Young Australian Christians reading Dawkins and Hitchens: A qualitative study

The method of interpretive phenomenology was used to investigate the responses of twelve young Australian Christian University students to selected writings by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. In analysing the interview data, the following six themes emerged: the style is entertaining and h...

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Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Pembroke, Neil 1958- (VerfasserIn)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
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Veröffentlicht: 2013
In: Theology
Jahr: 2013, Band: 116, Heft: 3, Seiten: 177-186
weitere Schlagwörter:B Richard Dawkins
B Qualitative Research
B New Atheists
B Christopher Hitchens
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Parallele Ausgabe:Nicht-Elektronisch
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung:The method of interpretive phenomenology was used to investigate the responses of twelve young Australian Christian University students to selected writings by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. In analysing the interview data, the following six themes emerged: the style is entertaining and humorous; the style is disrespectful and mocking; many of the arguments are perceived as lacking depth and philosophical sophistication; constructive engagement with ‘the other side’ was found to be lacking; the ‘religion poisons everything’ argument cannot be sustained (it’s a human rather than a specifically religious failing); and, finally, the arguments that cast doubt on the historicity and reliability of the biblical accounts are troubling. Though the capacity for critical analysis is variable in the cohort, all of the participants were able to point up serious flaws in the arguments. No one found her- or himself ‘falling under the spell’ of the authors.
ISSN:2044-2696
Enthält:Enthalten in: Theology
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1177/0040571X12472597