50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison

Read: 21 May, 2009

Harrison goes through all the usual arguments against belief in gods, repackaging them in a new format. Similar to 'Question and Answer,' he uses a 'Reason for Belief and Response' format. Each chapter begins with a single sentence reason, a few quotes that either explain the reason or debunk it, followed by a 2-5 page summary of the arguments against that reason.

Unfortunately, 50 is a very attractive round number and makes for a standard book length. I have seen all these reasons whittled down to only three essential arguments. The result is that many of the reasons are essentially the same with different wording. While I think that it was a good idea not to get into the specifics of one religion or another, this left Harrison with fairly little to say. His entire argument could be summarized as "there are millions of gods to choose from, so how do you know which one is real?" Imagine this, repeated 50 times with only a little variation.

My greatest disappointment is that 50 Reasons lacks focus. I know that I often complain that books, those on Atheism in particular, try to fill too many roles at once. Maybe it's because there are so few books on Atheism on the market, or maybe it's just authorial ego - either way, many authors seem to set out with great ideas, great arguments, and great potential only to fumble because they are trying to catch two rabbits at the same time.

For example, Harrison can't seem to decide who is target audience is. He will sometimes address believers directly, asking them to consider this or that point. At these times, his writing style is soothing and inviting. At other times, he addresses non-believers, as thought this were a "response to every situation" style manual. These passages are interesting, but could easily be interpreted by believers as offensive or condescending. Had Harrison settled on either of these audiences, I am confident that the book would have been greatly improved.

Another symptom of this lack of focus is a lack of efficiency in Harrison's writing. A chapter called "people have gone to heaven and returned" begins with a two-page description of Harrison's travels in which he finds two rotting bodies and stumbles onto a funeral. All this before the afterlife is even mentioned. This happens throughout the book to varying degrees. These passages are very interesting and I would love to read Harrison's travel narrative, should he ever write one, but they simply do not contribute to his arguments.

And finally, I often found myself reading from a believer's perspective and thinking "well, okay, but..." To be fair, Harrison covered far more objections than he missed, but it was enough for me to decide against recommending this book to believers.

I know that this review has been harsh, but only because 50 Reasons was a very good book with a lot of potential. Harrison's writing style is very accessible and he has a non-aggressive way of phrasing his arguments. I sincerely hope that 50 Reasons receives a second edition that addresses my concerns, or at least that Harrison learns from his mistakes and publishes a better book in future.

In the meantime, 50 Reasons is certainly an interesting and worthwhile read. If you've spent much time reading Atheist books or speaking with Atheists, most of this book's arguments will be familiar. But I found Harrison's focus on the 'Many Gods Problem' offers a fairly fresh perspective.