The Dawkins Letters

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Author(s): David Robertson
Publisher: Christian Focus Publications
Price: $2.99       (Oct 2-3)

When Richard Dawkins published ‘The God Delusion’, David Robertson wanted there to be an intelligent Christian response. After some ill thought through interventions in the media it was obvious that no one was really going to answer the real issues so David Robertson wrote an open letter to Richard Dawkins on his church website. This has found its way into Richard Dawkins’ website, where it generated the largest response of any posting up to that time. Since then it has been the source of continued discussion – being a critical part of the largest discussion since that time as his book was officially reviewed on the website.
The ferocity of the responses and the shallowness of the thinking that it exhibited, spurred David to write this book. Christians need to know where Dawkins is weak and we need to explain things better! It draws upon David’s experience as a debater, letter writer, pastor and author.
This is a very honest book. It agrees with Dawkins where appropriate but also does not hesitate to point out where some of his thinking does not hold together – It is written in a gentle spirit of enquiry.

David Robertson is pastor of St Peter’s Free Church of Scotland, Dundee.

“The content is excellent. It’s a fun, engaging read that seeks to be as charitable as possible (with an obviously virulent opponent) while not shrinking back from pointing out and exposing the fallacious, emotional, and often-childish arguments constantly employed by Dawkins.”
Ligon Duncan ~ Senior Minister, First Presbyterian Church, Jackson, Mississippi

Note from the author: The poster, ‘richarddawkins.net’ (is this an official view?) accuses me of lying and gives the example of the quotes on the cover of the book having been made up. From a Christian perspective this accusation of lying by either myself or CFP is very serious. Lying for Jesus is obviously self contradictory and wrong. The example that the poster gives is just wrong. All the quotes came from the Dawkins website, were seen by many people, and I have copies of them all. However over 300 posts were removed from that particular thread – including many of my own posts and all the ones referred to in the book. Perhaps it was just a coincidence but whatever the case those quotes did exist. If the poster is writing on behalf of richarddawkins.net, they know this and therefore are themselves not telling the truth. It is not the first time that a lie is told in order to accuse others of lying. It is very strange that richarddawkins.net are so keen to accuse me of lying, it indicates a certain level of desperation. They are struggling to answer ‘The Dawkins Letters’ and so have to revert to attacking the author.
David Robertson ~ Pastor of St Peter’s Free Church of Scotland, Dundee

“The shortest, the cheapest and in some ways the sharpest book is The Dawkins Letters…clever, humourous and right to the point.”
Ron Ferguson, Life & Work, Church of Scotland magazine

“This book is a refreshing, excellent read…I wouldn’t hesitate to pass this book on to a non-Christian, atheistically-persuaded friend.”
Hannah Wooley, Evangelical Magazine, Evangelical Movement of Wales

This book is a more than useful contribution to the ‘Dawkins Debate’ and one which has helped me to understand more about the flawed arguments contained within ‘The God Delusion’. The book comprises a series of ten letters to Dawkins, the first of which was published on Dawkins’ own website, which counter the arguments in Dawkins’ book chapter by chapter. Robertson is clearly well-read and marshals his arguments in a balanced and intellectually sound way. But this is not an inaccessible academic treatise; he writes clearly and understandably in such a way that most people will be able to grasp the arguments easily. He avoids the temptation to ‘rubbish’ Dawkins, just dismantles and challenges his arguments frankly and cohesively. The final letter (to the reader) “Why Believe”, contains a very useful and exten