My response to Sam Harris’ book Letter to a Christian Nation has now been released. Information on ordering it can be found here. This response of mine is entitled Letter from a Christian Citizen, and we are really excited about it.
When I have the press release for the book, I will post it here. But before you read that, let me make just a few comments about why I think this published response is important for us as Christians. A number of observers have taken note of the rise of a militant, take-no-prisoners atheism in recent years. In bygone days, atheists would patronize believers, patting us on our silly heads, but more recently the tone has gotten pretty belligerent. Not only is this the case, but the market for this kind of militancy appears to be robust. Harris’ book has sold in the millions. Richard Dawkins has published The God Delusion, and his book together with Letter to a Christian Nation occupied the first two slots in religious publishing for the month of March. In just a few weeks Christopher Hitchens will have a book coming out entitled God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. My plan is to review Hitchens’ book, chapter by chapter, just as I have done with Harris and Dawkins. It seems apparent to me that Christians have to respond in a way that is no less vigorous than the challenge that has been mounted. We don’t want our response to be shrill, but we do want our response to be classified among the vertebrates.
And so, I am not writing this as a book-monger, or as an author interested in self-promotion. The point is not sales, or notoriety. The point is to meet the challenge. When David was distressed at the taunts Goliath was able to deliver to the armies of Israel, and David wanted to do something about it, his older brother accused him of showboating (1 Sam. 17:28). But that was not the issue. The point is to meet the challenge.
The publisher of my book is American Vision, and tomorrow I will be interviewed by Gary DeMar (president of that fine organization) on the radio. You can listen to that interview on the Internet — it will be at noon Pacific Time, or three Eastern. Just go to this site, and click on Listen Live!
Please help us out as we try to spread the word about this response. Thanks much.