William Lane Craig, Reasonable Faith
Craig is concerned that secularists, in the aftermath of 9/11 terrorist attacks by Muslim jihadists, have become aggressive in denouncing religious belief in general. He never misses a chance to point out the dangers of secularism or to poke fun at the rational inconsistencies of secular skeptics like Richard Dawkins and others on, for example, topics like Intelligent Design. He charges that the well-known atheistic scientist often ridicules but never refutes Christian arguments for theism. Again, Craig almost gleefully exposes the inconsistencies of skepticism’s greatest thinkers, such as Nietzsche and Sartre, who wished to reject moral absolutes and their witness to God even while they spoke and acted as moralists in rejecting, for example, the anti-Semitism which at its root denies human dignity and value. Again and again Reasonable Faith argues that Christianity is consistent with a rational worldview, and that atheism and agnosticism are often embraced under quite irrational terms.
As stated above, Craig freely confesses that he is writing for Christian theism. Nevertheless, the majority of the book’s arguments could be construed simply as a case for theism in general. In other words, much of it would be just as applicable for Judaism or Islam as for Christianity. The most notable exception is the section on Jesus’ self-understanding and resurrection. The chapter on “How do I know Christianity is true?” also stands out as distinctively Christian. This overlap is quite understandable and not at all problematic since these are all theistic, and even monotheistic, faiths which would necessarily share a similar rationale. It is quite natural that theism in its various forms would join forces against atheism in all its forms. However, the book would perhaps have had a bit more of an honest ring to it if the shared intellectual turf had been humbly and openly confessed.
Reasonable Faith covers heavy material but is written in comparably clear language. When the material gets too technical, personal examples help too, as do line drawn figures. Footnotes are kept to a minimum, but Cited or Recommended Readings at each chapter’s end and an Index are helpful aids for researchers. Reasonable Faith should be an eminently useful text for seminarians and perhaps university philosophy students and teachers.
Reviewed by Tony Richie
Preview Reasonable Faith: books.google.com/books?id=DZ8XzHSJpd4C
Category: In Depth, Pneuma Review, Summer 2012
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