Brown - The God Conclusion: Why Smart People Still Believe

~

WHILE I CONTEMPLATED WRITING THIS book I began to pose serious questions to my family and friends. My questions centered on their belief or disbelief in God. I wanted to know why they believed and in some cases, why not. I was eager to learn how they handled the primary arguments of modern atheism. Frankly some of them were a bit puzzled by my interest in such personal details.

Through my years of agnosticism and atheism I embraced some of these atheist arguments like, well, gospel truth. They directly shaped how I interpreted the God question. Only through coming to believe in God did I begin to see them in a more critical light. It turns out that they were not as advertised. Despite repeated claims to the contrary made in bestselling books and by zealous atheist foot soldiers online, no argument for atheism is what philosophers call a knock-down argument, an argument with a conclusion which clearly follows from sound and sufficient premises. None is even close. Upon careful and prolonged reconsideration, I found that many atheist arguments are less about truth and logic, and are more a reflection of the lens through which their proponents choose to see the world. More often than not, that lens is shaped and colored by profound emotions which typically go unrecognized. In time I realized that the only way for me to make sense of the arguments for and against God, was to first better understand my own lensincluding the emotional baggage I never before thought I carried.

Here I intend to present reasonable and rational ways to reconcile competing claims of truth. In fact, I explain how theism is a sound inference to be drawn from what we know today. I look at the best and most common arguments for atheism and explain how, with a better understanding of ones own lens of interpretation, they dissolve under scrutiny. In fact, some atheist arguments not only lose their force, but even transform into reasons to believe in God.

Many of the most common atheist claims simply do not withstand the scrutiny which these same cynics apply to faith and belief in the God of the Bible. Some of their claims can be technically accurate, but wildly misleading. For example, is it true that the most intelligent people in the world are atheists? After all, leading atheists never seem to miss an opportunity to say so. If this is true, why? What does that mean? Ultimately shouldnt we just defer to the smartest and wisest among us? These are just a few of the claims and questions which have a substantial influence on those who think about the God question. They demand our attention. I intend to carefully examine each.

My intended reader is someone who cares or who wonders about the God question. I write to those who struggle to express the reasoning for their belief. Whats more I write to those in transition. Some once believed but, due in part to atheist arguments they find compelling, are gradually letting go of their faith. Conversely others may be gently nudged toward belief through life experience but are troubled by those very arguments. These people would believe were it not for this or that philosophical or scientific objection. I am convinced that all of them genuinely want to know the truth. There is just so much conflicting information to overwhelm and derail even the most sincere efforts.

If I am successful the readers I have described will have navigated through many of the arguments pro and con and will have discarded those without merit. They will be left with more sound reasoning. Naturally, the analysis and opinions are mine. But of course if they are sound, they will stand on their own.

In the chapters to come I explore what I believe are compelling answers to atheist challengesanswers and explanations I wish I had understood years ago. In short, I want to correct some of the false advertising that so confounded me. There are enough profound realities to consider that we have no need for the irrelevant and the misleading. With these things clarified, it is my hope that the genuine seeker of truth will be better equipped to find his way.