Customer Reviews:
 Not Bad, Could have Been Better July 1, 2008
2 out of 4 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
4 out of 7 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
5 out of 7 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
9 out of 29 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.
 Good, not great June 18, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
David Berlinski is, no doubt, smarter than I am. His arguments are very compelling and I appreciate his defense of my right to believe in God without being called a fool. This is obviously a contentious issue as evidenced by the tags suggested by Amazon during the review process (absolute crap, dumb as a rock, delusional, garbage, abyss of reason, and so forth), and I am happy to see someone in academia take the mantle of theologian without obvious fear. It is also nice to see 90% of this book base arguments on fact and reason as opposed to ad hominem attacks.
With that being said, the other 10% resorts to just such a trick. The argument levied by Atheists which most rankles me (i.e. you are stupid to believe) is basically adapted by Berlinski in reverse for some of his chapters. Maybe this is an attempt to beat his antagonists at their own game, but it seems rather senseless to combat fire with fire in this instance. I would have preferred to see his cold logic (i.e. his lists of crimes that were NOT committed in the name of religion) throughout the entire book.
All in all, this is a good book and I would recommend it to most people. The prose is a bit dense at time (it is, after all, a philosophical work at heart) and the subject matter may anger die-hard atheists. If you can get past those two issues, go ahead and purchase this one.
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