Alister Mcgrath

Alister McGrath

Alister McGrath (born 23 January 1953) is a Northern Irish biologist and Christian apologist. He is a Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University. He was a previous head of Wycliffe Hall, one of Oxford's religious Permanent Private Halls.

McGrath, a former atheist, is one of the world's leading critics of Richard Dawkins. He published a critique of Dawkins' book The God Delusion titled The Dawkins Delusion?. Another book of McGrath's is called The Twilight of Atheism, which chronicles the fluctuation of atheism throughout history. McGrath's book The Future of Atheism: Alister McGrath and Daniel Dennett in Dialogue features a cordial dialogue between Alister McGrath and the atheist Daniel Dennett. In 2013, McGrath's biography on the Christian intellectual C.S. Lewis was published.

McGrath has also publicly debated Richard Dawkins as well as other well-known atheist intellectuals, including Stephen Law, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens.

Alister McGrath's book The Twilight of Atheism[edit]

McGrath is one of the world's leading critics of Richard Dawkins. He published a critique of Dawkins' book The God Delusion titled The Dawkins Delusion?. Another book of McGrath's is called The Twilight of Atheism, which chronicles the fluctuation of atheism throughout history. He has also publicly debated Richard Dawkins as well as other well-known atheist intellectuals, including Stephen Law, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens.

Atheist philosopher John Gray's review of The Twilight of Atheism[edit]

See also: Atheist apologetics

John Gray is an English political philosopher and author who focuses in the areas of analytic philosophy and the history of ideas. Gray retired as School Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Gray is an atheist who is critical of New Atheism.^[1]

John Gray in The Independent said "The decline of secular thought is the subject of Alister McGrath's provocative and timely The Twilight of Atheism. (...) His aim is not so much to analyse atheism as demolish its intellectual credentials, and in this he is largely successful."^[2]

The National Review's review of The Twilight of Atheism[edit]

The National Review wrote in their review of The Twilight of Atheism: "I wish that McGrath had entertained the possibility that atheism, while undoubtedly in philosophical and demographic twilight, may yet be experiencing a new dawn: a terrifying new alliance with money and power, of a kind even Marx could not have foreseen."^[3]

Philosopher Julian Baggini's review of The Twilight of Atheism[edit]

Julian Baggini is a British philosopher. He is also an author of several books about philosophy written for the general public. He is co-founder of The Philosophers' Magazine.

Baggini indicated that "A book like Alister McGrath’s The Twilight of Atheism no longer looks perversely contrarian, but a fair reflection of social reality".^[4]

References[edit]

1. ↑ John Gray interview: how an English academic become the world’s pre-eminent prophet of doom, The Telegraph, By John Preston, 6:30AM GMT 28 Feb 2013
2. ↑ quoted in Summary of reviews - see also summaries of reviews in several other publications
3. ↑ National Review v. 56 no. 17 (September 13, 2004) p. 51-2. Allen, Charlotte
4. ↑ Julian Baggini The Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Secularism in Public Policy Research Volume 12 Issue 4 Page 204 - Dec 2005 - Feb 2006