Why God Won’t Go Away, by Alister McGrath, is an essential resource to anyone desiring a respectful Christian analysis of and response to the new atheism. This book is a practical and accessible handbook to understanding, engaging and responding to the writings of men like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett. McGrath helps the reader understand where the new atheism came from, and significantly, helps to differentiate it from what one might call ‘traditional’ atheism. The three core themes of the new atheism are examined and the book concludes with a thoughtful and reasonable response to the new atheism from a Christian perspective.
This book is especially useful in showing not just the differences between atheism and Christianity, but the contrasts that exist between the more traditional and respectful atheism and the new, belligerent atheism marketed by the four authors referred to above. In this respect, this book may do as much good for atheists as it does for Christians. What makes this book so valuable is that McGrath goes beyond a simplistic ‘here’s why they are wrong and I am right’ attack. Instead he identifies the issues that undergird the questions both sides are facing and helps the reader see through the heated rhetoric to the important issues that are in play when discussing the existence of God.
I strongly recommend this book to anyone, Christian, atheist or whatever else to read this book!