Actually, just because I realised this was a book review, I wouldn't bother reading anything with 'God' in the title unless it's science fiction. Honestly, I have found all the atheist/religion genre to be about the least useful piles of steamers I have yet to read. Honestly, if you want to find something out about the world and be entertained at the same time there are plenty of other authors out there. Douglas Adams would be a great start. Seriously, if you are so angst ridden that you have to resort to reading Dawkins or Lobel in the same year, you are seriously messed up and they are unlikely to be helpful.

Pelican you ask

runner, you still have not really answered my question. All you are saying is that you believe in the scriptures but why do you believe in them? How do you know they are authentic and not some construct of man?'

There are several reasons why I believe that the Scriptures are not some construct of man.

1. Christ's birth, life and death was written about accurately hundreds of years prior to the event.

2. The apostles who deserted Jesus while being taken away to be crucified were completely changed after having seen the resurrected Lord. Many of them willingly went to horrible deaths knowing that they to would be raised from the dead like their Master. Unlike many religions these men from different backgrounds were not brainwashed but convinced of an afterlife after meeting their Lord.

3. Jesus was who He said He was otherwise He was a liar. I can't find a word He spoke not to be true.

4. Their is no other person in history who was sinless other than Jesus.

5. The teachings of Jesus are not matched anywhere.

6. It is obvious to me that men are born with a conscience although many have now been seared. Science can not explain this. Even those who claim not to believe in absolutes are absolutely sure they are right.

7. The bible still has the most plausible explanation for origins despite some very poor attempts to disprove.

8. The predictions about Israel spoken by Jesus and the prophets have proven to be true.

9. I know that myself and all others display the Adamic nature. The last Adam did not.

10. Life without God is nothing but vanity and serves no useful purpose.
These are just a few of the reasons I believe

The next believer who uses the words 'militant' and 'violent' in regard to atheists should explain why in the survey of news events maintained at

http://atheistwiki.wikispaces.com/Outrage+scoreboard

violent deaths due to religious beliefs outnumber violent deaths due to atheist beliefs by about 800 to one.

'Militant' atheists demand evidence. Militant believers kill people -- including themselves. Anybody see a double standard here?

Christian intellectuals can debate scripture for eternity, but virgins don't give birth, people don't rise from the dead, and god clearly isn't intervening in the world.

We had an Enlightenment, folks. Why is our society still dragging this rotten ideological carcass around?

[quote]"I would love a psychological and philosophical article on this subject if it was possible."[/quote]

I doubt a clinical psychological appraisal of the god belief would get an unbiased hearing here, myself and another put together an internal study paper on psychological analyse of religion at Melbourne uni in the 70's, for a bit of a stir. When presented at a lecture, it went down like a lead balloon with the christians. Many interrupted the reading, becoming vocally abusive. They reacted as we described as symptoms of our imaginary illness.

[quote]If you want to disprove God use the Bible.. It is excellent for that exact purpose[/quote]

Logically and using empirical data, you can use to the bible to disprove god very easily. I know of no substantiated fact supporting biblical events as claimed. Every archaeological or anthropological discovery leads in the opposite direction.

In ideology, we find varying degrees of involvement, making it hard to make qualified individual analysis. Psychological and philosophically, you gauge their state as a patient, by their actual outcomes, supported by verified data. Abusers of all descriptions, psychopaths and those with behavioural problems, deny emphatically verified data displaying their truth, compared to their delusional demands. The psychological state of a believer and for that matter anyone, is determined by their associated outcomes. To determine the psychological state of an ideology, in this case god, you use the verifiable and viewable data associated with the outcomes. You don't listen to denial of assault, or denial of association, when injuries, supporting video and witness statements show the opposite. So why would you believe what supporters say regarding god, when we have a history of verifiable and witnessed outcomes, depicting the opposite.

To me this only leads to one conclusion, the more you rely upon and believe in ideologies, the more you display the symptom of psychological illness. When you collate the data for the actual outcome for god, it's philosophy and followers, you see all the symptoms and outcomes displayed in psychopathy in varying degrees.

The Goddess Eostre blesses all who continue to celebrate in Her name, she bids the consumption of eggs, breads and tons of choccy.

Although She remains bemused that Her festival includes the idolatry of a murder, given that She wishes new growth and new hope upon all - irrespective of belief.

Blessed be.