Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2244 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-16
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 348 pages

From the Inside Flap
Is Christianity obsolete? Can an intelligent, educated person really believe the Bible? Or do the atheists have it right? Has Christianity been disproven by science, debunked as a force for good, and discredited as a guide to morality?

Bestselling author Dinesh D'Souza (What's So Great About America) looks at Christianity with a questioning eye, but treats atheists with equal skepticism. The result is a book that will challenge the assumptions of both believers and doubters and affirm that there really is, indeed, something great about Christianity. D'Souza reveals:

*Why Christianity explains what modern science tells us about the universe and our origins--that matter was created out of nothing, that light preceded the sun--better than atheism does
*How Christianity created the framework for modern science, so that Christianity and science are not irreconcilable, but science and atheism might be
*Why the alleged sins of Christianity--the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Galileo affair ("an atheist's fable")--are vastly overblown
*Why atheist regimes are responsible for the greatest mass murders of history
*Why evolution does not threaten Christian belief, but actually supports the "argument from design"
*Why atheists fear the Big Bang theory and the "anthropic principle" of the universe, which are keystones of modern astronomy and physics
*How Christianity explains consciousness and free will, which atheists have to deny
*Why ultimately you can't have Western civilization--and all we value from it--without the Christianity that gave it birth.

Provocative, enlightening, a twenty-first-century successor to C. S. Lewis' Mere Christianity, Dinesh D'Souza's What's So Great About Christianity is the perfect book for the seeker, the skeptic, and the believer who wants to defend his faith.

About the Author
Dinesh D'Souza, a former White House domestic policy analyst, is currently the Rishwain Research Scholar at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. He is the bestselling author of What's So Great About America, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, and many other books. He can be reached by e-mail at DineshJDSouza@aol.com.

Customer Reviews

A Solid Apologetic with Minor Flaws

I recently picked up a copy of What's So Great about Christianity (2007), by Dinesh D'Souza, and was pleasantly surprised at what I found. Although D'Souza's background is primarily in domestic policy, he has established himself as a significant apologist with the release of this recent book. In fact, What's So Great about Christianity is one of the most eloquent, researched and forceful responses to the recent barrage of anti-Christian books by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and the like. While there are a few points of which I would disagree with D'Souza, his book is overwhelmingly an excellent and timely read.
Even though these "new atheists" are making waves in the public arena like never before, D'Souza is convinced that atheism is on its way out. One of the most important developments of our time, according to D'Souza, is the global revival of religion. One of the reasons some atheists are making so much noise is because they are losing ground--hence, the renewed effort by atheists to explain away religion as a byproduct of evolution. Harvard's Stephen Pinker, for example, has suggested that evolution gave us a "God module" in the brain which predisposes people to believe in the Almighty. It may serve no purpose, says Pinker, as it may have evolved as a byproduct of other modules with evolutionary value. In simple terms, this means there is no evolutionary explanation. D'Souza asks a pointed question: "If a `God module' produces belief in God, how about a `Darwin module' that produces belief in evolution?" (15)
D'Souza points out that many of the "new atheists" are not content in merely expressing their ideas--they want to take your children with them: "The atheist strategy can be described in this way: let the religious people breed them, and we will educate them to despise their parents' beliefs" (31). Defenders of the new atheism are quick to assert that they are not trying to inoculate kids, but merely stand up for science. But D'Souza points out that the wide majority of students are scientifically illiterate in all aspects of science. So, why isn't there a movement to teach photosynthesis, Boyle's law, or Einstein's theories, as there is for evolution? To D'Souza, the answer is simple: "This is why we have Darwinism but not Keplerism; we encounter Darwinists but no one describes himself as an Einsteinian. Darwinism has become an ideology" (32).
Much of What's So Great about Christianity is an explanation of the positive aspects Christianity has brought to the world, and in particular, Western culture. Despite incessant claims in the media that religion is harmful, D'Souza powerfully defends the overwhelmingly positive legacy Christianity has had on the world. Consider a few points he brings out.
1. Secular values are the products of Christianity, even if they have been severed from their original source. The separation of the realms of church and state has always been central to Christianity. In Matthew 22:21 Jesus said, "Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and to God that which is God's." This is not the result of the Enlightenment.
2. Christianity made family life far more important than it ever was in the past.
3. Christianity shifted the focus from the rich and powerful to the common man.
4. Christendom developed a new notion of romantic love.
5. Christianity introduced consent as the prerequisite for marriage.
6. Christianity introduced a new model of influence: servant leadership.
7. Christianity brought a powerful emphasis on compassion.
8. Christians built the first hospitals.
9. The modern concept of freedom has been inherited from Christianity.
10. Christians were the first group in history to begin an anti-slavery movement.
11. Finally, Christianity brought true equality for all human beings, because of the doctrine of being made in the image of God. This laid the basis for all modern doctrines of human rights.

Christianity and Science
One of the reasons the "new atheists" are so confident is because they believe science is on their side. But with tremendous recent advances in our knowledge of the complexity and diversity of life, nothing could be further from the truth. It is also ironic that modern science is an invention of medieval Christianity. The greatest breakthroughs in scientific history have largely been at the hands of Christians. Atheistic scientists work under Christian assumptions (namely, that we live in a rational universe that operates according to laws which are understandable to the human mind), even if they deny them. D'Souza asks, "So where did Western man get this faith in a unified, ordered, and accessible universe? How did we go from chaos to cosmos? My answer, in a word, is Christianity" (93). Some of the leading scientists have been Christians: Copernicus, Kepler, Newton, Boyle, Galileo, Pascal, Mendel, Pasteur, and more.
In the middle chapters of the book, D'Souza makes a powerful case for design in the universe. He points to the beginning of the universe as compelling evidence for a creator: "In stunning confirmation of the book of Genesis, modern scientists have discovered that the universe was created in a primordial explosion of energy and light" (116). Even Einstein tried to avoid this conclusion because he knew that a beginning of the universe strongly implied a beginner. Amazingly, the Bible stands alone as the only ancient document positing an absolute beginning. What the Bible has held to be true for a few millennia now has powerful scientific support.
D'Souza also points to the failure of naturalism to account for the fine-tuning of the universe as well as the origin of life. In fact, says D'Souza, these are problems for which naturalistic scientists are not even remotely close to solving. All explanations, such as the multiverse, are plagued with problems. Even biologist Franklin Harold admitted that the origin of life is one of the "unsolved mysteries of life" (147). The reason many atheists reject design in the universe is not for lack of evidence, but because of their pre-commitment to naturalism. Steven Pinker puts his cards on the table: "Because there are no alternatives, we would almost have to accept natural selection as the explanation of life on this planet even if there were no evidence for it" (160).

Responding to Common Criticisms against Christianity
Prominent atheists commonly object that Christianity has caused incredible bloodshed in the world. D'Souza makes a few key points in response. First, the crimes committed by religious fanatics pale in comparison to those committed by atheistic fanatics. In the 20th century alone, atheistic regimes were responsible for over 100 million deaths. Even if we compensate for higher population levels, the violence caused by Christian rulers over a 500 year period amounts to only 1 percent of the deaths caused by Stalin, Hitler, and Mao in just a few decades. Furthermore, atheism is intrinsic rather than incidental to their ideology. Some people have done some horrible things in the name of Christ, but clearly these actions go against his teachings. In other words, they were acting in spite of their convictions, whereas it can be argued that atheistic regimes, says D'Souza, acted consistently with their beliefs.

Point of Disagreement
One key point of which I disagree with D'Souza is his take on faith. He sees beliefs such as life after death and the existence of heaven as mere acts of faith, impossible to verify. Rather than being knowledge claims, he sees them as faith claims. In his view, faith takes over when knowledge ends. Thus, he defines faith as, "a statement of trust in what we do not know for sure" (195). While I agree that faith does not necessarily mean certainty, the Christian tradition is one of knowledge. Faith should more properly be understood as being built on knowledge. The disciples had faith in the God of the Bible, and they also believed that they could know it to be true. As J.P. Moreland points out in his recent book The Kingdom Triangle, the word "knowledge" appears far more often in the Bible than "faith." In fact, one in every four verses in the book of 1 John has the word, "know."
There actually can be evidence for life after death, despite D'Souza's claim that it is merely faith. In Beyond Death, Gary Habermas and J.P. Moreland trace how there is scientific evidence for the continued existence of consciousness after physical death. And there can be evidence for heaven as well. Before his death, Jesus said that he was going to prepare a place for his followers in heaven (John 14:2-3). Any evidence, therefore, for the resurrection of Jesus counts in favor of the reality of heaven. These are minor points of disagreement, though. D'Souza is to be commended for a first-rate defense of the Christian faith. I highly recommend his book. And I hope this is the first of many to come.

overreaching
The author claims too much for Jerusalem and grants too little to Athens and Rome in the creation of Western Civilization, which to him is exclusively 'Judeo-Christian' civilization.

D'Souza claims Christian origins for: limited government, human rights, the US government, and the scientific revolution.

Since limited government was invented by the Greeks and adapted by the Romans before Christ, this is hubris.

D'Souza claims that Christians invented religious tolerance. Never mind that there were dozens of religions coexisting in Rome and that Cyrus the Great exemplified religious tolerance in 500 BC.

He references the Gospel of John's story that the universe was created through the Logos or divine reason, and claims that this lead to the expectation that the universe's working could be intelligible and so encouraged science. Never mind that the writer of the 4th Gospel was framing his theology in Platonic terms for the benefit of his Greek audience. The 'Christian' idea of Jesus as the Logos is just a recycled Greek idea.

Closer to our own time, D'Souza quotes Washington and Adams to the effect that you can't have a Democracy without religion to keep us in line. He of course, avoids Madison and Jefferson. He makes the claim that the idea of human equality is Christian, even if the national documents make no explicit reference to Christianity, and Adams explicitly denied an explicit link.

He makes the usual claims that atheists are immoral, that atheism was responsible for the crimes of both the Communists and the Nazis.

The Communists killed to further their economic goals; atheism was incidental to their ideology. Even if it had been central, it would not follow that all atheists are Communists. Lack of belief does not make you a Marxist.

It is also complete nonsense to call the Nazi's atheists, since atheists were among the first groups sent to concentration camps, the Nazi SS had 'God is With Us' on their belt buckles, Hitler was elected with the support of the Catholics. Whether Hitler was a 'good Catholic' or not, the Nazis saw themselves as defending Europe from godless Commmunism, which is why they had the support of the Vatican early on.

D'Souza accepts the theory of evolution, but bolsters his scientific support for theism with the usual gaps in scientific explanation: the big bang, the origin of life, the origin of consciousness. Even if you reach for a supernatural explanation, at best these are claims for Deism, Christianity in particular does not follow from this.

In the latter part of the book, D'Souza details Christianity and makes a pitch to the reader to accept it.

D'Souza illustrates to me why Christians remain an existential threat to non-believers: They are fanatics who claim that history begins with them, that Western Civilization is synonymous with Judeo-Christianity and cannot exist without their religion in a privileged position, that our form of government is based upon Christian ideas (whatever the founders say to the contrary), that non-religious people are not moral, and that non-belief leads to ideologies that lead to the commission of mass murder.

Essentially, D'Souza excludes you from full citizenship in your country or even identification with Western Civilization, claiming it as exclusively the province and product of his religion, and slanders you as at best amoral if not evil.

What's not to like?

Great Book
D'Souza makes a great the case for the existence of God, while simultaneously tearing apart many of the common atheist arguments presented in other books. Not only does D'Souza make a clear and well researched case for the existence of God from the philosophically side of things, but he also uses plenty of historical and scientific examples to prove his point. These examples are also used to sweep away the perception that atheists are somehow smarter and more sophisticated than the believers out there.

Through these historical examples D'Souza also demonstrates the many positive contributions that Christianity has made throughout history. He goes rights after the usual group of leftist myths that populate history textbooks and classrooms around the world. He debunks the so called "Dark Ages" and shows them in their true light as a time of innovation, science, economic growth, the end of slavery, and other positive accomplishments. Furthermore, over a span of three chapters D'Souza demonstrates how religion has been very supportive of science and not a hindrance to its development as you are taught in school with the leftist version of the Galileo affair. Additionally, the book clearly shows that overwhelmingly the greatest minds that have ever lived have been believers.
Moreover D'Souza shows that the crimes of the Crusades, the witch hunts, and the Inquisition are grossly exaggerated and in many cases had nothing to with the Church or religion persecution. These crimes are always played up by those of the left and these terms have unfortunately made their way into everyday language. D'Souza nicely counters these false claims with the fact that the atheist left leaning regimes of the last two hundred years are in fact the ones who have committed the greatest crimes in human history. In terms of numbers, the crimes of atheist and anti-Christian regimes like the French Revolutionary government, Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, and other leftists far dwarf anything that has been done in the name of Christianity.

In closing as a strong believer, an engineer, and a history guy this book could not have made for a better read.