Deepest Differences: A Christian-Atheist Dialogue

[Whitney]

I have not read this book but like anything that is about being able to disagree respectfully, so I thought I'd share this review  I found:

Review: Christian, Atheist disagree respectfully

By JIM MILLER Contributing Writer Friday, May 29, 2009 Deepest Differences:A Christian-Atheist Dialogue

(ENLARGE)

 

James W. Shire & Carl Peraino

(Intervarsity, 205pgs, $15)

A chance meeting between two book-club members was the springboard for James Shire and Carl Peraino's book, "Deepest Differences." Their ensuing email conversations, which began innocently-enough with Kurt Vonnegut's obituary, fanned out to more pressing issues like their conflicting views of God and religion, faith and doubt, rhetoric and reason, violence, the mind, science, morality, and more. The book is subtitled "A Christian-Atheist Dialogue" and is the unedited compilation of an extended exchange between Shire, a seminary professor and committed believer, and Periano, a biochemist and avowed atheist. It is both enlightening and at times entertaining.

For me, "Deepest Differences" has reinforced a long-held belief that open and respectful dialogue between people who disagree is better than retreating to insulated adversarial camps, suspecting one another of the worst, and hurling grenades. I have a old friend who calls himself an atheist. I love the guy and respect his opinions even though we do not always agree. In one of our earliest conversations about the Astros or the weather or something he made a passing confession to me. "When I first met you," he said, "I thought you were one of those Bible-thumping, scripture-quoting, gun-toting, ultra-rightwing types. I'm just glad to see you are, well, um, normal." I thanked him and kept my thoughts to myselfâ€"I had pigeonholed him, too, and was relieved to discover that he didn't sprout horns and sport a pitchfork. Each of us were tempted to stereotype the other. Thankfully, I am none of what he thought and he didn't have horns, and despite our differences, a mutual respect for one another evolved and I value our friendship to this day.

This sort of camaraderie seems to have emerged between Shire and Peraino. Both are bright and articulate with Ph.D.'s in their respective fields. Both give thoughtful responses to each other, which gets a little testy at times but never hateful or disrespectful. These "differences" span some forty-six themes from "Mortality and Worldview" and "Good and Evil" to "Intelligent vs. Unintelligent Design" and "The God Question." In the "Afterword" both antagonists remain unchanged in their views and while, for some and, so, for some may seem that their exchange was a colossal waste of time (I mean, there is supposed to be a winner and a loser, right?), it appears that it wasn't because a sincere appreciation and respect for one another developed. The authors' often divergent views ultimately boil down to the value they place on reason or faith. What "Deepest Differences" has done for me is not so much prove I have been right all along as to help me understand the premises from which people committed to reason and those committed to faith work. It is not that people of faith are unreasonable or that reasonable people are blind to extra-reasonable ideas, but that our basic worldview, our point of view, determines why we believe what we do.

So, if you're looking for clear-cut answers to difficult questions about God or to root for your guy to score a quick kayo over a tough opponent then "Deepest Differences" is probably not for you. But if you're open to an authentic, no-holds-barred, respectful dialogue between an inveterate nonbeliever and a confirmed believer about life's most important subjectâ€"Godâ€"then you will love it.

Reviewed by Jim Miller, Vineyard Church Nacogdoches.

About the authors:

James W. Sire (Ph.D., University of Missouri), formerly a senior editor at InterVarsity Press, is an active speaker and writer. He has taught English, philosophy, theology, and short courses at many universities and seminaries. He continues to be a frequent guest lecturer in the United States and Europe. His InterVarsity Press books and Bible studies include The Universe Next Door (a worldviews textbook), Scripture Twisting, Discipleship of the Mind, Chris Chrisman Goes to College, Why Should Anyone Believe Anything at All?, Habits of the Mind: Intellectual Life as a Christian Calling, Naming the Elephant: Worldview as a Concept, Learning to Pray Through the Psalms, Why Good Arguments Often Fail and A Little Primer on Humble Apologetics.

Carl Peraino (Ph.D., University of Wisconsin) is a retired senior biochemist at Argonne National Laboratory. He is author or coauthor of approximately one hundred research articles, including "Reduction and Enhancement by Phenobarbital of Hepatocarcinogenesis Induced in the Rat by 2-Acetylaminofluorene," coauthored with R. J. Michael Fry and Everett Staffeldt, Cancer Research 31:1506-1512, October 1971. This paper signaled a significant shift forward in cancer research.

http://www.dailysentinel.com/services/c ... =ynews_rss