Book review: Atheist Universe

July 9, 1:14 AMMinneapolis Atheism ExaminerD. A. Ross

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Atheist Universe

David Mills, a soft-spoken, southern gentleman, Baptist-turned-atheist, seems an unlikely boxer in the heated battle of the existence of God, but his good-natured attitude serves his writing well, the reason for which Atheist Universe: The Thinking Person’s Answer to Christian Fundamentalism may be the most accessible of all atheist literature.

Having been a pious, devout religious follower in his youth, Mills is incredibly well-versed in both sides of the “to believe” or “not to believe” argument. The answers provided by science were ultimately far more compelling for the young Mills, rather than the witches and dragon stories of the Bible (Mills provides over a dozen Biblical references to witches, dragons, unicorns and other L. Ron Hubbard-inspired creatures). This change of worldview has led Mills on a quest to disprove nearly every conceivable argument for the existence of God.

Each chapter of Atheist Universe is devoted to a different scientific and religious question – from reconciling Genesis with science and the origins of the universe, to the numerous purported miracles that “prove” God’s meddling in human life – giving Mills a chance to demonstrate his sharp understanding of physics, evolution, astronomy and philosophical reasoning. Mills does an excellent job dismantling the more preposterous claims of Christianity, providing clear, solid logic and supportive evidence for the argument of science.

Here are a few of the issues addressed by Mills:

• Early Christians, in seeking the establishment of a legal holiday for Christ’s birth, chose December 25 – the pagan celebration of the winter solstice under the Julian calendar. For astronomical reasons, the calendar was eventually revised by Pope Gregory XIII, moving the winter solstice to December 21, but Christians kept December 25 as the day Jesus escaped the virgin birth canal.

• The Hebrews adopted many customs and myths from their Babylonian captors. Among the plagiarized myths were Creation Story (i.e., the Babylonian "Adam and Eve") and the Epic of Gilgamesh (i.e., the Babylonian "Noah").

• The Gospels of Matthew and Luke offer glaringly different genealogies of Jesus, starting from his father, Joseph, going back to King David. According to Matthew, there are roughly 26 generations between Christ and David, whereas Luke claims some 41. Besides raising the issue of historical accuracy, this noteworthy discrepancy also begs the question: if Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, how could He possibly have a paternal lineage through Joseph?

Mills loses steam towards the end, starting with the myth of Hell, followed by a brief tangent on the “dangers” of internet porn, but he still manages to posit several solid arguments right up to the book’s conclusion.

Sprinkled within Atheist Universe are humorous quotes from (in)famous atheists throughout history, such as A.A. Milne, creator of Winnie the Pooh, saying, “The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief – call it what you will – than any book ever written,” and writer Kurt Vonnegut stating, “The study of anthropology confirmed my atheism, which was the faith of my fathers anyway. Religions were exhibited and studied as the Rube Goldberg inventions I’d always thought they were.”

Perhaps not a tour-de-force of writing, Atheist Universe will still provide atheists with plenty of ammunition against the arguments made by Christian believers, forcing Christians to re-think their position on many key issues of their faith.