The Atheist Who Didn't Exist: Or the dreadful consequences of bad arguments

by Andy Bannister, Ravi Zacharias (Foreword by)

Overview

In the last decade, atheism has leapt from obscurity to the front pages: producing best-selling books, making movies, and plastering adverts on the side of buses. There's 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. 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:	9780857216106
Publisher:	SPCK (Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge)
Publication date:	07/24/2015
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Andy Bannister is the Canadian director of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. Based in Toronto, Andy speaks frequently across Canada, the United States, and Europe, in settings ranging from universities to business forums to churches. Before joining RZIM, he had a background in youth work and earned a PhD in Qur’anic Studies.

Table of Contents

Foreward Ravi Zacharias 11

Chapter 1 The Loch Ness Monster's Moustache (or: The Terrible Consequences of Bad Arguments) 13

Chapter 2 The Scandinavian Sceptic (or: Why Atheism Really is a Belief System) 30

Chapter 3 The Aardvark in the Artichokes (or: Why Not All Gods are the Same) 47

Chapter 4 The Santa Delusion (or: Why Faith in God Does Not Mean You're Insane) 66

Chapter 5 Aim for That Haystack! (or: Why Psychological Arguments Against Religion Fail) 82

Chapter 6 Sven and the Art of Refrigerator Maintenance (or: Why Religion Doesn't Poison Everything) 98

Chapter 7 The Lunatic in the Louvre (or: Why Science Cannot Explain the Entirety of Reality) 118

Chapter 8 Humpty Dumpty and the Vegan (or: Why We Really Do Need God to Be Good) 140

Chapter 9 The Peculiar Case of the Postmodern Penguin (or: Why Life Without God is Meaningless) 164

Chapter 10 The Panini Poisoner of Pimlico (or: Why Everybody Has Faith) 187

Chapter 11 The Reluctant Eunuch (or: Why We Really Can Know a Lot About Jesus) 209

Acknowledgments 234

Text Credits 237

Editorial Reviews

This is a remarkable and timely book. Apologetics has to mature and evolve into the 21st century and this intelligent, funny and elegant work is precisely what we are looking for.

Michael Coren

In a brilliant work that is as humorous as it is damaging to atheist arguments, Bannister demonstrates the consequences of implementing new atheist arguments into real life (that is, out of the realm of stuffy office speculations). His work is a wild ride that takes the reader from stories to theory to end game. Writing with eloquence and imagination, he illustrates the supposed ‘safe ground’ of new atheist thought as truly no ground at all.

Mary Jo Sharp

Every atheist vs. believer debate I’ve been to has made me want to gouge out my eyes with a spoon. Bannister’s book, however, is exactly what this skeptical believer needed.

Drew Marshall

"This is a must-read. Recommend this book to high school and campus ministry leaders, pastors, higher education faculty, and Ravi Zacharias fans."

CBA Retailers+Resources

Andy Bannister provides a set of powerful and accessible arguments that can be used by ordinary people in responding to the tsunami of atheist sound bites flooding public discourse in the West. His tongue-in-cheek humor gives a certain lightness which does not in any way undermine the rigor and force of the book’s arguments. This is not a negative study—though atheism is certainly taken to the cleaners—but it is also profoundly positive in presenting compelling arguments for the central claims of Christianity.

Dr. Peter Riddell

Andy Bannister’s book is a breath, a gust, a positive whoosh of fresh air. Made me laugh, made me think, made me cry. The words bounce across the page. A sane Christian! Whatever next?

Adrian Plass

"This is a must-read. Recommend this book to high school and campus ministry leaders, pastors, higher education faculty, and Ravi Zacharias fans."-- "CBA Retailers+Resources" (7/15/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Andy Bannister provides a set of powerful and accessible arguments that can be used by ordinary people in responding to the tsunami of atheist sound bites flooding public discourse in the West. His tongue-in-cheek humor gives a certain lightness which does not in any way undermine the rigor and force of the book's arguments. This is not a negative study--though atheism is certainly taken to the cleaners--but it is also profoundly positive in presenting compelling arguments for the central claims of Christianity."--Dr. Peter Riddell, Professorial Research Associate, SOAS, University of London (8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Andy Bannister's book is a breath, a gust, a positive whoosh of fresh air. Made me laugh, made me think, made me cry. The words bounce across the page. A sane Christian! Whatever next?"--Adrian Plass (8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Every atheist vs. believer debate I've been to has made me want to gouge out my eyes with a spoon. Bannister's book, however, is exactly what this skeptical believer needed."--Drew Marshall, radio host (8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"In a brilliant work that is as humorous as it is damaging to atheist arguments, Bannister demonstrates the consequences of implementing new atheist arguments into real life (that is, out of the realm of stuffy office speculations). His work is a wild ride that takes the reader from stories to theory to end game. Writing with eloquence and imagination, he illustrates the supposed 'safe ground' of new atheist thought as truly no ground at all."--Mary Jo Sharp, Houston Baptist University (8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"This is a remarkable and timely book. Apologetics has to mature and evolve into the 21st century and this intelligent, funny and elegant work is precisely what we are looking for."--Michael Coren, broadcaster, author and journalist (8/26/2015 12:00:00 AM)

From the Publisher