Al Mohler is no stranger to those within evangelicalism. The Southern Seminary President has been a voice of consistently clear and faithful biblical articulation throughout recent years. Thankfully his influence is expanding through his radio show, website and various appearances on television and in the paper. The fact that Dr Mohler is now beginning to crank out books is met with thankfulness from many corners. In my view he just needs to keep reading, writing and talking; he is a blessing to the church and a light to the world.
Atheism Remix is based on the W.H. Griffith Thomas Lectures Mohler delivered at Dallas Theological Seminary early in 2008. The book is a small hardback (112 pages) and is easily digested.
The book is broken into four sections that basically identify how we got to this new atheism, what its proponents are doing, what the answer to them is and where we are going.
You may be wondering, “What is the new Atheism?”
There are four men who prominently play into this “New” Atheism. They are referred to by some as “The Four Horsemen of the New Atheist Apocalypse”. They are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens. Mohler aims to help us to become “at least conversant with these men and what they are about” (p.39).
Specifically Mohler identifies 8 characteristics of the New Atheism:
It is marked by unprecedented boldness.
There is clear and specific rejection of the Christian God of the Bible.
There is a explicit rejection of Jesus Christ (particularly his restrictivism).
It is grounded specifically in scientific argument.
It relentlessly attacks toleration.
There is a consistent ethical questioning of the rights of parents to inculcate their beliefs to their own children.
They believe that religion itself must be eliminated in order to preserve human freedom.
The strength of the book is Mohler’s ability to distill oceans of information from the various and sundry books on both sides of the issue and present it in a bite-sized format.
In the chapter that defends theism Mohler relies largely on Oxford Theologian Alister McGrath and Alvin Plantinga, a professor of philosophy at Notre Dame. The defense that Mohler gives amounts to more quotes from these men and some moderate interaction with them.
I would have liked to hear more from Dr Mohler himself on this. He did a great job bringing helpful material to the table, but at the end of the day, it was not his. This would not have been a disappointment for me had the subtitle of the book not been, “A Christian confronts the New Atheists”. I think a more appropriate and accurate sub-title would have been, “A survey of the chatter surrounding the New Atheists”. But regardless of subtitle, this book is a thoughtful and helpful introduction into the debate that continues to intensify. Mohler’s research and clarity are a worthwhile read for all who desire to become familiar with the issues.
The book closes with Mohler resetting the coordinates of “ground zero” in this debate: a personal, supernatural, self-disclosing, authoritative, and exclusive God. It is here that Christians must most certainly and fervently “know whom we have believed”.
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