Read God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion Online
Authors: Victor J. Stenger
“Stenger—a major powerhouse of honest thinking—has produced another massive exercise in logic. He shows why science is trustworthy as humanity's life-support. And, in contrast, he shows why supernatural beliefs are silly and childish, unworthy of thinking adults.”
—James A. Haught, editor of the
Charleston (WV) Gazette
and author of
2000 Years of Disbelief
“A magisterial survey demonstrating that religion is simply not compatible with science. In fact, as Stenger proves here time and again, religion keeps getting in the way of science, often motivates people to distort scientific facts to serve their religious hopes and wishes, and remains attached to ideas and ways of thinking that science has long since proved invalid. If you know someone who gainsays any of these conclusions, give them this book.”
—Dr. Richard Carrier, author of
Sense and Goodness without God
“Elisabeth Kübler-Ross famously outlined the stages through which we pass as we come to grips with death: denial, anger, bargaining, and acceptance. Well, religion seems to be dying a lingering death, and in
God and the Folly of Faith
Victor Stenger shows how it is passing through the same stages: fundamentalists are in denial, apologists are in the anger phase, and liberal theologians are bargaining. Stenger's fair and deadly arguments will help religion to accept its inevitable demise.”
—Robert M. Price, professor of biblical criticism,
Center for Inquiry Institute, and author of
Beyond Born Again
“Puts to rest the myth that science and religion can coexist peacefully. Thoughtfully researched and delightfully readable!”
—Craig A. James, author of
The Religion Virus
Published 2012 by Prometheus Books
God and the Folly of Faith: The Incompatibility of Science and Religion
. Copyright © 2012 by Victor J. Stenger. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a website without prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
Cover image © 2012 Media Bakery, Inc.
Cover design by Nicole Sommer-Lecht
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stenger, Victor J., 1935–
God and the folly of faith : the incompatibility of science and religion / by Victor J. Stenger.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–1–61614–599–6 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN 978–1–61614–600–9 (ebook)
1. Religion and science. 2. Christianity—Controversial literature. I. Title.
BL240.3.S737 2012
201′.65—dc23
2011050570
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper
Science flies us to the moon.
Religion flies us into buildings.
—Victor J. Stenger
That which can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
—Christopher Hitchens