Just read Richard Dawkins's The God Delusion and now need a book to "balance" it ...

[stillstanding]

I found "The God Delusion" excellent and pretty persuasive (for the most part - there were some chapters I didn't agree with). But I think it is easy to be persuaded by a book when you haven't read others expressing different views on the same subject and am therefore keen to read another which "balances" it iyswim.

I've had a quick look on Amazon but most of the books I found there were theological books about particular religions or books about the history of God, neither of which I am interested in.

What I am looking for is a book setting out the case for God as it were, i.e. one that sets out the counter-arguments to those in Dawkins's book. I'm not sure if such a book exists but if anyone has any suggestions I would be very grateful!

I have heard Alister McGrath, author of The Dawkins Delusion, talk on the subject and he is a good source to consider. As well as being an Anglican theologian, McGrath has a PhD from Oxford in Molecular Biochemistry (or some similarly hard scientific area - ('m writing from memory here), and was himself an atheist before finding arguments about God persuasive whilst an undergraduate.

As for Dawkins, he may be a good scientist and communicator, but I'm afraid his pholosphy of religion is very poor (Alvin Plantinga said he wouldn't get through 1st year university on a religious philosophy course) and his portrayal of Christianity is deeply flawed. I also find it quite sad that an academic, presumably with a commitment to exploring truth, is so wilfully selective in his evidence, deliberately overlooking anything that weakens his argument. As a philosophy/theology graduate I found the God Delusion weak and decided it would only convince someone unaware of the larger arguments or who wanted to be convinced that there was no God and were happy to settle with Dawkins' answers.

Cheers,

PV.