Letters to an Atheist, by Peter Kreeft

When Peter Kreeft met "Martha" at a conference, she asked for his assistance and advice in talking with her atheist brother "Michael."  So Kreeft begins a fictional correspondence with Michael, a friendly debate attempting to win Michael over to theism and Christian faith.  In Letters to an Atheist: Wrestling with Faith, Kreeft presents arguments for the existence of God and debunks atheists' arguments against theism with kindness, clarity, and respect.

Kreeft, a Boston College philosophy professor, has written dozens of books that bring theological and philosophical ideas into everyday language.  Letters is no exception.  He covers many of the classical arguments (design, natural law, the anthropic principal, etc.) and atheist objections (hell, the problem of evil) in a conversational, accessible way.  Kreeft discusses many of the standard arguments for the existence of God, but mostly resists categorization or listing of said arguments, because he doesn't want to "turn our letters into a philosophy class.  Nothing wrong with a philosophy class in philosophy class, but letters should be letters."

That said, while making the book highly readable, personal, and enjoyable, the fact is there is a lot of philosophy herein.  It would have been nice to have an appendix with a systematic listing of the arguments he makes, and a list of suggested reading for further study.  The dialogue approach is great for introducing ideas, but if I wanted to come back to Letters as a reference, I would be hard pressed to wade through it for the main points.  (I realize Kreeft didn't write this to be a reference. But I would still like to have seen a distillation of the core arguments.)

Kreeft's writing is engaging and entertaining.  I suspect his classes at Boston College are popular and packed.  But I also suspect that atheists reading Letters to an Atheist will have a similar response to Michael's: "I think I understand all the arguments we have exchanged, on both sides, quite clearly, and I am not convinced by your arguments, though you express them very well."


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!