Gunning for God Editor, January 26, 2016March 30, 2020 John Lennox, Gunning for God: Why the New Atheists are Missing the Target (Oxford: Lion Hudson, 2011), Pbk. 248 pp. Gunning for God: Why The New Atheists are Missing The Target is a written follow up by Dr. John Lennox to the public debates he has engaged in with the New Atheists namely Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Dan Dennet and Christopher Hitchens. Lennox responds to several vehement attacks the New Atheists make claiming that Christianity is a belief without evidence, in direct opposition to the advancements in scientific inquiry and is immoral to the core. Just like darkness is recognized as the absence of light, so to religion is the absence of reason for the New Atheists. It is fitting that John Lennox points out that Dan Dennet refers to himself and his New Atheist colleagues as “brights.” (p. 15) The New atheists pull no punches in their quest to eradicate religion in all aspects. Gunning for God is an example of the Classical Apologetic method. He considers the scientific and philosophical evidence for God’s existence before proceeding to the arguments for the resurrection. This is, therefore, a survey of several apologetical themes. The New Atheists believe their worldview is the default position of thinking people. (p. 15) Lennox proves this assertion is completely false pointing to the fact that he is personally a committed Christian and is also professor who has earned 3 earned doctorates in Mathematics, Science and Philosophy. Lennox rejects the definition the New Atheists have for faith as being unjustified belief. He rather defines is at as a response in the form of trust based on the evidence not the absence of it. (p. 42) The New Atheists assert that a world without evil is a world without religion. (p. 59) The New Atheists commit the fallacy of hasty generalization. They fail to recognize the atrocities done in the name of Atheism over the 20th century. (p. 87) The New Atheists are convinced that evolution explains the existence of ethical values. (p. 98) The world is governed by unguided, blind forces and therefore highly deterministic. (p.99) Lennox responds, saying that if one is to subscribe to evolutionary ethics, he must not hold leaders of mass genocides accountable for they are merely “dancing to their DNA.” (p. 112) The New Atheists also fail to recognize that if life has no supreme justice after death, then men like the terrorists on 9/11 will never pay for their actions. (p. 136) The New Atheists are not shy in their disgust for the God of the Old Testament for ordering genocides of civilizations that opposed Israel. (p. 118) The New Atheists do not take into account the evil that the nations were living by; lifestyles that they, ironically, would take up arms against. (p. 128) The command Joshua obeyed to “utterly destroy” was to take a decisive strike against the wicked tribes. (p. 129) History records that some lives were spared during Israel’s conquest. Therefore, God did not order a genocide and no such event occurred. Lennox turns to the topic of miracles. Suppose I leave $100 in my car overnight only to return and find it missing, I do not conclude that the laws of arithmetic have been broken but rather the laws of Canada have as someone has stolen my money. This example proves that laws will effectively predict outcomes but human agency can override or influence them. The same holds true for God and the universe. (p. 175) God’s involvement is what Lennox calls miracles. The New Atheists all agree that a bodily resurrection has never occurred because that would be a supernatural phenomenon and therefore a miracle. (p. 169) Having proven that miracles are possible, Lennox assesses the evidence for the resurrection. Lennox supports his view with many arguments that other scholars have made like the numerous, early manuscripts, Luke’s Gospel cultural accuracy, rejecting grammatical errors as a reason not to rely on the gospels. Lennox also shows evidence for the empty tomb, the many witnesses of Jesus after his resurrection and the willingness to die for that experience, and numerous prophecies made in the Old Testament all of which were fulfilled. (p. 223) If I were to describe the beauty of the Adirondack Mountains, I would not have arrived at such a conclusion by using philosophy or science. My conclusion was made because I experienced them firsthand. In this way, Lennox concludes that God can, and has revealed himself in such a way that we can experience him. God is not known just by philosophical and scientific discourse. (p. 227) The case made by Lennox confirms that not only is Atheism a hopeless position, the evidence sways strongly in favour of the Judeo-Christian worldview. (p. 232) Benjamin Roy Liked it? Take a second to support Editor on Patreon! Related Posts John Lennox on the Existence of God God or NotA friend of mine is working on a web-site that is dealing with concerns raised… John Lennox on the Existence of God Apologetics Journal Benjamin RoyBook ReviewsGunning for GodJohn Lennox