Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19573 in Books
• Published on: 2008-04-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 310 pages

Review
"I learned an enormous amount from this splendid book." -- Richard Dawkins, Author of the New York Times bestseller The God Delusion

"Extremely tough and impressive...a great book...a huge addition to the arsenal of argument." -- Christopher Hitchens, Author of the New York Times bestseller God Is Not Great

"Marshalling converging arguments from physics, astronomy, biology, and philosophy, Stenger has delivered a masterful blow in defense of reason. God: The Failed Hypothesis is a potent, readable, and well-timed assault upon religious delusion. It should be widely read." -- Sam Harris, Author of the New York Times bestsellers, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation

About the Author
Victor Stenger (Lafayette, CO) is adjunct professor of philosophy at the University of Colorado and professor emeritus of physics and astronomy at the University of Hawaii. He is the author of Has Science Found God?, The Comprehensible Cosmos, Timeless Reality, The Unconscious Quantum, Physics and Psychics, and Not by Design.

Customer Reviews

Relief
Believers will not be swayed by this book of rational arguments, of course, because they are not interested in separating history from mythology when it comes to their beliefs. Their faith is blind faith and most will defend it to the death, usually someone else'. So this book is not for them. But the few rest of us will find great comfort in this book. You are not crazy to disbelieve in the unprovable despite the enormous pressure to do so. You are rational, sane and the only real hope for the future.

Best of its kind
Although it is rather presumptuous of me to say this, I believe that Stenger's book is THE BEST OF THE LOT of recent books poo-pooing God. I read the Stenger book in its entirety, and just loved it, even though I am something of a "lapsed atheist" or whatever. I found his discussions thorough, entertaining, and illuminating. I have read extensive excerpts from and reviews of the other books, and none of them tempted me. This one did. I'm glad I succumbed to the temptation. It's a great read.

A Pantheist's take on this book

As my title indicates I'm a Scientific Pantheist & have been for roughly 10 years although I didn't know the term for what I am until reading Paul Harrison's work a few years ago. I grew up in a family where my mother's side were Pentecostal & my father's were Later Day Saints, so from an early age I knew something was wrong because both groups had very different beliefs, yet each claimed the same god. As a teenager I joined a General Baptist church, because I thought it was a saner creed (no scary talking in tongues or belief in Joseph Smith's bad hieroglyph translations). Later when I was in university I spent a summer abroad in China & that opened my mind, because suddenly I had to reconcile the fact that the vast majority of the human population were not Christian in any way shape fashion or form. How could an all-loving & all-knowing god make such an oversight when it would effectively damn billions of souls to hell for nothing they personally had a choice about? I've read the Bible, Book of Mormon, Tao Te Ching as well as the works of Spinoza all of which put me down the path to where I am today, but this book kind of sealed the deal. It didn't make me an atheist, but it certainly made me uderstand where they are coming from. I found God: TFH to be very good at doing what it had set out to do, which was explaining why the Judeo-Christian-Islamic god doesn't exist. It doesn't 100% rule out the creator god of the deists (but it makes him/her/it seem kind of unimportant) nor does it rule out the universe as god concept that I accept, but it definitely gives some food for thought. I found his arguments to be well-written & easily understood. Those who enjoyed this book would probably also like Dawkins, E O Wilson or even Thomas Paine.