Without God: Science, Belief, Morality, and the Meaning of Life Paperback – August 22, 2019

Full disclosure: Like Broom, I consider myself a thoughtful theist, firmly grounded in an evangelical Christian world view. So it's not surprising that I might give this book a positive review. Having said that, this is is the first book I've reviewed on Amazon, and wanted to add my small voice to his by way of a recommendation to read this book. To the Christian or theist struggling to understand the perspective of an atheist, Bloom explains well and with fairness some foundational assumptions which underlie atheism. He outlines many of their key critiques of theistic thought. To the atheist, he does the same in reverse. And most significantly, he does so without rancor, ugly name-calling, or belittling beliefs or perspectives different from his own. He shows honest respect for those who might disagree, even as he clearly embraces some arguments as true.This is not an in-depth treatise on these topics. It's a clear and concise survey of a rich body of theological, apologetic, philosophical, and atheistic thought. Each of his chapters are multi-volume books in their own right, with a rich tradition of theistic and secular authors wrestling with the topics he discusses. It's clear that he has read and digested much of this literary library, and not just from authors who hold beliefs that match his own. He quotes and references authors extensively but not in a highfalutin and inaccessible way. His discussion is logical and clear.Even though this book is primarily a bringing together of ideas, I think that Broom's voice adds something meaningful and new to the conversation. If you've read or been exposed to a good bit of that library like I have, you may find this book to be a wonderful synthesis of thought. I found it helpful to me in this way. If you haven't read much atheists and theologians, or are trying to sort out your own understanding, I would recommend this book as one of the very best aids I've encountered. Very nicely done.

Either there is nothing or there is Someone. That is the ultimate existential choice. I believe in the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ because the opposite choice isn’t Zeus or Baal; it’s NOTHING. After further review, I concluded long ago that nothing was not a sustainable reason to live or to love. God is.

I discovered this book right when I was really struggling with my faith. I had a traumatizing experience and any doubts I had seemed to be amplified. Broom does a good job at facing these doubts, some that he has themselves, and provides logical reasoning that helps the mind make sense of all the big questions. He is thorough and cites lots of atheist and theist scholars and does side by side comparisons.I was a little skeptical about the book, because it focuses on the philosophical arguments the most, where I have always been more historical. But this had an easy to follow flow to it. it is not an endless circle. he will say "here are 3, 4, or whatever sides to an argument, and here is why I feel this one makes more sense"another thing I like about it is that his thoughts and reasoning are geared more towards people going through an internal struggle. this helped me restore my faith internally. so many other apologetic books out there speak about how to argue with an athiest and how to respond to non believers. I am not looking to argue with anyone, I am looking to settle some doubts I have and this book has done it better than any others in recent memory.I never heard of this author before, but he seems honest and genuine. he doesn't regurgitate reasons to believe, but looks at it from all angles, including athiest views. he also shares personal experiences at times when needed to help make a connection. he is very relatable and I will follow him for more if he ever makes another book

What better day to review a book like this than on Christmas?I say this tongue in cheek, but the writer will know he has "arrived" as a Christian author when he awakens to find a scathing, multi-thousand word, chapter by chapter rebuttal/review of his entire book here. Daring to approach this subject as even being worthy of serious consideration usually triggers such one-star reviews sooner or later. On the other side of the ledger, it is refreshing not to see an inordinate number of glowing, gushing, fawning, 5-star reviews that seem to so often accompany Christian books as well.Let me say from the outset that I appreciate the author admitting at one point in the book that he does have doubts about Christianity at times, and that the level of those doubts can vary. I suspect that is true for many people of faith. He also gives credit to the skeptics where credit is due, and successfully acts as an honest broker in moderating the larger conversation about God. He handles the arguments and the opposition fairly in my estimation and does not trivialize them. At the end of the day, Christianity is about faith. Not blind, willfully ignorant faith, but faith nonetheless.It is worth noting that while science may be the "best" way we gain knowledge, it is not the only way we can gain it. This book strikes me as a reasonable attempt to piece together all we think we know about God's possible existence, as well as how we think we know it; science, philosophy, spirituality, history, our experiences (and the experiences of others), intuition, etc. as we endeavor to determine what it is most likely to be true. Everyone processes the available evidence differently, through their own cultural and intellectual filters.Ultimately, there is no "proving" that God exists, no matter how hard some apologists try to do just that. Furthermore, as we see from court cases and research, two people can look at the exact same data and come to completely opposite conclusions about what it all means. This is particularly true when it comes to belief in God. Some people look at all the potential evidence - from all possible sources - and conclude that God exists, or at least could exist, while others look at all of the available information and conclude there is no real evidence at all. At the end of the day, each of us determines which perspective makes the most sense.In essence, this book presents an overview of why belief in God is not wholly irrational in our modern times. Basically, it provides a reasonable framework regarding how to approach and consider the question of God's possible existence. The author does not really attempt to "prove God is real" so much as effectively demonstrate that belief in God is not unreasonable.The book does not insult your intelligence with silly, transparently weak assertions, nor does it gratuitously belittle unbelievers. This is not a smug, biased attempt to prop up the Christian faith, nor does it rely on quoting the Bible to prove the Bible, as so many books like this do. Penned from a Christian perspective, it is sort of a tour guide for how to approach and ponder these topics, outlining some of the basic arguments for and against.As to how I feel it could be improved, while the book does not strike me as being particularly original in the issues it deals with, it does do a good job coalescing the basic arguments. However, it presents enough information that I believe a summary section at the end of each chapter pulling it all together would be really helpful. I hope the author considers adding concise chapter summaries of key points in future printings of the book.