God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist
by Victor J. Stenger
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Book Summary Information
Author: Victor J. StengerForeword: Christopher Hitchens
Edition: Paperback
Published: 2008-04-08
ISBN: 1591026520
Number of pages: 310
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Book Reviews of God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist
Book Review: Proves the case!
Summary: 5 Stars
Most reviewers of Stenger's "God: The Failed Hypothesis" fail to recognize the unique contribution he has made to the logic of the debate. The methodology he uses is different from most of the arguments against God, and it is important to understand this, because his book is a major step forward on this topic. Stenger basically sets out to prove a negative. Although many light-thinking individuals think this is impossible, anyone who has studied high school geometry knows that there is a well-known approach to this challenge. It is the indirect proof, and it works like this: Assume the truth of the proposition you're arguing against. Show that certain consequences must follow if the proposition is true. Observe that those consequences do not or cannot possibly occur. Conclude, therefore, that the original assumption must be false.
So Stenger's approach is to assume the existence of a God (defined pretty much as the Christian one) and deduce what the implications of such an assumption would be in terms of what we would expect to observe in the world. Finding that those observations do not occur, Stenger concludes that there is no such thing as God. Anyone who wants to rebut Stenger's argument, needs to do so within the context of this methodology. Otherwise, you are just talking past each other. Valid rebuttals would be, for example, to challenge his reasoning as to what facts we should expect to observe given the assumption that a God exists. Or perhaps to show that those facts really do occur. But here's the real problem for the theists: You have to say that SOME facts would necessarily follow from the existence of a God and that the absence of those facts would prove God doesn't exist. If you don't admit this, then your concept of God is without meaning, because a proposition that cannot by any stretch of the imagination be falsified, does not say anything. The statement "God exists" cannot be true unless "God does not exist" is false, and there has to be some meaningful observable difference between these propositions in order for either of them to mean anything. However, most theists, especially the Christian ones, do not admit any circumstances at all under which we could reasonably conclude that there is no God. Thus, their concept of God is without meaning, and when they say "God exists," they really are saying nothing at all. Stenger's book is an admirable addition to the debate and succeeds in showing that the assumed hypothesis (i.e., that God exists) is refuted by observations in the real world.
But since many Christians seemingly cannot follow Stenger's argument, nor the arguments of other authors who have defended atheism as a philosophy, it is important for atheists to be able to debate the Christians on their own turf as well. For that reason, in addition to highly recommending Stenger's book, I would also recommend that atheists become familiar with critiques of the Bible, as many Christians find this type of criticism harder to ignore. Americans especially are much more attached to Jesus, than to "God." A good selection in the category of biblical criticism, and a recent one, is The Atheist's Introduction to the New Testament: How the Bible Undermines the Basic Teachings of Christianity by Mike Davis. Together, these two books will cover pretty much any debate you are likely to get into with Christian apologists.
Summary of God: The Failed Hypothesis. How Science Shows That God Does Not Exist
This edition includes a new Foreword by CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS, author of the #1 New York Times bestselling GOD IS NOT GREAT.In the paperback's afterword, Victor Stenger addresses criticisms of his New York Times bestselling first edition.
Throughout history, arguments for and against the existence of God have been largely confined to philosophy and theology. In the meantime, science has sat on the sidelines and quietly watched this game of words march up and down the field. Despite the fact that science has revolutionized every aspect of human life and greatly clarified our understanding of the world, somehow the notion has arisen that it has nothing to say about the possibility of a supreme being, which much of humanity worships as the source of all reality.
Physicist Victor J. Stenger contends that, if God exists, some evidence for this existence should be detectable by scientific means, especially considering the central role that God is alleged to play in the operation of the universe and the lives of humans. Treating the traditional God concept, as conventionally presented in the Judeo-Christian and Islamic traditions, like any other scientific hypothesis, Stenger examines all of the claims made for God's existence.
He considers the latest Intelligent Design arguments as evidence of God's influence in biology. He looks at human behavior for evidence of immaterial souls and the possible effects of prayer. He discusses the findings of physics and astronomy in weighing the suggestions that the universe is the work of a creator and that humans are God's special creation.
After evaluating all the scientific evidence, Stenger concludes that beyond a reasonable doubt the universe and life appear exactly as we might expect if there were no God.
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