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The Devil’s Delusion A Discussion Guide

The devil 's Delusion A Discussion Guide This Discussion Guide is designed to facilitate the use of David Ber- linski's book The devil 's Delusion : Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions in small groups, adult Sunday School classes, adult education semi- nars, and book Discussion clubs. The Guide contains brief summaries of each chapter followed by Discussion questions for that chapter. Permission is hereby granted to distribute and reproduce this Guide in whole or in part for non-commercial educational use, provided that: (1) the original source is credited, and any copies display the web address for Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture (www.)

12 / The Devil’s Delusion, A Discussion Guide (b) Do you think this concern is fair or valid? Why or why not? (c) In your view, do statements by “new atheist” authors Dawkins,

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Transcription of The Devil’s Delusion A Discussion Guide

1 The devil 's Delusion A Discussion Guide This Discussion Guide is designed to facilitate the use of David Ber- linski's book The devil 's Delusion : Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions in small groups, adult Sunday School classes, adult education semi- nars, and book Discussion clubs. The Guide contains brief summaries of each chapter followed by Discussion questions for that chapter. Permission is hereby granted to distribute and reproduce this Guide in whole or in part for non-commercial educational use, provided that: (1) the original source is credited, and any copies display the web address for Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture (www.)

2 Or ( org); and (2) the copies are distributed free of charge. John and Sonja West, October 2009. The devil 's Delusion A Discussion Guide by John and Sonja West Seattle Discovery Institute Press 2009. Description This is a group Discussion Guide for David Berlinski's book The devil 's Delusion : Atheism and Its Scientific Pretensions. Copyright Notice Copyright 2009 by John and Sonja West. All Rights Reserved. Permission is hereby granted to distribute and reproduce this Guide in whole or in part for non-commercial educational use, provided that: (1) the original source is credited, and any copies display the web address for Discovery Institute's Center for Science and Culture ( ) or (www.)

3 ; and (2) the copies are distributed free of charge. Library Cataloging Data The devil 's Delusion , A Discussion Guide by John and Sonja West 47 pages, 6 x 9 inches, 229 x 152 mm. BISAC Subject: REL067030 RELIGION/Christian Theology/Apologetics BISAC Subject: REL004000 RELIGION/Atheism BISAC Subject: SCI080000 SCIENCE/Essays ISBN-13: 978-0-9790141-5-4 ISBN-10: 0-9790141-5-8 (paperback). Publisher Information Discovery Institute Press, Discovery Institute, 208 Columbia St., Seattle, WA. 98104. Internet: http://www. Published in the United States of America on acid-free paper. First Edition, First Printing. October 2009.

4 Contents Preface 7. Chapter 1. No Gods Before Me 9. Chapter 2. Nights of Doubt 11. Chapter 3. Horses Do Not Fly 17. Chapter 4. The Cause 21. Chapter 5. The Reason 25. Chapter 6. A Put-Up Job 27. Chapter 7. A Curious Proof that God Does Not Exist 31. Chapter 8. Our Inner Ape, a Darling, and the Human Mind 33. Chapter 9. Miracles in our Time 37. Chapter 10. The Cardinal and His Cathedral 43. Preface 1. Atheist writer Sam Harris says that his strongest critics are Chris- tians who are intolerant of criticism. How does Berlinski respond to this claim? 2. Why did Berlinski write his book? 3. For whom did Berlinski write his book?

5 Personal Notes on the Preface 8 / T he De v il's Delusion , A Disc ussion Guide Chapter 1. No Gods Before Me Chapter Summary: In the past, most scientists described religion as a separate realm from science that science could neither endorse nor disprove. The contemporary rise of militant atheism is an attempt by atheists to claim that science and religion are in conflict, and that sci- ence proves that religion is false. They demand that science be recog- nized as the one system of belief that explains everything and therefore demands unqualified allegiance. 1. How has the stance of scientists toward religion changed in recent years according to Berlinski?

6 2. Berlinski quotes evolutionary biologist Massimo Pigliucci stating that science is a much more humble enterprise than any religion or other ideology.. (a) Does Berlinski agree? Why or why not? (b) Who do you think is right? Why? 10 / T he De v il's Delusion , A Disc ussion Guide Personal Notes on Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Nights of Doubt Chapter Summary: Religious conviction plays an important role in human life. Atheists claim that religion produces evil and that secular- ism is making society better and better. The evidence doesn't support that. The twentieth century has an extensive record of brutal secular regimes.

7 Even atheists don't try to claim that Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao or Pol Pot were religious leaders. Without God everything is per- mitted. And no one is willing to live with that. 1. Berlinski notes that ancient Arabs made major advances in our un- derstanding of astronomy. (a)What motivated these advances in astronomy? (b) How does this example help answer the claim that if scientists have religious motives for their work, then their scientific discover- ies and ideas are unscientific or illegitimate? 2. Abu Hamid Muhammad Al-Ghaz li (1058-1111) is one of Islam's most influential philosophers. (a) According to Berlinksi, what concern did Al-Ghaz li express about science?

8 12 / T he De v il's Delusion , A Disc ussion Guide (b) Do you think this concern is fair or valid? Why or why not? (c) In your view, do statements by new atheist authors Dawkins, Hitchens, and Avalos on sexuality confirm or undercut the con- cern expressed by Al-Ghaz li? Why? 3. According to Berlinski, [f]or scientists persuaded that there is no God, there is no finer pleasure than resounting the history of reli- gious brutality and persecution.. (a) How would you respond to the argument that religion is bad because it has produced a large amount of suffering and evil in hu- man history? (b) According to Berlinski, how does the experience of the twenti- eth century provide a counter-argument to those who blame reli- gion for most of the world's evils?

9 4. Fyodor Dostoyevsky's 1881 novel, The Brothers Karamazov probes deeply into issues such as sin and free will. (a) What warning was issued in The Brothers Karamazov? (b) How does Berlinski think this warning applies today? Chapter 2 Nights of D oubt / 13. (c) Do you agree or disagree? Why? 5. Evolutionary psychologist Steven Pinker has claimed that some- thing in modernity and its cultural institutions has made us no- bler and that [o]n the scale of decades, comprehensive data . paint a shockingly happy picture.. (a)What is his evidence? (b) How does Berlinski respond to Pinker's claim? (c) Who do you think has the better argument?

10 Why? 6. Berlinski asks, Does something in the very nature of a secular so- ciety make the monstrous possible? . (a) How would you answer this question? (b) What is Belrinski's response to this question, and how convinc- ing do you find it? 14 / T he De v il's Delusion , A Disc ussion Guide 7. According to Berlinski, [o]ne might think that in the dark panora- ma of wickedness, the Holocaust would above all other events give the scientific atheist pause.. (a) Why? 8. According to historian Richard Weikart, how did science biol- ogy in particular feed the ideology of the Nazis? 9. (a) According to new atheist Sam Harris, who is to blame for Hit- ler's genocide of the Jews?


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