Coming to faith through Dawkins - Part 1: has New Atheism failed? - Alister McGrath & Alex O'Connor episode artwork

EPISODE · Sep 1, 2023 · 1H 26M

Coming to faith through Dawkins - Part 1: has New Atheism failed? - Alister McGrath & Alex O'Connor

from Unbelievable?

Unbelievable? delves back into history and asks Did new atheism fail? with one the world’s best-known theologians Alister McGrath debating Oxford-educated philosopher and wildly successful YouTuber Alex O’Connor. Prompted by a new book Coming to Faith Through Dawkins which published on 29th August 2023, the book edited by Denis Alexander and Alister McGrath gathered other intelligent minds from around the world Australia, S. Africa, Egypt, USA, and the UK to share their startling commonality: Richard Dawkins and his fellow New Atheists were instrumental in their conversions to Christianity.  Despite a wide range of backgrounds and cultures, all are united in the fact that they were first enthusiasts for the claims and writings of the New Atheists. But each became disillusioned by the arguments and conclusions of Dawkins, causing them to look deeper and with more objectivity at religious faith. The fallacies of Christianity Dawkins warns of simply don't exist. "This is a novel book: real-life stories of people who have actually come to faith, not in spite of but through Richard Dawkins. It must be his own worst nightmare!" - William Lane Craig   Alister McGrath is a former atheist who discovered Christianity while studying the natural sciences at Oxford University. He has held a number of senior appointments during his career, including Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford, before taking up the Andreas Idreos Professorship of Science and Religion at Oxford, from which he retired last year. He also served as President of the Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics. McGrath is one of the world's best-known theologians and apologists, and is the author of the internationally acclaimed textbook Christian Theology: An Introduction, which has been translated into twenty languages. With his wife, he wrote a critique of Richard Dawkins's God Delusion which became an international bestseller. Later this year, he will publish a new textbook entitled Christian Apologetics: An Introduction. McGrath has three earned doctorates from Oxford University, in the natural sciences, theology, and intellectual history. Alex O’Connor is a YouTuber and host of the Within Reason Podcast, a philosophy platform designed to present philosophical discussions in an accessible format. A graduate of philosophy and theology from St. John’s College, Oxford University, he is also an international public speaker and debater, having defended his philosophical convictions against a wide range of experts across multiple continents, whose online video material has been viewed more than seventy million times. Alex O'Connor: https://www.youtube.com/user/alexjoconnor Alister McGrath: http://alistermcgrath.weebly.com/    Buy the book, Coming to Faith through Dawkins: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Coming-Faith-Through-Dawkins-Christianity/dp/0825448220 • Subscribe to the Unbelievable? podcast: https://pod.link/267142101 • More shows, free eBook & newsletter: https://premierunbelievable.com • For live events: http://www.unbelievable.live • For online learning: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/training • Support us in the USA: http://www.premierinsight.org/unbelievableshow • Support us in the rest of the world: https://www.premierunbelievable.com/donate

NOW PLAYING

Coming to faith through Dawkins - Part 1: has New Atheism failed? - Alister McGrath & Alex O'Connor

0:00 1:26:45

No transcript for this episode yet

We transcribe on demand. Request one and we'll notify you when it's ready — usually under 10 minutes.

Bagged & Tagged

Jun 25, 2026 ·10m

A-Peeling

Jun 23, 2026 ·10m

A Grand Tour

Jun 18, 2026 ·11m

Rafters

Jun 16, 2026 ·11m

Frequently Asked Questions

How long is this episode of Unbelievable??

This episode is 1 hour and 26 minutes long.

When was this Unbelievable? episode published?

This episode was published on September 1, 2023.

What is this episode about?

Unbelievable? delves back into history and asks Did new atheism fail? with one the world’s best-known theologians Alister McGrath debating Oxford-educated philosopher and wildly successful YouTuber Alex O’Connor. Prompted by a new book Coming to...

Can I download this Unbelievable? episode?

Yes, you can download this episode by clicking the download button on the episode player, or subscribe to the podcast in your preferred podcast app for automatic downloads.
URL copied to clipboard!