Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief
A Minister-Turned-Atheist Shows Why You Should Ditch the Faith
Any one of the problems is probably sufficient to falsify Christianity. Maybe, with a lot of heavy lifting and straining, you could overcome one or two, but all ten? You will find that quite a few problems are swept into each of the ten categories. This book is intended to help understand what the fuss is about with all these atheist books, and support atheists as they fight the good fight.
—Introduction, Ten Tough Problems
An all-powerful God who permits unspeakable horrors and sent a Son who
threatened more to come, forever, to those who don’t believe in
him. An inspired holy book that turns out to be full of archaic
nonsense, moral failures, and contradictions. A world of disagreement
not just between Christians and other religions, but within
Christianity itself. Blood sacrifice and a tale of the walking dead as
the very foundation of faith. These are just a few aspects of Ten very
Tough Problems that David Madison describes in
this wonderfully deep yet humorous dismantling of his former
faith. Combining rigorous scholarship with engaging personal
reflections and refreshing wit, he offers understanding and even some
laughs while walking with readers past the gravestones of Christian
thought and belief.
The book includes a Foreword by Bruce Gerencser, a former Independent
Fundamental Baptist preacher. He now posts thoughtful and moving
essays about atheism, humanism, and the challenges of his own physical
infirmities at BruceGerencser.net. He
envisions “numbers of fuming Evangelicals lining up at the doors of
pastors’ studies once they have finished” Ten Tough Problems,
“wanting to know why they have never been told about the theological
issues raised in Madison’s book.”
The proverbial horse, Gerencser says, “is out of the barn, and he
ain’t coming back.”
David summarizing the salient points of Tough Problem VIII.
This is no tedious theology tome; university libraries have plenty of
those sitting unread in their stacks. It’s a lively, often intensely
personal take-down of the world’s biggest and yet most fractured
religion, full of what Gerencser calls “snark and comedic
storytelling.” These “gleeful interludes” he sees doing the same work
(though obviously with a different conclusion!) as preachers’ sermon
illustrations. Let’s face it, he says,
theology without a bit of levity is boring, and David does a
wonderful job breathing life into a critique of the old faith once
delivered to the saints. Diehard Evangelicals will likely not
appreciate his snarkiness, but I suspect most other readers will
enjoy the way he weaves his life experiences in and out of his
arguments against Christianity.
Reviews
Dr. David Madison pulls no punches in this wide-ranging critique that explains why Christianity fails to satisfy human reason, evidence, or even basic human social needs. From the problem of evil to the claim that the Bible is the word of God, Dr. Madison exposes the problems of Christian belief as few others can. As a former believer, he understands why Christians believe what they do. As a formally trained biblical scholar, he can detect all the ways that bad biblical scholarship is being used to prop up Christian belief. Given its highly accessible language, Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief is ideal for those who wish to start exploring why Jesus is not the answer, and why Christianity has never given good answers to life’s most important questions.
—Hector Avalos, author of The Bad Jesus: The Ethics of New Testament Ethics and The End of Biblical Studies.
David Madison’s book, written from the perspective of a former Christian minister and scholar, is engaging, personal and erudite. I wish I had known about him when I was conducting interviews for the Dennett-LaScola study of non-believing clergy. He would have provided insights from a liberal Christian point of view that are hard to come by.
—Linda LaScola, co-author with Daniel C. Dennett of Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind and co-founder of The Clergy Project.
I admire David Madison for researching and producing this spectacular work, clearly and forthrightly exposing the fatal flaws of Christian belief. Madison’s esteemed background as a Christian scholar and former believer make his arguments both entertaining and irrefutable to any thinking person. I’ve personally been involved for forty years in the debate between Christianity and atheism, but I learned something new and gained a richer perspective on virtually every page of this unique and extraordinary volume, which reads as easily and pleasurably as a spy novel. Parts of this book are funny as hell! David Madison claims to address Ten Tough Problems in Christian Thought and Belief. But, spoiler alert, Madison’s wealth of knowledge, as revealed so admirably in these pages, rebuts far more than a mere ten problems with the Christian religion. My highest and most enthusiastic recommendation.
—David Mills, author of Atheist Universe.
Dr. David Madison’s Ten Tough Problems is not just a good book–it’s an in-depth analysis of the Christian faith and all that it entails. Madison, a minister-turned atheist, shows exactly why Christianity isn’t a reasonable or evidence-based position and how bad biblical scholarship has propelled the religion to its current popularity. Exhaustive but not overwhelming, deep but also funny, I recommend this book to anyone.
—David G. McAfee, author of The Book of Gods, Mom, Dad, I’m an Atheist, and others.
