House. It's a fantastic concert and the music is absolutely wonderful! Let me know if you're coming and I'll put in a special shriek for you. :)