Book Review: What’s So Great About Christianity

Western civilization has become increasingly secular over the past few generations. Science has made advances in fields like astronomy and physics that make religion seem less plausible to a culture that considers itself eminently rational. In addition to the well-documented decline in religious belief, however, there has been an increase in active, aggressive, unapologetic atheism. In much the same way that homosexuality is becoming increasingly acceptable, atheism in many parts of Western civilization is acceptable, or even the norm. Atheists claim the mantle of reason, seeking to discredit religion as superstitious or a collection of fairy tales only primitive or small-minded people could believe.

It is against this backdrop that Dinesh D’Souza has produced his most recent book, What’s So Great About Christianity. In it, D’Souza engages atheists on their own ground, firmly, deliberately, and clearly making the rational case for religion in general and Christianity in particular. Making the rational case for God is an enormous and complicated undertaking, but D’Souza proves to be more than up to the task. Since the argument covers some 200-odd pages, I won’t try to attempt to summarize it in a handful of paragraphs. However, readers will find that while the topic is tremendous in scope, the logic of the argument is simple and unavoidable. For example, all reasonable people agree that every event has a cause. Given that modern astronomy confirms that the universe was created at a finite point in time, before which neither space nor time existed, the inception of the universe therefore implies the existence of an immaterial and eternal Creator.

A much-needed rejoinder to the recent spate of prominent atheist books by Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and others, What’s So Great About Christianity explodes the logical fallacies that prop up the modern atheist’s worldview. Believers and open-minded skeptics alike will find it a challenging read that is highly accessible, enlightening, and convincing.