Review – The Devil’s Delusion by David Berlinski

In his book, The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions, bestselling author and university professor, David Berlinski excoriates atheists and their use of scientific pretensions to justify their faith. Berlinksi – a secularist at heart – correctly points out what everyone already knew.

No one, not atheists, not Christians, not that weird guy with the wild hair on that show about how aliens colonized the earth… no one has the be-all and end-all answers to life’s great mysteries. Each of us carries our own brand of faith – be that faith in Christ or faith that there is a materialist answer for all of life’s questions. 

Berlinski cites examples from scientific journal after scientific journal to make two points very clearly:

1. The best modern scientific theories only partially explain the beauty of the universe and the creation of its inhabitants. 
2. Atheist-minded scientists don’t want to talk about the space in between the theories.

In addition to being enlightening, the book is wildly entertaining. Berlinski uses biting humor to show that, when discussing the existence of the Almighty, the militant stances of today’s modern atheists are no better founded than those of the Puritans. They are simply two different worldviews. The merits of which can and have been argued for generations. 

Berlinkski, a Princeton trained mathematician, best summarizes the relationship between modern science and faith in his opening foreword:

“We know better than we did what we do not know and have not grasped. We do not know how the universe began. We do not know why it is there. Charles Darwin talked speculatively of life emerging from a “warm pond.” The pond is gone. We have little idea how life emerged and cannot with assurance say that it did. We cannot reconcile our understanding of the human mind with any trivial theory about the manner in which the brain functions. Beyond the trivial, we have no other theories. We can say nothing of interest about the human soul. We do not know what impels us to right conduct or where the form of good is found.

“On these and many other points as well, the great scientific theories have lapsed. The more sophisticated the theories, the more inadequate they are. This is the reason to cherish them. They have enlarged and not diminished our sense of the sublime.”

This book is written for anyone that has ever been derided or demeaned for their faith. Berlinski shows with vivid clarity the vast amount of empty space left on the pages of human understanding. Far from erasing the need for God, modern science has only succeeded in increasing the awe and esteem to which His wonders must be held in the mind of His children.

If you’re interested in purchasing the book for yourself, check out the link below:

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