Atheism: The Case Against God

389 Pages·2011·1.49 MB·English

by  George H. Smith

Table of Contents

THE SKEPTICS BOOKSHELF
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication
Introduction

PART ONE: - ATHEISM AND GOD

Chapter 1. - The Scope of Atheism

I - The Myths of Atheism
II - The Meaning of Atheism
III - Agnosticism
IV - The Varieties of Atheism
V - Jacques Maritain and the Slander of Atheism
VI - What Atheism Is Not
VII - The Significance of Atheism
VIII - Theism on the Defense

Chapter 2. - The Concept of God

I - The Meaning of “God”
II - Atheism and the Concept of God

Chapter 3. - The God of Christianity

I - An Escape from Agnosticism
II - Knowing the Christian God
III - God and Intelligibility
IV - God, Being and Existence
V - The Powers of God
VI - God and Goodness
VII - The Collapse Into Agnosticism
PART TWO: - REASON, FAITH AND REVELATION

Chapter 4. - Reason Versus Faith

I - Clarifying the Issue
II - The Attack on Reason
III - The Nature of the Conflict
IV - Rejoinders and Arguments
V - The Dilemma of Faith

Chapter 5. - The Skepticism of Faith

I - Spheres of Influence
II - Universal Skepticism
III - The Contextual Nature of Knowledge
IV - Skepticism and the Primacy of Faith
V - Skepticism and Sense Perception

Chapter 6. - The Varieties of Faith

I - The Bible, Faith and Misology
II - Faith as Authoritative Trust
III - Voluntarist Theories of Faith
IV - The End of Faith

Chapter 7. - Revelation

I - The Bible
II - Miracles

PART THREE: - THE ARGUMENTS FOR GOD

Chapter 8. - Natural Theology

I - The Final Appeal
II - The Conditions of Proof
III - “God” as an Explanatory Concept

Chapter 9. - The Cosmological Arguments

I - The First Cause Argument
II - The Sustaining First Cause
III - The Contingency Argument
IV - The Entropy Argument

Chapter 10. - The Design Arguments

I - The Teleological Argument
II - The Analogical Argument
III - The Argument from Life

PART FOUR: - GOD: THE PRACTICAL CONSEQUENCES

Chapter 11. - Ethics, Rationality, and Religion

I - Introduction
II - The Science of Ethics
III - Normative Ethics and Meta-ethics
IV - Rational Mortality

Chapter 12. - The Sins of Christianity

I - Religious Morality
II - The Conflicting Virtues
III - The Ethics of Jesus

Notes
Selected Reading List
Index
THE SKEPTICS BOOKSHELF

ATHEISM: THE CASE AGAINST GOD
George H. Smith

ANTHOLOGY OF ATHEISM AND RATIONALISM
edited by Gordon Stein

THE BEST OF ROBERT INGERSOLL
edited by Roger E. Greeley

CLASSICS OF FREE THOUGHT (REVISED EDITION)
edited by Paul Blanshard

CRITIQUES OF GOD
edited by Peter Angeles

WHAT ABOUT GODS? (for children)

Published in cooperation with
The American Rationalist

Published 1989 by Prometheus Books

Atheism: The Case against God. Copyright © 1979 by George H. Smith. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the
publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Inquiries should
be addressed to Prometheus Books, 59 John Glenn Drive, Amherst, New York 14228—2197, 716—691—
0133. FAX: 716—691—0137. WWW.PROMETHEUSBOOKS.COM

Library of Congress Catalog Number: 79-2726
ISBN 0—87975—124—X

Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
To Diane,
for the tender moments