50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

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50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God

3.93 of 5 stars 3.93 · rating details · 527 ratings · 56 reviews

For skeptics looking for appealing ways to approach their believing friends or believers who are not afraid to consider a skeptical challenge, this book makes for very stimulating reading. Many books that challenge religious belief from a skeptical point of view take a combative tone that is almost guaranteed to alienate believers or they present complex philosophical or s...more

Paperback, 354 pages

Published April 30th 2008 by Prometheus Books

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Oct 26, 2008 Kaylee rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: athiests, secular humanists, agnostics

Recommended to Kaylee by: Point of Inquiry podcast

When I heard the author (Guy Harrison) interviewed on the Point of Inquiry podcast, he felt that the main audience for the book is believers. Frankly, I think he's deluding himself. People (religious and nonreligious alike) generally read books that confirm their beliefs, not books seeking to dissuade them. I just don't see a religious person reading this book through unless he/she wanted to refute it. Perhaps it would be read by a believer who is starting to doubt his/her religion.

That said, i...more When I heard the author (Guy Harrison) interviewed on the Point of Inquiry podcast, he felt that the main audience for the book is believers. Frankly, I think he's deluding himself. People (religious and nonreligious alike) generally read books that confirm their beliefs, not books seeking to dissuade them. I just don't see a religious person reading this book through unless he/she wanted to refute it. Perhaps it would be read by a believer who is starting to doubt his/her religion.

That said, it's a remarkable book. Guy Harrison is correct IMO that most books for atheists are too militant. 50 Reasons offers a softer, conversational approach. It's a nice manual for athiests and secular humanists to use in conversation with their religious friends and family members. Points raised in this book can be used to encourage believers to think critically about their religion. Chapter 20 in particular ("Athiests are jerks who think they know everything") really gets at how to dialogue best with believers. Harrison suggests questioning the believer rather than badgering them with arguments.

Harrison systematically and gently exposes the logical fallacy behind each reason for believing in a god. He offers tons of useful arguments for the athiest or secular humanist to use when discussing religion with believers. The nice thing is, the arguments aren't necessarily argumentative. An athiest and believer could enjoy a nice meal together while discussing any of these reasons.

I sincerely hope that this books gets into wide circulation among athiests, secular humanists, and the skeptical community at large. It's very useful and will open many more minds than The God Delusion ever could.

The book is consisely organized with one chapter per reason, a brief introduction and no afterward. A bibliography and recommended reading list follow each reason. The language is for the layperson and very easy to read.

Edited to add: As I read more of the 50 Reasons, it seems like a lot of the atheist's comebacks revolve around the multiplicity of religions. How do you know which holy book is true? Must be none of them. How do you rectify a Christian who has heard words directly from Jesus and a Muslim who has heard Allah speak to him? Both experiences can't be real. And so it goes. A good argument, but don't expect a new and different comeback for each of the 50 Reasons that Harrison lists. (less)

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Aug 20, 2012 Jimyip rated it 4 of 5 stars

It does give me some insight of the lack of consistency of believer dealing with their religion and other religion (as well as atheism). This book also give a good summary of why usually atheist fails to persuade believers to rethink their religion (let alone abandon it), and I can see the author understands pretty well what makes believers stink to their belief is not logic or evidence, but emotion and attachment. The book also warns us not think non-believers are any smarter or intelligent peo...more

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Aug 01, 2012 Tim Bergmann rated it 1 of 5 stars

Terrible logic in this book. Harrison really only brings up one actual point in his defense. That God is not scientifically provable. And he does this over 50 chapters.

He sets up straw man arguments so he can knock them down with this one point. The only thing he actually proves is that he doesn't have the first clue about what people believe and why they believe.

Add that in one chapter he brings out polls about different countries happiness level and another about belief in God or gods. And the...more

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Tim Bergmann TBH, I really don't have a definition of what I believe. I consider myself Christian but not a hardcore fundamentalist. In fact I can count on one han...more TBH, I really don't have a definition of what I believe. I consider myself Christian but not a hardcore fundamentalist. In fact I can count on one hand the times I've been to a church in the last 3 years, and never for such triteness as Christmas or Easter.

That said, my review of the book is based on...what I read...

The reason I have disagreement with him is that he presents the same arguements over and over. In essence, he could have written the book in about 10 words.

"If it's not scientifically provable, then I won't believe it."

Which is major reason I took exception to the chapter on happiness:

1) how does one really define happiness. It really is a broad ranging word and means different things to different people in different countries.
2) Using his own definition of the scientific method, his conclusion is extremely ill-thought and wouldn't even pass his own test, thus, at least to me means he doesn't even follow through on his own guidelines which, again, to me, is incredibly disingenuous.

Further, his chapter on prayer also shows he really doesn't understand prayer, or for that matter, faith. Even the newest Christian understands that prayer isn't about gimme, gimme, gimme, as he seems to describe. It's about a conversation with God, about focusing and centering yourself of the day to come. Or in other religons, meditation. So to say that people like Mother Teresa have essentially wasted half their life in prayer, is clearly someone who doesn't understand the issue.

To me also, regardless of what people consider, atheism is a way of life, it is a philosophy that governs the way you live and go about your day. Because regardless of how you slice it, what you believe to be true, whether God, or no god, or the scientific method, etc... it influences decisions you make on a daily basis.

And it might seem strange to say this, but the only people that I actually recommend it as a good read are Christians or maybe even Muslims who want to get a deeper understanding of their faith because in every chapter, for people who have faith, it's incredibly easy to the lack of logical thought in regards to faith through one who doesn't have the slightest inkling of what faith is really all about.(less)
Aug 07, 2012 12:31am

Tim Bergmann Last note, I probably will check out some of those works Leonardo. Currently though I'm reading The Greatest Show on Earth by Dawkins, and also the co...more
Aug 07, 2012 12:35am

Feb 18, 2012 Rob rated it 1 of 5 stars

Pathetic. This is as intellectually dishonest a book on the subject as I've ever read. If you are looking for arguments against the existence of God (or gods) skip this book. Go to Harris, Hitchens or Dawkins, where they at least acknowledge the difficulty of, and attempt to address, some of the arguments for God that Harrison dismisses.

In the introduction to the book, Harrison states "Out in the real world ... believers have little interest in convoluted arguments for gods that involve imagini...more

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Sep 30, 2010 John David rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

I read Harrison's book for an online book club some time ago, and found it to be, for the most part, exactly what I was expecting. Admittedly, I am a Christian (in an very, very heterodox, liberal sense), but I don't think that renders me a "biased" reader.

There's one major problem with Harrison's approach. He writes with a wrong-headed attitude - he expects to be convinced definitively one way or another of the existance of God with scientific evidence. Any intellectually honest Christian will...more

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Leonardo Well, I'm an atheist who has debated theists of all types. And in my experience the reasons Harrison lists are actually frequently given by the numeri...more Well, I'm an atheist who has debated theists of all types. And in my experience the reasons Harrison lists are actually frequently given by the numerical majority of believers, which are those who aren't apologists, proselytizers, and often didn't even read thoroughly their holy books, limiting themselves to some small passages, and who haven't really looked for more sophisticated answers to the difficulties regarding their faith.
As Harrison himself explains on the introduction:

[I] discovered that if you ask believers on the streets of Jerusalem, Cairo, Paris, Nairobi, New Delhi, Athens, Suva, New York City, and Port Moresby why they believe in their gods, the answers you hear are significantly different from the noise coming from theologians and religious philosophers. Most of the Christians I have encountered around the world, for example, don't give much thought to the works of St. Thomas Aquinas or C. S. Lewis. They will tell anyone who asks, however, that they believe Jesus is a real god because the Bible says so or because they feel his presence when they pray. Out in the real world I found that believers have little interest in convoluted arguments for gods that involve imagining perfection, irreducible complexity, or the laws of thermodynamics. Unlike professional creationists and apologists, most of the believers I talk with do not feel the need to cite long lists of questionable evidence to attempt to prove that their god is real. They "know" their gods are real because they have "faith" that they are. They believe because they think that they must in order to be a good person. They believe because the world is "perfect" or at least "beautiful." They believe in a god because it is the only way they have ever known.

In this sense I find this book refreshing and quite enjoy his conversational(instead of confrontational) style towards believers.

"Any intellectually honest Christian will admit to you that God is not something you reach by reasoning or logic"

In my experience numerically most believers haven't even made this kind of reflection, maybe because they aren't terribly invested in studying religion, or perhaps don't think there's even a need to philosophize about faith. You and Christians in your social circle might take an approach more sophisticated than the one I'm portraying, but in my experience things aren't as pretty out there.(less)
Aug 05, 2012 03:25pm

John David Leonardo, for many of the reasons you mentioned in your post, I've since begun to identify myself as an atheist. I thought that Christianity was nothi...more
updated Aug 09, 2012 12:33pm

Jan 23, 2010 Joey rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Good: Harrison makes non-theism very personal. He tries to be gentle, reach out to believers, and find common ground. For example, he points out that just as Christians are not afraid of Muslim hell or the Muslim apocalypse, atheists are not afraid of Christian hell or the Christian apocalypse. I particularly enjoyed Chapter 20, "Atheists are jerks who think they know everything." It was a welcome reproof of and invitation to nonbelievers to be more compassionate and understanding. He condem...more

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Jan 08, 2010 The Blind Reader rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion

The book has some good arguments but is eventually a chore to read and does not live up to it's goals.

I listened to Guy Harrison on the Point of Inquiry podcast and "50 reasons for believing" sounded like a good book to give a believer. But the book gradually gets too "in-your-face", in my opinion. Guy eventually makes it very clear that he's an atheist. Given the goals of the book, it would seem more appropriate to leave this unsaid. In fact, I judge the success of this book on how easily you c...more The book has some good arguments but is eventually a chore to read and does not live up to it's goals.

I listened to Guy Harrison on the Point of Inquiry podcast and "50 reasons for believing" sounded like a good book to give a believer. But the book gradually gets too "in-your-face", in my opinion. Guy eventually makes it very clear that he's an atheist. Given the goals of the book, it would seem more appropriate to leave this unsaid. In fact, I judge the success of this book on how easily you can guess the author's religion; if you're arguing wisely and gently enough, no one will know for sure.

Guy's arguments, while thought-provoking, can be poorly structured. Sometimes he let's the conclusion fly before he's justified the answer. For example, he starts to answer Better safe than sorry by saying: "...to play it safe by believing in a god may seem reasonable at first glance, but give a little thought and it quickly becomes clear that it makes no sense at all. First...". Then he goes on to argue; but starts by assuring you that it's nonsense! How about leading up to the idea that it's nonsense by making it clear with your argument? This is the wrong way to argue when you're making "friendly chat designed to do nothing more than stimulate critical thinking"

My other problem with the book is that Guy just rambles. So many points are made over and over that the book could have been 25 questions and been just as effective. Some sections could be rewritten using 200 words, where Guy uses 800 - without any loss of clarity. This overly-chatty writing style (some might claim it's "conversational") really gets on my nerves. It makes you want to slap someone "Yes, yes you said that like 100 times already, bla bla bla..."

Arguments are occasionally "saved" from tedium when Guy tells a story from experience - which usually provides a nice depth to the discussion. He should have made a goal to either tell an interesting story or keep it short.

My advice is don't give this book to a believer, you'll either bore them to tears or they'll be pulling their hair out before they finish a question. Cut out the unique answers and use them to fuel your own arguments.
(less)

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Oct 08, 2012 Ryan added it

Shelves: religion, non-fiction

This book is intended to be a reasonable and rational look at people's beliefs in god(s). Harrison does a pretty good job at covering the reasons people give when justifying their beliefs, but I found that there tended to be a lot of repetition throughout the book. This could be, in part, because lots of the reasons that people give for believing are not well thought out. Most people, which he brings to light, do not think critically about their own religion, therefore, this book, which I think...more

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Dec 19, 2010 Tucker rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: finished

The value of this book is its careful emphasis that arguments for God are really arguments in favor of a particular god. In this respect, Harrison takes a cue from Stephen Prothero and others who have pointed out the multiplicity of gods and their dissimilarities. Christians argue for Christ; Muslims argue for Allah; they obviously can't both be right, and it is quite possible that no gods whatsoever exist. It's a historically neglected approach that can immediately be put to good use demolishin...more The value of this book is its careful emphasis that arguments for God are really arguments in favor of a particular god. In this respect, Harrison takes a cue from Stephen Prothero and others who have pointed out the multiplicity of gods and their dissimilarities. Christians argue for Christ; Muslims argue for Allah; they obviously can't both be right, and it is quite possible that no gods whatsoever exist. It's a historically neglected approach that can immediately be put to good use demolishing arguments such as Pascal's Wager. Pascal's Wager is often criticized for its crass opportunism, but not enough for its failure to consider all possibilities. (You think, in siding with "God," that you've successfully cast your bets in favor of heaven and as insurance against hell? Well, what if you picked the wrong god?)

This asset is also a problem. I disagree that all arguments for God are really arguments in favor of a particular god. There is value in this approach, but it's possible to go overboard with it. I'm not convinced that theists in general really do engage in such strict denominationalism as to feel that they are praying to a specific god that excludes other people's definitions or understandings of God. What I have observed, in contrast, is that while theists may be ignorant of, skeptical of, or repulsed by religious practices that differ from their own, they generally respect the theism at the core of these alien practices. The theological details may be important, sometimes a matter of life and death, but there is still an underlying universal idea of God (as creator, judge, or "presence") to which theists occasionally refer without specifically referring to any particular god. Harrison acknowledges that neuroscientists have been able to stimulate "religious experiences" in laboratories, but he seems to assume--with no apparent justification--that believers are incapable of understanding the implication that "religious experience" is a universal capability of the human brain that transcends their personal religious lenses. In general, he seems to assume that one cannot acknowledge one's own religious particularities and simultaneously acknowledge that there might be an underlying truth shared with other people; instead, he seems to assume that one must cast off all theistic prejudice before being able to understand religious belief as a general category. I'm not sure that's correct. He treats believers and non-believers as monolithic groups with this overgeneralization: "Any given believer thinks most believers in the world today are worshipping an imaginary god while the atheist thinks they are all wasting their time." (p. 167)

Additionally, while he is aware that some people experience their god as a feeling or presence, he subsumes this under the reasons people give for believing in a god. Well, being in love with someone or some-deity is not a rational route to knowing them. In sticking to his logical turf, he misses the trans-logical nature of much religion. In at least one place he briefly acknowledges that debate isn't always the way to convert people to atheism, since "the believer who did not make a rational choice to believe is unlikely to make a rational choice to stop believing. There are other things at play here. There is feeling..." (p. 157) Where pays closer attention to this feeling, however, he seems to be scared off by it. Referring to a woman dancing and touching a stone that allegedly had been touched by Jesus, he commented that her rejection of "truth and reality" was "not beautiful". (p. 243) He misses that fiction can be be beautiful, all the more so when it is understood to be fiction. The willing suspension of disbelief is a beautiful experience in itself.

The author claims to have derived these "50 reasons people give for believing in a god" from conversations he's had with believers (as illustrated by his anecdotes from his own extensive travels), but the book would have better lived up to its title if he had let believers provide their reasoning in their own words. Since Harrison has digested the reasons and presents them with his own extensive commentary, a better title would have been "50 reasons I've been given for why I should believe in a god" or "50 reasons why I don't see any evidence for a god". I recognize a lot of these reasons from books about atheism, creationism, theodicy, and so forth. None of them are new enough to be individually mentioned here.

Furthermore, the 50 reasons weren't listed in any particular order, and Harrison often seemed to expand the scope of his rebuttals to connect to other points in the book, repeating himself in the process. The book could have been written much more tightly and knitted into a handful of arch-arguments. If I were to group the 50 reasons and slightly rephrase them, I'd come up with something like this:

MY GOD IS GREAT! His existence is obvious and no one's ever disproved him. He inspires people and changes lives. Religion is beautiful and unites people. Faith is good, makes me happy, and doesn't hurt me or anyone else. My religion makes the most sense. I feel my god when I pray. He's the only god who makes me feel significant and makes me feel like I'm part of something bigger than myself. He answers prayers and heals the sick. He created the universe and the human body and sacrificed his son for me. FACTS PROVE IT! The Earth must have been created because it is so beautiful and so perfectly equipped for life. My god has been proven by archaeology, a sacred book, miracles, ancient prophecies, divine justice, intelligent design, people who have crossed over into heaven and returned to tell about it, and the coming apocalypse. I'M AFRAID OF ALTERNATIVES! I'm afraid of losing my faith. Atheism and devil-worship are terrible alternatives. I want to go to heaven and I'm afraid of going to hell. I need my god to protect me, and it's safer to stick with him. Without religion and faith, no one would have a moral sense and society would fall apart. I DON'T LIKE THE ALTERNATIVES! Science can't explain everything and only offers the hideousness of evolutionary theory. I hate to think I'm related to monkeys. Atheism, in its ignorance, is just another religion, a sterile pessimism that fosters arrogance. JOIN THE CROWD! Belief is natural, so most people are religious. My religion is the right one: How could billions of people--some of them quite intelligent, and a few of them personally trustworthy to me--have been wrong about it for thousands of years?

My last criticism is simply that Harrison hasn't really succeeded in his goal of writing an atheist book that is respectful of believers. He avoids direct schoolyard insults but delivers sentences unflattering to believers, such as: "Many atheists tend to confront reality like grown-ups." (p. 323) With a staggering lack of irony, he writes, "'Faith head' sounds a lot like an insult. Okay, maybe some believers' heads are filled with too much of that intellectual poison called faith, but why call them 'faith heads'? It's counterproductive..." Someone should let him know that "intellectual poison" also sounds a lot like an insult and is counterproductive to dialogue.

A good deal of logic went into this book. Unfortunately, not enough holistic thought went into it that I feel comfortable sharing the book with my theist or atheist friends. The book reflects some of my personal beliefs and opinions, but not the approach by which I arrived at those opinions nor the way in which I care to make use of them.(less)

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Jan 06, 2011 Jane rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm about halfway through this book and have to say that I'm rather disappointed so far, I was looking forward to this because of Harrison's anthropology background, as well as his extensive experience gained from travelling around the world. I had expected a better understanding of the different reasons people throughout the world give for their belief in god(s) given from a cultural anthropological perspective, instead, Harrison lists a reason (primarily as the chapter title) and then gives a...more

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Jul 10, 2010 Bevans rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

This is the book I wish everybody on the planet would read. Or at least my friends and family.

The best thing about this book is that it conveys the reasoning behind atheism without being even remotely condescending toward believers. It wasn't written to convert people, or prove who's right and who's wrong. It's just trying to inform.

Not only does the book inform you about atheism and, being a book with a "western world" mindset, Christianity, but it also delves into many other world religions, s...more

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Feb 15, 2010 Lynda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: religion, read-in-2010

Guy P. Harrison has had conversations about religion with people from all geographic locations and walks of life. He's talked with Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Muslims and Animists, to name a few. He began to notice that these many people from various religions all had something in common; their reasons for believing in their god. Even though they all believed in different gods, their reasons for believing were the same. Intriguing, no? His book examines the 50 most common reasons that people...more

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Feb 24, 2010 Melanie rated it 2 of 5 stars

It wasn't really what I was looking for. I had hoped to gain insight into why people believe in gods but this book is not that. It goes through 50 reasons people give for believing in gods and then explains to them why those reasons really aren't valid. As it turns out, many of the reasons, and therefore many of the explanations, are quite similar to each other. And it is quite possible that the reasons people say they believe in gods are not the real reasons they actually believe in them. For e...more

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Aug 28, 2012 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is definitely a valuable book that represents the general religious population's reasons for believing that there is a God. The author critically examines each of these reasons to show why they are not good reasons to believe in the existence of God. While I really enjoyed this book I can't help but feel that religions, particularly the monotheistic ones, aren't very good with giving sufficient reasons. Most of them are based on intuition, conventional wisdom, emotions, and "tribe-loyalty"....more

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Jun 24, 2011 Jorge rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: atheism-religion

I have read many books over the years on the topic of atheism and this was my favorite book. The book reads like a great conversation with a friend that you have known for years. Guy Harrison gets it! He presents fifty reasons why people believe and provides clear, concise points to debunk them. I enjoyed the book from cover to cover. It's the first book I use as reference to make cogent arguments against my theist friends. It's an easy book to reference and it's laid out in an easy to follow ma...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Silenttiffy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Enttäuschend. Im Vorwort beteuert der Autor, die Gläubigen selbst zu Wort kommen lassen zu wollen. Respektvoll wolle er sich mit Religion auseinandersetzen, nicht mit aggressivem Atheismus angreifen wie Richard Dawkins & Co. Was dann aber folgt, hat nichts mit diesen Behauptungen zu tun. Es werden einfach verschiedene Argumente der Gläubigen vorgestellt, die schon auf den ersten Blick "dumm" wirken und mit den üblichen Methoden der Logik auseinander genommen werden. Gääähn. Für Leute, die si...more

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Oct 22, 2010 Steve rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: scepticism

This is the atheism book many have been waiting for! Much as I admire the vigour and meticulous logic of Dawkins, Hitchens and co, much as I share their frustration that religion has for too long been too elevated from challenge, I have to concede one criticism: their books will most likely appear off-putting to 'the average believer'. Despite the laudable aim of encouraging people to think critically for themselves, a combative tone (scoffing at 'faith heads' and 'failed fundamentalists') ultim...more This is the atheism book many have been waiting for! Much as I admire the vigour and meticulous logic of Dawkins, Hitchens and co, much as I share their frustration that religion has for too long been too elevated from challenge, I have to concede one criticism: their books will most likely appear off-putting to 'the average believer'. Despite the laudable aim of encouraging people to think critically for themselves, a combative tone (scoffing at 'faith heads' and 'failed fundamentalists') ultimately blunts their power to convince. Essentially these are books for atheists, or people halfway there. They are not really books for the average believer.

This book is different. Unashamedly polite (but not nauseatingly so) and shorn of the convoluted scientific and philosophical terminology that can sometimes alienate more than it can enlighten, '50 reasons' succeeds in making a courteous yet thoroughly convincing case against religious belief. Harrison understands that if you are serious about wanting to convince a believer, then you absolutely cannot afford to neglect the task of connecting with them. People often forget that religious faith has pay-offs beyond the simple matter of truth. Merely hitting them over the head with reason and ridicule is doomed to fail.

Taking the form of short (6-8 page) answers to the 50 common reasons for believing in a god, each counter-argument is concise yet thorough. The reasons are well-chosen, and will be familiar to those of us who have ever debated religion - from the authenticity of scripture, to the question of how so many people can possibly be wrong about something for so long. Interestingly, Harrison also includes several less commonly heard reasons ("I am afraid of not believing" ... "Someone I trust told me that my god is real") which go some way to showing that his interest lies more broadly in offering fellow humans a hand up from irrational beliefs rather than just point-scoring and winning arguments.

Splitting the book into 50 digestible chapters makes each argument easy to pinpoint and turns the book into a valuable resource. However it is the tone that really marks this book out from the rest: sharp, effective reasoning delivered with a clear, conversational style. He bends over backwards to be respectful, but never so far that he becomes intellectually dishonest. This is no in-depth philsophical examination, but it is by far the most appropriate atheism book I've come across for recommending to a believer. Worth reading for the atheist too, not only as a well-organised resource, but also as an example of a different - and potentially more productive - approach to debating with believers. (less)

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May 10, 2011 Caroline rated it 3 of 5 stars

So - this is basically an atheist trying to play nice with believers on the theory that you get more flies with honey. It's pretty well written and most of it is slightly less obnoxious than, say, me. But truthfully, he also gets into some trouble with lines like: "If more atheists would stop trying to win arguments and concentrate instead on offering their fellow humans a hand up from irrational beliefs, we might actually achieve..."

The best audience for this book would be believers trying to...more

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May 02, 2011 Charles rated it 3 of 5 stars

I was having a back and forth (more backward that forward)with another reviewer of this book on Goodreads who criticized the author for not addressing the more nuanced "intellectual" theologies of his pet favorites. To which I replied:

As to why Harrison doesn't specifically said theologians, you are well aware, I think, that this book was intended for more mass consumption.

"Well, that about sums it up. No serious thought, no intellectual vigor, no careful consideration. It was written for athei...more

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Apr 26, 2012 Kit Fry rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: atheists

Shelves: philosophy-religion

I quickly purchased this book after sampling the sample through Amazon. Then I read some goodreads reviews and started to get concerned that it wasn't going to be worth the price. Some say the arguments are repetitive.

I found the discuss wasn't repetitive, so much as he pulls from the same core fundamental premises, though there weren’t an incredibly small number of key points. I found value in nearly every question and answer analysis he provided. 'Why believe in this god over all the others yo...more

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Jan 29, 2012 Daniel rated it 4 of 5 stars

First, I should probably say that I enjoyed the book. The following are a few criticisms, but I'm still glad I read it.

I don't want to spend much time on this, since others have covered this more thoroughly, but his explanations do tend to get repetitive and several of his "reasons" are variations on the same thing. If, for instance, a person rejects the notion that "because everyone else can be (and most people are) wrong about the religion they subscribe to, I could also be wrong", then many...more First, I should probably say that I enjoyed the book. The following are a few criticisms, but I'm still glad I read it.

I don't want to spend much time on this, since others have covered this more thoroughly, but his explanations do tend to get repetitive and several of his "reasons" are variations on the same thing. If, for instance, a person rejects the notion that "because everyone else can be (and most people are) wrong about the religion they subscribe to, I could also be wrong", then many of his arguments fall away. In my experience, the cognitive dissonance required to reject that concept is perfectly common and once it's there, many of the arguments in the book simply lose any ability to get through to someone.

My greater issue with this book has to do with tone. While I understand what he is trying to do, I don't think it comes across the way he intends. At least, it doesn't come across that way to me. People are fond of criticizing the so-called "New Atheists" for being too harsh or too mean in their approach and that may be true, but at least it's honest. It treats people as if they are adults who are perfectly capable of defending their point of view.

The approach that Harrison takes, the "be nice about it" approach, may seem to offer a gentler, more reasonable alternative, but it comes across as entirely too patronizing for my taste. It reads like a man patting people on the head and saying "There, there. Just because the beliefs you hold most dear are stupid, it doesn't mean YOU'RE stupid." The effect of this is to infantilize people. It treats them as if they were either foolish children or else morons.

The direct approach may not pull punches, but at least it treats everyone as if they are expected, as adults, to be able to justify their position or surrender it.

Besides, when it comes to virtually every believer I've had contact with (and there have been a great many having been raised in the Bible Belt), it makes no difference. The religious folks I have known would not put this book into a different category from, say, Christopher Hitchens, even if he is nicer/patronizing about it. It has no greater chance of getting through to them just because he goes so far out of his way to pretend that he's not challenging their most basic beliefs. There are no brownie points to be had.

Then again, who knows what approach will work in the case of any one individual out there.(less)

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Dec 26, 2008 Dale rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

Religious belief is almost incomprehensible to those of us who do not believe. Guy Harrison has spent a lot of time talking to people around the world about their beliefs, and the reasons they give for those beliefs. The reasons are familiar: 'our holy book says god exists', 'god answers my prayers', 'I need something bigger than myself to make sense of the world', 'morality derives from god', and on and on.

Harrison is an atheist. He seems quite tolerant and understanding of religious belief, an...more

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Jun 08, 2009 Bob rated it 4 of 5 stars

Harrison makes some great points that I hadn't before considered. He does a good job of explaining the ridiculousness of religion with examples but I would have liked a little more "meat" to his points. He has traveled extensively and immersed himself in multiple religious settings...if only believers would travel and open themselves to reason in the same manner...

"I trusted, I believed, I thought, and now I don't believe."

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May 27, 2012 Steve Losh rated it 5 of 5 stars

If you want to join the intellectual circlejerking of "I'm so much smarter than those silly theists" (and who doesn't occasionally?) go read something by Dawkins instead.

If you want a real-world, practical, helpful, nicely-toned explanation of the arguments for atheism, pick up this book.

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Jan 06, 2009 Jason Logsdon rated it 4 of 5 stars

I thought this book did a good job at not completely demeaning a believer for his/her beliefs, and tried (I'm not sure how successful) to at least make believers understand a little bit about why so many non-believers cannot simply "buy-into" what they're selling.

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Mar 22, 2011 Shay rated it 5 of 5 stars

I love the approach Harrison takes to discuss the reasons people give for believing in god. He doesn't come across as an arrogant atheist, but a compassionate fellow human being. I plan to buy a copy of this book (I originally borrowed it from the library) so that I have it ready when someone wants to discuss their belief in god with me.

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Feb 08, 2009 Jared rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: liberal-christianity-unitarianism

I liked this book, but the author does not get into many specific, detailed counter arguments. It is more of a general philosophical defense. Also, everything is stated in terms of religion generally so his arguments are not restricted at all to Christianity.

I would suggest God is Not Great by Christopher Hitchens as a better tome with more empirical evidence presented.

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Aug 12, 2011 Tony added it

A good summary of the reasons given for belief, and rebuttals thereto. Harrison mostly keeps a neutral tone, though he slips from time to time, and sounds scolding. Even at his least neutral, though, he's much, much less harsh than Dawkins et al.

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Nov 11, 2011 John Gordon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: free-thought

Fifty chapters, each titled with a reason people give for believing in God. Guy Harrison debunks each "reason" in turn with calm logic and respectful discussion. A book which you can pick up and read a chapter from time to time, it would get a little repetitive just plowing through from cover to cover. The author is very careful not to offend anybody so this is perhaps a book where a believer may be able to stomach a few chapters (unless discussion, logic and reason are of themselves offensive)....more

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Feb 04, 2011 Denise rated it 5 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this book. Easy yet powerful and short chapters give clear reasons for debate. It was redundant at times, but never so much as to change my opinion of the overall text.

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About Guy P. Harrison

I write about many things but my primary focus is on science and skepticism. I believe that our world could be a little better - and a lot less crazy - if more people simply understood how science works and appreciated the protective value of skeptical thinking in everyday life.

I've held numerous positions in the news industry, including editorial writer, world news editor, sports editor, photogra...more

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“It fascinates me that believers have made faith in a god's existence into an admired and respected concept. Some people brag endlessly about their great faith in a god, never once considering that giving up on their mind's ability to weigh evidence and analyze arguments may not be such a good thing. I cannot imagine how it can ever be right to default to faith when considering an unusual claim.” — 2 people liked it

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