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The Devil’s Delusion: Atheism and its Scientific Pretensions

Militant atheism is on the rise. Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Christopher Hitchens have dominated best seller lists with books denigrating religious belief as dangerous foolishness. And these authors are merely the leading edge of a far larger movement – one that now includes much of the scientific community. “If science stands opposed to religion, it is not because of anything contained in either the premises or the conclusions of the great scientific theories,” Berlinski writes in The Devil’s Delusion. “Confident assertions by scientists that they have demonstrated that God does not exist have nothing to do with science, and even less to do with God’s existence.” A secular Jew and agnostic, Berlinski nonetheless delivers a biting defense of religious thought. An acclaimed author who has spent his career writing about mathematics and the sciences, he turns the scientific community’s cherished skepticism back on itself, daring to ask and answer some rather embarrassing questions. This was a book release party at Benaroya Hall on Tuesday, April 15, in downtown Seattle. Editor’s Note: Due to an equipment malfunction there were several briefly dropped sections of the recording.