For further reading
What follows are some basic works that readers will find helpful in taking the issues raised in this book further. This list is not intended to be exhaustive. It is simply an indication of some useful starting points.
Introducing Richard Dawkins
There are surprisingly few book-length studies of Dawkins. The only book-length study to date to examine the scientific, historical, philosophical and theological aspects of Dawkins’ attitude to religion is: Alister E. McGrath, Dawkins’ God: Genes, Memes and the Meaning of Life. Oxford: Blackwell, 2004.
For a slightly uneven collection of essays about Dawkins, see Alan Grafen and Mark Ridley (eds), Richard Dawkins: How a Scientist Changed the Way We Think: Reflections by Scientists, Writers, and Philosophers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006.
For an interesting and accessible comparison of Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould on how best to understand the Darwinian approach to evolution, see Kim Sterelny, Dawkins vs. Gould: Survival of the Fittest. Cambridge: Icon Books, 2001.
A more sophisticated analysis of the same question can be found in Timothy Shanahan, ‘Methodological and contextual factors in the Dawkins/Gould dispute over evolutionary progress’, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science, vol. 31 (2001): 127–51.
The best introduction to contemporary evolutionary theory currently available is probably Mark Ridley, Evolution. 3rd edn. Oxford: Blackwell Science, 2003.
Christian belief
The most widely used textbook of Christian theology, which sets out what Christians believe and why, clearly and impartially, is: Alister E. McGrath, Christian Theology: An Introduction. 4th edn. Oxford: Blackwell, 2007.
Religion and well-being
Marc Galanter, Spirituality and the Healthy Mind: Science, Therapy, and the Need for Personal Meaning. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Harold G. Koenig and Harvey J. Cohen, The Link between Religion and Health: Psychoneuroimmunology and the Faith Factor. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Kenneth I. Pargament, The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory, Research, Practice. New York: Guilford Press, 1997.
A. J. Weaver, L. T. Flannelly, J. Garbarino, C. R. Figley and K. J. Flannelly, ‘A systematic review of research on religion and spirituality in the Journal of Traumatic Stress, 1990–99’, Mental Health, Religion and Culture, vol. 6 (2003): 215–28.
Religion and violence
Terry Eagleton, Holy Terror. New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Diego Gambetta (ed.), Making Sense of Suicide Missions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.
Sudhir Kakar, The Colors of Violence: Cultural Identities, Religion, and Conflict. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996.
David Martin, Does Christianity Cause War? Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997.
Robert A. Pape, Dying to Win: The Strategic Logic of Suicide Terrorism. New York: Random House, 2005.
Ron Rosenbaum, Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil. New York: Random House, 1998.
Rodney Stark, For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-hunts, and the End of Slavery. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2003.
Keith Ward, Is Religion Dangerous? Oxford: Lion, 2006.
The psychology of religion
Bernard Spilka et al., The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach. 3rd edn. New York; London: Guilford Press, 2003.
Fraser Watts and Mark Williams, The Psychology of Religious Knowing. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1988.
David M. Wulff, Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary. 2nd edn. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.
The relation of science and religion
It is important to read some reliable and up-to-date accounts of the contemporary understanding of the relation of science and religion in assessing Dawkins’ biased and skewed misrepresentations. The best such studies include:
Denis Alexander, Rebuilding the Matrix: Science and Faith in the 21st Century. Oxford: Lion, 2002.
Ian G. Barbour, When Science Meets Religion. London: SPCK, 2000.
John Hedley Brooke, Science and Religion: Some Historical Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
John Hedley Brooke, Telling the Story of Science and Religion: A Nuanced Account. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991.
Francis S. Collins, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief. New York: Basic Books, 2006.
Owen Gingerich, God’s Universe. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2006.
David C. Lindberg and Ronald L. Numbers, God and Nature: Historical Essays on the Encounter between Christianity and Science. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986.
Seyyed Hossein Nasr, Religion and the Order of Nature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996.
John C. Polkinghorne, Faith, Science and Understanding. London: SPCK, 2000.
Michael Ruse, Can a Darwinian Be a Christian? The Relationship between Science and Religion. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001.
Keith Ward, Pascal’s Fire: Scientific Faith and Religious Understanding. Oxford: Oneworld, 2006.