The God Delusion

1. The God Delusion Engaging the worldview of : By: Dr. Richard Dawkins

2. Considerations As we read through the quotes from the book: • Set you personal feelings to the side for a moment and consider how reasonable it sounds to our children and those who don't have a relationship with Jesus. • Recognize that theses statements come from a worldview that resonates with the "generation x" and millennials in western society, because they were taught to think this way. • Consider how you would respond to the quote if someone asked you to address it right now.

3. — Psalm 14:1-2 (HCSB) The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.

4. Chapter - sections CHAPTER 2: THE GOD HYPOTHESIS • POLYTHEISM (pg. 32) • MONOTHEISM (pg. 37) • SECULARISM, THE FOUNDING FATHERS, AND THE RELIGION OF AMERICA (pg. 38) • THE POVERTY OF AGNOSTICISM (pg. 46) • NOMA (pg. 54) • THE GREAT PRAYER EXPERIMENT (pg. 61) • THE NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN SCHOOL OF EVOLUTIONISTS (pg. 66) • LITTLE GREEN MEN (pg. 69)

5. “I am not attacking the particular qualities of Yahweh, or Jesus, or Allah, or any other specific god such as Baal, Zeus or Wotan.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 31

6. The GOD HYPOTHESIS “there exists a superhuman, supernatural intelligence who deliberately designed and created the universe and everything in it, including us.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 31

7. The alternative view “This book will advocate an alternative view: any creative intelligence, of sufficient complexity to design anything, comes into existence only as the end product of an extended process of gradual evolution.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 31

8. polytheism

9. “Historians of religion recognize a progression from primitive tribal animisms, through polytheisms such as those of the Greeks, Romans and Norsemen, to monotheisms such as Judaism and its derivatives, Christianity and Islam.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 31

10. The God hypothesis polytheism Dawkins views religion as something that has evolved along with humanity. In general terms he sees religion forming along the lines of: • Tribal/Primitive Animism • Greek/Roman/Norse Polytheism • Western Monotheism

11. The God hypothesis polytheism The Judeo/Christian worldview can reference the Bible to clarify and form an alternative timeline for the development of religion: • Original monotheism from creation until the fall of man. • Corruption of monotheism to the point of Noah’s Flood. • Monotheism is reasserted after the flood through Noah. • Nimrod and Semiramis usher in Paganism at the Tower of Babel. • Paganism spreads over the entire Earth and evolved into today’s many varieties of religion (pantheism, polytheism, the Occult, etc.). • Monotheism is reintroduced through Abraham and lives on in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

12. “I decry supernaturalism in all its forms, and the most effective way to proceed will be to concentrate on the form most likely to be familiar to my readers— the form that impinges most threateningly on all our societies…all of which trace themselves back to the mythological patriarch Abraham, and it will be convenient to keep this family of traditions in mind throughout the rest of the book.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 36

13. The God hypothesis polytheism By focusing on the Abrahamic religions Dawkins is forming an excellent framework for criticizing all supernatural religions. • When he wishes to show the exclusivity he focuses on Judaism and their national/cultural exclusivity. • When he wishes to show religion and violence he focuses on Islam and its radicalized elements. • When he wishes to criticize in-fighting and hypocrisy he focuses on Christianity.

14. monotheism

15. “During the Roman occupation of Palestine, Christianity was founded by Paul of Tarsus as a less ruthlessly monotheistic sect of Judaism and a less exclusive one, which looked outwards from the Jews to the rest of the world. Several centuries later, Muhammad and his followers reverted to the uncompromising monotheism of the Jewish original, but not its exclusiveness, and founded Islam upon a new holy book, the Koran or Qur’an, adding a powerful ideology of military conquest to spread the faith... — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 37

16. ...Christianity, too, was spread by the sword, wielded first by Roman hands after the Emperor Constantine raised it from eccentric cult to official religion, then by the Crusaders, and later by the conquistadores and other European invaders and colonists, with missionary accompaniment.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 37

17. “For most of my purposes, all three Abrahamic religions can be treated as indistinguishable. Unless otherwise stated, I shall have Christianity mostly in mind, but only because it is the version with which I happen to be most familiar.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 37

18. The God hypothesis Monotheism We see how Dawkins lays out his view of the evolutionary timeline of animistic to polytheistic, to monotheistic religion. He then focuses on monotheistic religions by laying out negative aspects of all three. • His analysis of monotheistic religions includes no positive points. He is only focused on those people and ideas that were negative and harmful. • In other places in the book he compares and contrasts the Abrahamic religions, but here he chooses to define them as “indistinguishable” from each other.

19. SECULARISM, THE FOUNDING FATHERS, AND THE RELIGION OF AMERICA

20. “It is conventional to assume that the Founding Fathers of the American Republic were deists. No doubt many of them were, although it has been argued that the greatest of them might have been atheists. Certainly their writings on religion in their own time leave me in no doubt that most of them would have been atheists in ours.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 39

21. The God hypothesis The Founding Fathers Dawkins may be completely correct that many of the Founding Fathers would be atheists today. Many people of faith make an issue out of the individual beliefs of the creators of this country. Regardless of their personal beliefs, the thing to note is they recognized the benefit and necessity of faith and free practice of religion within the context of our society. It is ultimately the social benefits of the freedom of religion that Dawkins denies.

22. “Yet another hypothesis is that the religiosity of America stems paradoxically from the secularism of its constitution. Precisely because America is legally secular, religion has become free enterprise. Rival churches compete for congregations— not least for the fat tithes that they bring— and the competition is waged with all the aggressive hard-sell techniques of the marketplace.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 40-41

23. The God hypothesis The secular church Dawkins identifies and criticizes what today we would call “The Church Growth Movement”. • This moment focuses on the idea that specific methods can be used to assist the church in growing its attendance. • Church population is a critical aspect in assessing the success or failure of these churches. Take note that no one is criticizing the actual size of a church, only the methods, metrics, and attitude of the church. Commonly associated words would be: new-paradigm, seeker-sensitive, market/purpose-driven, or (possibly) emergent church.

24. THE POVERTY OF AGNOSTICISM

25. The God hypothesis Dawkins’ two forms of agnosticism Temporary Agnosticism in Practice (TAP): • “There is a truth out there and one day we hope to know it, though for the moment we don’t.” • The realm of science, education, and honest seeking. Permanent Agnosticism in Principle (PAP): • “The PAP style of agnosticism is appropriate for questions that can never be answered, no matter how much evidence we gather, because the very idea of evidence is not applicable.” • Philosophical questions, metaphysics, and (for some) questions about God.

26. The God hypothesis agnosticism and god Most would place the subject of God in the PAP category and claim that God is simply beyond the ability of science to measure. • The fundamental assumption is that God is supernatural and beyond the scope of science, since science is limited to the natural world. Dawkins argues that questions of God belong in the TAP category. • “Either he exists or he doesn’t. It is a scientific question; one day we may know the answer, and meanwhile we can say something pretty strong about the probability.” • Dawkins believes it is within mankind’s ability to either prove or disprove the existence of God scientifically.

27. “I have found it an amusing strategy, when asked whether I am an atheist, to point out that the questioner is also an atheist when considering Zeus, Apollo, Amon Ra, Mithras, Baal, Thor, Wotan, the Golden Calf and the Flying Spaghetti Monster. I just go one god further.” — Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 53

28. The God hypothesis the poverty of agnosticism Like most people, Dawkins has a general dislike of agnosticism that takes the form of disinterest or avoidance. None of us would reasonably consider ourselves agnostic about the existence of The Flying Spaghetti Monster. All parties would agree that agnosticism is a poor substitute for making an effort to determine your stance on God’s existence. The previous quote is an example of a “Hasty Generalization”. He implies that God is in the same category as the deities listed. If that were actually the case there would have been no point in authoring the book.

29. NOMA NON-OVerlapping Magisteria

30. “The net, or magisterium, of science covers the empirical realm: what is the universe made of (fact) and why does it work this way (theory). The magisterium of religion extends over questions of ultimate meaning and moral value. These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry…” — Dr. Stephen Jay Gould quoted by Dr. Richard Dawkins, The God Delusion, pg. 55

31. A deeply religious non-believer NOMA Dawkins believes that NOMA is not acceptable because it causes science to be subservient to religion. People of faith tend to find NOMA unappealing since it puts science on an even level with the creator. NOMA seems to be a concession to allow opposing worldviews to create a “live and let live” atmosphere. NOMA does nothing to help resolve the unanswered questions.

32. CONCLUSION

33. the god hypothesis conclusion Dr. Dawkins provides us with “The God Hypothesis”. • The essence of the argument is that there is no God because there is no supernatural. • Therefore, religion is purely man-made and used to provide personal, social, and political benefits. • He believes those benefits may have once been useful but today cause more human suffering than anything.

34. the god hypothesis conclusion Dawkins lays out his version of the evolution of religion from basic animism to a power hungry control system today. He points out that the western world identifies as Christian but is essentially secular. He reviews the deficiency of agnosticism and unsatisfactory nature of the concept of NOMA. Dawkins never seriously considers that there may be a supernatural realm that exists outside of nature. He never seriously considers the possibility of a creator God who wishes to have a personal relationship with him.

35. — Psalm 14:1-2 (HCSB) The fool says in his heart, “God does not exist.” They are corrupt; they do vile deeds. There is no one who does good. The Lord looks down from heaven on the human race to see if there is one who is wise, one who seeks God.