The Dawkins Delusion?

2008 Christian Bookseller's Covention Book of the Year Award winner!
World-renowned scientist Richard Dawkins writes in The God Delusion: "If this book works as I intend, religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down." The volume has received wide coverage, fueled much passionate debate and caused not a little confusion.

Alister McGrath, along with his wife, Joanna, are ideal to evaluate Dawkins's ideas. Once an atheist himself, he gained a doctorate in molecular biophysics before going on to become a leading Christian theologian. He wonders how two people, who have reflected at length on substantially the same world, could possibly have come to such different conclusions about God. McGrath subjects Dawkins's critique of faith to rigorous scrutiny. His exhilarating, meticulously argued response deals with questions such as

• Is faith intellectual nonsense?
• Are science and religion locked in a battle to the death?
• Can the roots of Christianity be explained away scientifically?
• Is Christianity simply a force for evil?

This book will be warmly received by those looking for a reliable assessment of The God Delusion and the many questions it raises--including, above all, the relevance of faith and the quest for meaning.

A fine-tuned universe: the quest for God in science and theology

Are there viable pathways from nature to God? Natural theology is making a comeback, stimulated as much by scientific advance as by theological and philosophical reflection. There is a growing realization that the sciences raise questions that transcend their capacity to answer them --above all, the question of the existence of God. So how can Christian theology relate to these new developments? In this landmark work, based on his 2009 Gifford lectures, Alister McGrath examines the apparent "fine-tuning" of the universe and its significance for natural theology. Exploring a wide range of physical and biological phenomena and drawing on the latest research in biochemistry and evolutionary biology, McGrath outlines our new understanding of the natural world and discusses its implications for traditional debates about the existence of God.

Science, Faith, and How We Make Sense of Things

In Surprised by Meaning, through a non-technical discussion of science and faith, Alister E. McGrath, the author of the best-selling The Dawkins Delusion explains how both science and faith help with the overriding human desire to make sense of things.

We live in an age when the growth of the Internet has made it easier than ever to gain access to information and accumulate knowledge. But information is not the same as meaning, nor is knowledge identical with wisdom. Many people feel engulfed by a tsunami of facts in which they can find no meaning.

In thirteen short, accessible chapters McGrath, author of the bestselling The Dawkins Delusion, leads the reader through a nontechnical discussion of science and faith. How do we make sense of the world around us? Are belief in science and the Christian faith compatible? Does the structure of the universe point toward the existence of God?

McGrath's goal is to help readers see that science is neither antithetical to faith, nor does it supersede faith. Both science and faith help with the overriding human desire to make sense of things. Faith is a complex idea. It is not a blind leap into the dark but a joyful discovery of a bigger picture of wondrous things of which we are all a part.

The Foundations of Dialogue in Science and Religion

In this new book, Alister McGrath explores the relationship between religion and the natural sciences, focusing specifically on Christianity as a case study. The book explores the way in which religions and the natural sciences differ from each other, yet converge on matters of considerable interest in a number of areas. 

"The Foundations of Dialogue in Science and Religion" develops the agenda set out by Thomas F. Torrance in his 1969 work "Theological Science." Like Torrance, McGrath sees the need to examine the relation between Christian theology and the natural sciences at the level of method - that is to say, the way in which reality is apprehended, investigated, and represented. 

The study starts from three major points of investigation: the inexplicability of the world, the way in which our reflection on the nature of things is controled or modulated by the way things are and the way in which the external world is represented. 

This book will be of great interest to those researching and studying in the areas of science and religion, Christian theology and history and the philosophy of science.

Science & Religion: A New Introduction

Now thoroughly updated to reflect the latest debates, this popular textbook introduces readers to the central questions in the field of science and religion. Ideally suited to those who have little or no prior knowledge in either area, it incorporates numerous student-friendly features, including maps, summaries, and historical references, resulting in the most up-to-date introduction to the study of religion and the natural sciences available.

Examines the historical, theological, philosophical and scientific aspects of the interaction between religion and science.

Fully updated to reflect current, cutting-edge debates on scientific atheism and the limits of scientific method, and discussions about the relationship between science and religion in major world faiths.

Includes a historical component to enable readers to orientate themselves within the subject.

Takes a topic based approach which fits into the existing structure of most courses, and includes explanatory material not found in other works of this kind, making it highly accessible for those with little scientific or religious background knowledge.

Incorporates illustrations, tables, maps, summaries and questions for a lively and engaging approach to the subject.

Written by world-renowned theologian, Alister McGrath; author of bestselling books such as Dawkins’ God, and an acknowledged expert in the field of science and religion.

Dawkins' God

Alister E. McGrath is one of the world’s leading theologians, with a doctorate in the sciences. Richard Dawkins is one of the bestselling popular science writers, with outspoken and controversial views on religion. This fascinating and provoking work is the first book-length response to Dawkins’ ideas, and offers an ideal introduction to the topical issues of science and religion.

Addresses fundamental questions about Dawkins’ approach to science and religion: Is the gene actually selfish? Is the blind watchmaker a suitable analogy? Are there other ways of looking at things?


Tackles Dawkins’ hostile and controversial views on religion, and examines the religious implications of his scientific ideas, making for a fascinating and provoking debate.

Written in a very engaging and accessible style, ideal to those approaching scientific and religious issues for the first time.

Alister McGrath is uniquely qualified to write this book. He is one of the world’s best known and most respected theologians, with a strong research background in molecular biophysics.

Darwinism and the Divine: Evolutionary Thought and Natural Theology

There remains a widespread perception that Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection marked the demise of any viable Christian natural theology - most notably, that of William Paley. But did Darwinism really shake such fundamental beliefs to the core? Or did Darwin's "dangerous idea" instead serve to transform and illuminate our views on the relation between the natural world and the divine? Darwinism and the Divine presents a detailed examination of the implications of evolutionary thought for natural theology, from the publication of On the Origin of Species more than a century-and-a-half ago through to the present day. Integrating and extending the latest scholarly research from across a wide variety of disciplines, world-renowned theologian Alister E. McGrath first explores the forms of natural theology that emerged in England from the late 17th century until 1850, showing us how these views were affected by the advent of Darwin's theories. McGrath offers the most detailed account of the intellectual background to William Paley's natural theology currently available, and offers an informed assessment of the impact of Darwin on such approaches. He then considers how Christian belief has adapted to Darwinism, and whether there is a place for design both in the world of science and the world of theology. Journeying well beyond On the Origin of the Species, Darwinism and the Divine offers a scholarly and thought-provoking consideration of the co-existence of natural theology with Darwinism in today's world.