In my third anniversary post, I discussed some of the directions I’d like to take Daylight Atheism in during this year. I mentioned that I’ve always admired Fred Clark (a.k.a. Slacktivist) for his methodical, page-by-page deconstruction of the Left Behind series from a progressive Christian viewpoint. It’s a very cool idea, and a successful idea, one that I thought worthy of imitation. I wouldn’t want to go after Left Behind myself, as that ground is already well-trodden. But there are plenty of other books that deserve a similar treatment.
In particular, I want to focus on the works of Lee Strobel, one of the more popular Christian apologists in operation today. Some of Strobel’s other books have already received thorough, book-length responses from atheists – for The Case for Christ, I strongly recommend Earl Doherty’s excellent, comprehensive Challenging the Verdict, while The Case for Faith has numerous chapter-by-chapter responses on the internet, such as Paul Doland’s. But Strobel’s third book, The Case for a Creator, to my knowledge hasn’t received the same degree of attention. With this new series, I intend to change that.
As the title implies, Case for a Creator is a creationist book, arguing that a divine designer is the only reasonable explanation for the existence of life, the universe and everything. As with his other books, Strobel marshals an array of renowned Christian apologists to defend various aspects of this conclusion. And as with his other books, his arguments delve into technical detail that may seem impressive to the uninitiated; but to an observer versed in the subject material, there are gaping omissions and fallacies in his “case”. I’m not a professional scientist (neither, it should be noted, is Strobel; nor are many of his interviewees), but I’ve been debating creationism in an amateur capacity for years, before this site, even before Ebon Musings, and I believe I’m up to the task. As always, I invite readers to compare our respective arguments based on the quality of the evidence that we present.
I’m setting out with the aim of dissecting one chapter of Case per month, in anywhere from two to four posts, depending on how many different points he makes that I want to rebut. Along the way, I’ll survey the creationist movement’s larger strategy and some of the genuine scientific evidence in support of evolution and cosmology. The series will begin tomorrow.
Other posts in this series: