InterviewBlog | In conversation with Alister McGrath
In conversation with Alister McGrath
Author: Andy PeckPost Date: 13.06.24
Alister McGrath is the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University, a prolific author and debater. A trained scientist and former atheist, he wrote the international bestseller The Dawkins Delusion specifically to explore issues raised by the new atheists. Peter and Alister discuss his book, Coming to Faith Through Dawkins: 12 Essays on the Pathway from New Atheism to Christianity, which Alister jointly compiled and edited with Denis Alexander.
pc What was it that made you and Denis Alexander conceive the idea for this book and how did you edit it, to compile the 12 case studies?
AM I was heavily involved in debating the ‘new atheism’ back in 2006 and 2007, but then I moved on to other things. What I found happening in the last five years was people would come to see me in Oxford and say, ‘We want to study theology’ or ‘We want to study the relation of science and faith.’ I’d ask them why they wanted to do this and, time and time again, they told me something like this. ‘We read Richard Dawkins and bought into him. We thought he was wonderful, but then began to read deeper and reflect, and thought – this can’t be right.’ The ones who came to see me are now Christians because ‘We’ve reconsidered the whole thing.’ I find that astonishing.
I then got talking to Denis Alexander, and he told me that he had also come across this. We wondered if we could persuade some of these people to write their stories down. Some didn’t want to do this, because they felt they were still early in their careers and didn’t want to cause problems for themselves. We did find 12 people, however, who were willing to tell their stories, and that’s how the book came about. These 12 really stood out. They represented a very broad social group, coming from six nations, both genders, and lots of very different backgrounds.
