The Atheist Who Didn't Exist (Tenth Anniversary Edition): Or the dreadful consequences of bad arguments

by Andy Bannister

Overview

Is atheism as logical as it claims? Does Christianity offer anything to rational people?

During the early Twenty-First Century, atheism leapt from relative obscurity to the front pages: producing best-selling books, making movies, and plastering adverts on the side of buses. There is an energy and a confidence to contemporary atheism: many people now assume that a godless scepticism is the default position, indeed the only position for anybody wishing to appear educated, contemporary, and urbane. Atheism is hip, religion is boring. Yet when one pokes at popular atheism, many of the arguments used to prop it up quickly unravel.

Now updated and revised, and with new 2 new additional chapters, The Atheist Who Didn't Exist is designed to expose some of the loose threads on the cardigan of atheism, tug a little, and see what happens. Blending humour with serious thought, Andy Bannister helps the reader question everything, assume nothing and, above all, recognise lazy scepticism and bad arguments. Be an atheist by all means: but do be a thought-through one.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781789745238
Publisher:	IVP
Publication date:	07/17/2025
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272

About the Author

Dr. Andy Bannister is the Director of the Solas Centre for Public Christianity, speaking and teaching regularly throughout the UK, Europe, Canada, the USA, and the wider world. From universities to churches, business forums to TV and radio, he regularly addresses audiences of both Christians and those of all faiths and none on issues relating to faith, culture, politics and society.

Table of Contents

Preface from the author

1. Sawing Off the Branch You're Sat On
(or: Is Atheism Self-Defeating?)

2 The Loch Ness Monster's Moustache
(or: The Terrible Consequences of Bad Arguments)

3. The Scandinavian Sceptic
(or: Why Atheism Really is a Belief System)

4. The Aardvark in the Artichokes
(or: Why Not All Gods are the Same)

5. The Santa Delusion
(or: Why Faith in God Does Not Mean You're Insane)

6. Aim for That Haystack!
(or: Why Psychological Arguments Against Religion Fail)

7. Sven and the Art of Refrigerator Maintenance
(or: Why Religion Doesn't Poison Everything)

8. The Lunatic in the Louvre
(or: Why Science Cannot Explain the Entirety of Reality)

9. Humpty Dumpty and the Vegan
(or: Why We Really Do Need God to Be Good)

10. The Peculiar Case of the Postmodern Penguin
(or: Why Life Without God is Meaningless)

11. The Panini Poisoner of Pimlico
(or: Why Everybody Has Faith)

12. The Reluctant Eunuch
(or: Why We Really Can Know a Lot About Jesus)

13. What next?: What if I have more questions?

Acknowledgments
Text Credits