God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong

by S.T. Joshi

Committed atheist S. T. Joshi takes up this long-dormant "call to arms" in this highly acerbic critique of the religious point of view. With the aim of "combating religious mummery and obscurantism" he dissects the arguments offered by well-known apologists for various tenets of belief. Taking on both the famous intellectuals of the recent past as well as leading defenders of the supernatural today, he rigorously examines their claims and in every case finds them deficient in logic, evidence, or both. Nonetheless, he points out that despite the rather obvious fallacies of religious apologies, people continue to believe, whether from ignorance or psychological need. Accusing his fellow nonbelievers of complicity through their silence in perpetuating religious nonsense, he argues that a more vocal and vigorously asserted atheism is needed today.

In ten chapters he considers and rebuts the defenses of William James, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, C. S. Lewis, William F. Buckley, Stephen L. Carter, Jerry Falwell, Reynolds Price, Annie Dillard, Elisabeth Knbler-Ross, Neale Donald Walsch, and Guenter Lewy. Though all of these very different people - poets, preachers, psychologists, visionaries, and writers - explain religion from utterly different perspectives, Joshi notes that they all share an underlying unwillingness or inability to answer the crucial question: Is religion true? Religion, if it is to survive, insists Joshi, must like science show that its claims are true. For over two hundred years science has been clearly demonstrating the truth of its propositions about reality, while religion has at the same time been consistently failing this test. As long as influential people continue to defend religion, it is time, says Joshi, for nonbelievers to point out -loudly and clearly - that the emperor has no clothes.

Genres: Religion, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Theology, Skepticism

330 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Sunand Tryambak Joshi is an Indian American literary scholar, and a leading figure in the study of Howard Phillips Lovecraft and other authors. Besides what some critics consider to be the definitive biography of Lovecraft (H. P. Lovecraft: A Life, 1996), Joshi has written about Ambrose Bierce, H. L. Mencken, Lord Dunsany, and M.R. James, and has edited collections of their works.

His literary criticism is notable for its emphases upon readability and the dominant worldviews of the authors in question; his The Weird Tale looks at six acknowledged masters of horror and fantasy (namely Arthur Machen, Algernon Blackwood, Dunsany, M. R. James, Bierce and Lovecraft), and discusses their respective worldviews in depth and with authority. A follow-up volume, The Modern Weird Tale, examines the work of modern writers, including Shirley Jackson, Ramsey Campbell, Stephen King, Robert Aickman, Thomas Ligotti, T. E. D. Klein and others, from a similar philosophically oriented viewpoint. The Evolution of the Weird Tale (2004) includes essays on Dennis Etchison, L. P. Hartley, Les Daniels, E. F. Benson, Rudyard Kipling, David J. Schow, Robert Bloch, L. P. Davies, Edward Lucas White, Rod Serling, Poppy Z. Brite and others.

Joshi is the editor of the small-press literary journals Lovecraft Studies and Studies in Weird Fiction, published by Necronomicon Press. He is also the editor of Lovecraft Annual and co-editor of Dead Reckonings, both small-press journals published by Hippocampus Press.

In addition to literary criticism, Joshi has also edited books on atheism and social relations, including Documents of American Prejudice (1999), an annotated collection of American racist writings; In Her Place (2006), which collects written examples of prejudice against women; and Atheism: A Reader (2000), which collects atheistic writings by such people as Antony Flew, George Eliot, Bertrand Russell, Emma Goldman, Gore Vidal and Carl Sagan, among others. An Agnostic Reader, collecting pieces by such writers as Isaac Asimov, John William Draper, Albert Einstein, Frederic Harrison, Thomas Henry Huxley, Robert Ingersoll, Corliss Lamont, Arthur Schopenhauer and Edward Westermarck, was published in 2007.

Joshi is also the author of God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), an anti-religious polemic against various writers including C. S. Lewis, G. K. Chesterton, T. S. Eliot, William F. Buckley, Jr., William James, Stephen L. Carter, Annie Dillard, Reynolds Price, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Guenter Lewy, Neale Donald Walsch and Jerry Falwell, which is dedicated to theologian and fellow Lovecraft critic Robert M. Price.

In 2006 he published The Angry Right: Why Conservatives Keep Getting It Wrong, which criticised the political writings of such commentators as William F. Buckley, Jr., Russell Kirk, David and Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Phyllis Schlafly, William Bennett, Gertrude Himmelfarb and Irving and William Kristol, arguing that, despite the efforts of right-wing polemicists, the values of the American people have become steadily more liberal over time.

Joshi, who lives with his wife in Moravia, New York, has stated on his website that his most noteworthy achievements thus far have been his biography of Lovecraft, H. P. Lovecraft: A Life and The Weird Tale.

Reviews

[Britton]

Yet another condescending, arrogant condemnation of religion. Joshi doesn't touch on anything new with this book asides from the usual stuff. The guy isn't Christopher Hitchens, even when he really tries, and while I don't particularly like Hitchens, at least the guy can write and be funny at the end of the day. I won't go as far as to say that Joshi is at Dawkin's level where the anti-religiosity is so obnoxious that he ironically sounds like the people he's criticizing, but it's not good by any means. Same shit, different day as it goes.

It's a book that'll rub you wrong, that's for sure. I think it best he stays with the Lovecraft scholarship and editing. It's more his forte.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author does a workmanlike job on each of his subjects by using their own words and assumptions to show their inconsistencies within their systems. The book clearly reads as if it was a series of essays loosely culled together, and there are redundancies of the criticisms between all the essays.

One thing to note, in a lot of ways this book is no longer relevant today. While the list of characters who would be highlighted today twenty years after this book was originally written would include a set of different names, their fallacies would be practically the same, but the bigger point today, who cares anymore what William Lane Craig, Rick Warren, Jerry Falwell Jr. (isn’t he that guy who had that pool-boy problem?) or whoever haunts those lanes today have to say or what to think? The people and their mostly Bible based beliefs, or psychic channeling, or that Catholic certainty just really aren’t that important and don’t need refutation.

One of my least favorite books ever was William James’ book Varieties of Religious Experiences, Joshi deservedly reems James, but it wasn’t for that book, it was for James’ overall ‘pragmatic’ approach to religion in general. James’ approach deserves to be trashed, and the opening salvo in this book on James doesn’t miss a beat. That’s part of the problem, though, with Joshi’s book, he doesn’t really go beyond anything more in this book except for quoting Bible inconsistencies and showing contradictions or highlighting moral nastiness that the Bible has. Who cares about Bible citations? I know I don’t.

I did not know Elizabeth Kubler-Ross was psychotic at least the stories she told about seeing dead people talking to her seem to be from the murmurings of a psychotic, and in addition James and Kubler-Ross ultimately rely on testimonials for their evidence, and we all know the plural of anecdotal (testimonial) is not data. [an aside: don’t ever watch a Near Death Experience (NDE) on youtube, if you do you’ll get recommended NDE videos forever until you die, or possibly into the afterlife]. Paul of Tarsus at least according to the Bible spoke to dead people too. That too seems like somebody who had an unhealthy relationship with reality. In the Kubler-Ross section that author made a comment to the effect: ‘people like Depak Chopra make me ashamed to be Indian’. That kind of writing made this book enjoyable and at times I did laugh at loud at the author’s snide remarks.

The author also probably mentioned H. P. Lovecraft within every essay which is somewhat odd, but considering the author is a known expert on Lovecraft that makes sense. I’m pretty sure Lovecraft throughout most of his life was a raging racist, but his comments sprinkled throughout the book regarding the insanity of believing the insane seemed spot on, and I do wish that the author would have noted that fact.

The essays and fallacies are somewhat redundant, and today the world has moved on. Now in addition to calling homosexuals sinners not worthy of blessings for marriage as most of these featured religious people would have except for the fact that they did not recognize Gay marriage whatsoever, for today the kind of religious people featured in this book would get to ban transgender people too or just deny that they even exist, as they totally ignore the teachings of Jesus on divorce.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reminds me of the Daniel Dennett quote, that there's no polite way to tell people they've dedicated their lives to an illusion. In God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong (2003), S.T. Joshi makes no attempt at politeness as he lays out the jaw-dropping errors and illogic that religion led some otherwise smart people into.

The book came out in 2003, shortly after some devout men performed their act of piety on September 11, 2001, but before several famous "New Atheism" books by the so-called Four Horsemen of the Atheist Non-Apocalypse:
* The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason (2005) by Sam Harris
* The God Delusion (2006) by Richard Dawkins
* Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon (2006) by Daniel Dennett
* God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) by Christopher Hitchens

So this book might count as an old new atheism book. I only heard of it in 2023, but that's not surprising judging by its relative obscurity on Goodreads, having vastly fewer ratings and reviews than its more popular counterparts. I'm not sure why this book was relatively overlooked. It's not for being any weaker. Perhaps Joshi didn't follow up his book with the relentless touring, public lectures and debates, and occasional TED talk that garnered more publicity for the Horsemen. He seems to be more known for his literary writing, such as on the work of H. P. Lovecraft.

The book is a takedown of theistic writing by a list of prominent writers, most of whom had finished their lives or careers when the book came out, or were nearing the end. As I write 20 years later, almost all are dead now. The only one of Joshi's targets I noticed to still be alive is Annie Dillard. However, that matters little, as religious apologists have been recycling the same fallacies and errors of fact for centuries. And some of Joshi's targets remain popular with the wishful thinking set, such as C.S. Lewis. If the Apostle Paul came back to life today his rhymes would still sound fresh in any megachurch given that religion is largely devoid of progress.

This book won't sit well with most theists; they'll likely react with hostility, since they have no evidence to react with, and since they can no longer burn people who disagree with them, at least in the civilized West. However, other atheist writers get the same response, routinely supporting the truism that insults only land when you agree with them. I'm guessing few people have felt troubled by the taunts of a Flat Earther - you know the Flat Earther is wrong, so there's nothing to feel insulted about. Similarly, it's hard to shame Bill Gates for being poor, given that all the evidence of his senses assures him he is anything but. The distress felt by people of faith when they encounter contrary facts upsets them precisely because it should.

However, all is not lost. Even though religion is still growing globally (mainly because most people get their religion from childhood brainwashing, and babies multiply fastest in the economically backward nations where religion is most popular), in the wealthier nations religion is generally in decline. At the time of this book, religion was still holding strong in the USA, but the last 20 years have seen a remarkable decline. The USA now appears headed on the same path as Europe, but lagging by several decades. So the figures Joshi quotes for the rates of religiosity in the USA need an update. In particular, young Americans are leaving the religion fraud in droves, despite the fraud being a long way from a spent force. For an update on the ongoing collapse, see The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are and Where They Are Going (2021) by Ryan P. Burge. And as Caught in The Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind documents, even religious professionals are abandoning superstition.

I mention the decline of religion because (a) it's awesome, and (b) it indicates expanding receptiveness for books critical of religion. As Faith No More: Why People Reject Religion points out, belief change for most people is a gradual process. Some religious people may take years to recover their critical thinking capacity after a childhood of having it destroyed by religious brainwashing. Given that Christianity in the USA seems to be declining at around 1% per year, some percentage of people calling themselves "Christians" is, at any given time, in this process of doubting what religious hucksters told it to believe. An otherwise religious person who is questioning their faith may be open to reading books by people farther along in that process.

To get a taste of this book, see the quotes page. Joshi assumes some background of the reader; you'll need to be familiar with the standard logical fallacies and the philosopher's concept of argumentation. If you haven't taken college-level courses in logic or critical thinking, read a textbook such as Critical Thinking: The Art of Argument. Familiarity with cosmology, sociology, psychology, evolutionary biology, and biblical criticism would help as well. As Joshi points out and then demonstrates, all the people he criticizes in his book have severe knowledge deficits in one of more of the fields of science and scholarship that bear on the question of whether any religion's claims are true. For example, it's hard to view Christianity as a fountain of truth after you read even the popular works of Bart D. Ehrman, let alone his scholarly words. And Ehrman only writes about biblical scholarship; he doesn't explore the equally vast destruction of religious tomfoolery from the physical sciences.

But hardly anyone is an expert in all the fields of learning that destroy religion; most people are not experts in even one such field. And that's largely why religion persists. Joshi indelicately puts this down to religious people being "stupid." And of course if there's one thing stupid people hate, it's being called stupid (the principle of what makes an insult work). So that might not have been the most tactical thing to write at the start of a book aimed at persuading somebody. But again, there's no polite way.

Intelligence is a touchy subject, to say the least. Most people have probably come to terms with being less athletic than an Olympic athlete, and less good at playing the guitar than Stevie Ray Vaughan was. We seek help from doctors and accountants and attorneys and perhaps even landscapers because we understand they are far better than we are at what they do. But when it comes to deciding whether God exists (or for that matter, whether climate change is real), suddenly everyone becomes their own expert. Unfortunately, people are just as diverse with respect to reasoning ability as they are with any other complicated skill. For example, most people fail at tricky tests of reasoning such as the Wason selection task, the cognitive reflection test, and the Monty Hall problem. But for some reason, schools tend to impart self-esteem rather than a real basis for having it.

Joshi cited nothing about the science of human intelligence differences, i.e. what science actually says about being "smart" or "stupid". I'll correct that here:
* Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction (newer 2020 edition)
* Intelligence: All That Matters
* In the Know: Debunking 35 Myths about Human Intelligence
* The Neuroscience of Intelligence

In any case, Joshi reports that at least anecdotally, the (few) people with the greatest claim to expertise in the fields of science, philosophy, and scholarship relevant to the God question had already been overwhelmingly atheistic for a long time before his book came out. Religion had already largely collapsed among the so-called intelligentsia. The rest of human history sees their realization trickling down very slowly to the masses.

Joshi also speculates about the future of religion. He concludes it will never vanish entirely, because vast numbers of stupid people exist. It doesn't seem to occur to him that humans may one day gain the power to choose their intelligence. If that happens, then I expect religion to die about as quickly in general as it already has among the intelligentsia. In our increasingly complex technological society, the advantages of high intelligence only increase. Even stupid people want their children to do well in school. As long as high intelligence remains highly rewarding, religion survives only as long as we can't choose to be smarter.

I found little to challenge in the book. This parenthetical remark is one:

(The notion, propounded by certain evolutionary biologists, that the preservation of self, and even of society as a whole, is some kind of built-in instinct in humanity, is too preposterous to require refutation. At a minimum, on such a view suicide would become a physical impossibility.)

Joshi would do well to respect evolutionary biologists on this one. His argument is similar to claiming that because airplanes sometimes crash, they cannot have any in-built features to keep them aloft, such as wings and engines. As Richard Dawkins and others have pointed out, every single living thing alive right now descends from an unbroken string of ancestors who managed to survive and reproduce, going back some 4 billion years or more to our last common ancestor. The only way to beat such staggering odds given all the death and destruction in Earth's history is to have some pretty powerful built-in survival instincts. But just as with malfunctioning airplanes, any mechanism no matter how elegant can break. So it's hardly surprising that some humans commit suicide. Just as some spiders won't be able to spin proper webs, and they'll starve.

The key principle that Joshi misses here is biological diversity. Two things can be true: "we" can have "built-in" survival instincts, while at the same time everyone can have these instincts to varying degrees. Given that living is hard and dying is easy, it can't be surprising that some people with their big brains fail to see the point in living. To the degree that they reach this conclusion under genetic influence, there will obviously be selection against the genes responsible. This makes it hard for "suicide genes" (if such things exist) to take over an entire species.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agreed with Joshi's opinions but not his attitude. He says several times that the majority if people are stupid and seems to think that anyone who believes in god is an idiot. I know quite a few smart people who believe in god. Some of his arguments are good but he is completely condescending and insulting both to Christians in general and to the people he gives rebuttals to.

[mary · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author's tone and utter disdain for believers give atheism a bad name. There is so much snark, intolerance, and downright hatred for anyone who dares to believe or even to question or consider exploring the idea of God that I find his work unreadable.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

****½

God's Defenders: What They Believe and Why They Are Wrong is fascinating and informative. Written by S.T. Joshi, a renowned scholar of the history and philosophy of religion, this book provides an excellent overview of the beliefs held by those who defend God's existence and why those beliefs are flawed. He does this by surveying and critiquing well-known individuals who have written material arguing in favour of God's existence and the necessity of religious belief.

Joshi begins by examining William James' seminal work The Varieties of Religious Experience and G K Chesterton and T S Eliot's defence of Christianity in Orthodoxy and The Idea of a Christian Society, respectively. He then moves on to C S Lewis's Mere Christianity and William F Buckley Jr's God and Man at Yale.

Next, Joshi looks at the works of Stephen L Carter, Jerry Falwell, Reynolds Price and Annie Dillard, Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, Neale Donald Walsh and Guenter Lewy to assess their arguments for various belief systems or religious experiences. Joshi argues that they all fail to provide convincing evidence for the existence of God.

Joshi's style is both engaging and informative. He writes in a straightforward manner that is easy to understand yet still manages to convey complex ideas effectively. His critiques of the various authors' works are both insightful and thought-provoking. He also provides numerous examples from their writings which help illustrate his points.

Some will find Joshi's writing style off-putting. He is not afraid to challenge the beliefs of those he critiques and can be pretty blunt in his assessments. His sense of humour and intelligent, sometimes sarcastic, comments also add to the overall enjoyment of the book. Sometimes, this approach oversteps the mark, and some readers may find it too abrasive. He takes no prisoners and doesn't hold back in expressing his perspective. I doubt this will sit well with anyone who is a religious believer, and it could have been toned down a bit.

Joshi's book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the philosophy of religion or those seeking to understand why specific arguments for God's existence fail. It provides a comprehensive overview of the beliefs held by defenders of God and examines why these beliefs are flawed. Joshi's style is engaging and informative, though occasionally, his critiques can be overly blunt. Nevertheless, this book will suit anyone looking to understand better the arguments for and against the existence of God.

[Book Shark · Rating 4 out of 5]

God’s Defenders: What They Believe and Why They are Wrong by S.T. Joshi

“God’s Defenders” is the hard-hitting book of essays that openly criticizes religion. S.T. Joshi takes on popular apologetics in ten sharp-witted essays and goes on an intellectual attack that is often times entertaining and profound. This 330-page book is broken out in the following ten essays and their corresponding apologist(s): 1. The Pragmatical Professor: William James, 2. The Bulldog and the Patrician: G.K. Chesterton and T.S. Eliot, 3. Surprised by Folly: C.S. Lewis, 4. God and the Yale Man: William F. Buckley Jr., 5. Religion and Politics: Stephen L. Carter, 6. Fire and Brimstone: Jerry Falwell, 7. Hand-Wringing from the Literati: Reynolds Price and Annie Dillard, 8. Beautiful Souls: by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, 9. Chatting with the Big Guy: Neale Donald Walsch, and 10. Religion and Morals: Guenter Lewy.

Positives:
1. Well-written book of essays that is accessible and with a touch of irreverent humor.
2. The topic of religion never gets old.
3. Great idea. Popular apologetics under the scrutiny of a sharp-minded atheist.
4. Hits on so many fascinating religious topics.
5. Makes compelling arguments by using sound logic.
6. In defense of natural sciences.
7. So what fosters religious beliefs? Find out.
8. The why of Joshi’s atheism.
9. Thought-provoking commentary throughout, “Truth is better than anything or all things; the next best thing to truth is absence of error”.
10. The greatest harm of religion.
11. It’s amazing how intelligent people can hold such weird beliefs.
12. James mystical experiences debunked.
13. The superiority of secular morality.
14. Surprising how many apologists use the appeal of the majority or as Joshi terms it the “democratic fallacy” to support their flawed arguments.
15. Religious doctrines that have been proven to be false. Scientific knowledge has forced religions to “adjust”.
16. C.S. Lewis’s famous false dichotomy laid to rest.
17. The problem of evil…
18. Interesting insights on animal pain.
19. I’m surprised how intellectually shallow William Buckley Jr. is with regards to religion.
20. The persecution of witches a truly appalling history.
21. The first secular government in the world, that’s why I’m proud to be an American.
22. Interesting take on slavery.
23. Religion and politics.
24. Moral “truths” including those derived from some scripture, are no longer regarded as truths. Such as, racism, slavery, misogyny and theocracy.
25. Jerry Falwell and his “moral” majority.
26. Are there any “true” fundamentalists remaining? Interesting take by Mr. Joshi.
27. The evil of misogyny.
28. My favorite chapter of the book, “Beautiful Souls”.
29. Mr. Joshi obliterates the concept of a soul, “The existence of the ‘soul’ and its survival after death are the most irresponsible and preposterous conceptions in the entire range of theistic thought”. Now that’s conviction and Mr. Joshi backs it up with compelling arguments.
30. Great wisdom, “If religion is false in regard to its assertions about the nature of the universe, why should its ethical precepts, manifestly based upon those assertions, be granted any special respect beyond the shown to any other system of ethics, secular or otherwise?”
31. A great in depth look at morality.
32. The purpose of an ethical system. Great stuff.
33. Respect for animals.
34. The key objection to religion…
35. Inspiring atheists to be more vocal and open about their worldview.



Negatives:
1. The at-times acerbic tone will not sit well with some readers, particularly believers.
2. Having to wait for a follow up book. God’s Defenders Part 2. Including the likes of William Lane Craig, Paul Copan, Lee Strobel, Alvin Plantinga, Richard Swinburne, Pat Robertson, and Rick Warren…
3. Certainly this book is biased. Mr. Joshi’s essays are about his intellectual differences with these apologetics.
4. Links did not work on the Kindle.
5. A bibliography was warranted.


In summary, this turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The book started off a little slowly for me but then it really takes off. The latter part of the book was worth the price of admission, in particular the topics about the soul and morality. Sometimes the sharp tone takes away from the thought-provoking and profound insights but nonetheless it was a worthwhile read. A strong recommendation but not the kind of book you would want to recommend to a friendly believer if you want to play nice.

[Mark Gowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my view, the only thing wrong with this book is that it is not long enough. S.T Joshi offers a collection of religious writers and their ideas. Each essay is then analyzed using philosophers and writers that disagree with those writers.
Joshi pulls no punches, offering the reader an entertaining and often educating viewpoint of not only fundamentalist Christians such as J. Fallwell, but also less dogmatic apologists such as C.S Lewis and G.K Chesterton.
I like this book for the fact that Joshi includes less conservative views of God, many of which seem to try to claim that Christianity can be seen in a more reasonable light. In my mind, while this book does offer reasonable arguments against "God's Defenders", its real purpose is to show the reader how ridiculous the arguments for God's existence really are, especially the more liberal views. I think that it is written for the person that has already decided that there is no God, rather than the person who is in doubt or the more liberal religionist that is open to raw criticism as well as justified arguments against their views. This is not a purely philosophical book, but does make use of philosophy, if only in a very loose and informal way.
It is a good read; it is entertaining, and it includes religious viewpoints that are often passed up either because they are so liberal, or because they are not taken seriously.