The post examines Hitchens’ central arguments against religion—its irrationality, historical harms, moral failings, and explanatory inadequacy—identifying logical fallacies, factual errors, and conceptual weaknesses, while refuting his claims with scientific, historical, philosophical, and theological evidence. The tone is critical yet analytical, drawing on reputable sources to substantiate the refutation.
A Critical Review and Refutation of Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: Fallacies, Errors, and a Flawed Polemic
Christopher Hitchens’ God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything (2007) is a fiery manifesto of New Atheism—a 300-page broadside against religion’s existence, influence, and morality. With his signature wit and venom, Hitchens argues that faith is irrational, historically destructive, morally bankrupt, and intellectually redundant, famously declaring, “Religion poisons everything.” Published amid post-9/11 fervor, it sold over 500,000 copies and cemented his status as a skeptic icon. Yet, revisiting this polemic reveals a work riddled with fallacies, factual blunders, and rhetorical overreach that undermine its bold claims. Here’s a detailed review and refutation, showing why God Is Not Great fails as a serious critique—backed by sources.
Overview: A Sledgehammer, Not a Scalpel
Hitchens’ thesis is blunt: religion—chiefly Christianity, Islam, Judaism—is humanity’s scourge, responsible for war, oppression, and ignorance (God Is Not Great, Ch. 1). He rejects God as a “celestial dictator,” cites scripture’s absurdities, and lauds science’s triumph. His prose dazzles— “What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence” (Ch. 13)—but beneath the flair lies a shaky case. Let’s unpack his arguments, expose the cracks, and refute them.
Fallacy #1: Hasty Generalization—Religion Poisons Everything
Hitchens’ titular claim—“religion poisons everything” (God Is Not Great, Ch. 1)—sweeps broadly, blaming faith for all ills: Crusades, Inquisition, 9/11. This hasty generalization takes outliers as the norm, ignoring religion’s positives.
Critique: Religion’s no monolith—Christianity birthed hospitals (e.g., Basil’s Basiliad, 4th century) and universities (e.g., Bologna, 1088 AD) (Rashdall, The Universities of Europe, 1895). The Bible’s “love your neighbor” (Matthew 22:39) fueled abolition (Wilberforce, Amazing Grace, Clarkson, 1807). Hitchens cherry-picks—Rwanda’s genocide (1994) killed 800,000, driven by tribalism, not faith (Human Rights Watch, 1999). His “everything” flops—exceptions abound.
Refutation: “Test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21)—Hitchens fails. Religion’s mixed bag—good and bad—mirrors humanity, not a toxin. His brush tars too wide.
Fallacy #2: Straw Man—God as a Cosmic Tyrant
Hitchens paints God as a “permanent North Korea” (God Is Not Great, Ch. 2)—a dictator demanding worship, damning dissenters. This straw man flattens theology into a cartoon, dodging nuance.
Critique: Christianity’s God is love (1 John 4:8), not just wrath—free will’s the crux (Plantinga, God, Freedom, and Evil, 1974). Genesis 1:27—“in His image”—grants dignity, not slavery. Hitchens skips this, mocking “sado-masochistic” faith (Ch. 7). Augustine’s Confessions (397 AD) sees God as purpose—Hitchens’ tyrant’s a fiction.
Refutation: Fine-tuning—α ≈ 1/137 (Davies, The Goldilocks Enigma, 2006)—suggests a purposeful cosmos, not a jail. “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1)—Hitchens’ caricature misses the mark.
Error #1: Historical Distortions—Religion’s Rap Sheet
Hitchens blames religion for history’s woes—Crusades (200,000 dead, Ch. 8), witch hunts (40,000-60,000, Ch. 11). He claims science suffered—Galileo’s trial (1633) as proof (Ch. 5).
Fallacy: Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc
“After religion, therefore because of it”—a post hoc error. Crusades mixed faith with politics—land, power drove them (Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades, 2005). Witch hunts? Secular courts outkilled churches (Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, 2006).
“After religion, therefore because of it”—a post hoc error. Crusades mixed faith with politics—land, power drove them (Madden, The New Concise History of the Crusades, 2005). Witch hunts? Secular courts outkilled churches (Levack, The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe, 2006).
Critique: Galileo’s clash was dogma, not science’s death— heliocentrism won (Koestler, The Sleepwalkers, 1959). Religion birthed science—Copernicus, a cleric, thrived (Collins, The Language of God, 2006). Hitchens’ tally skips atheism’s toll—Stalin’s 20 million (Conquest, The Great Terror, 1968). History’s complex—he simplifies.
Refutation: Jericho’s fall (Wood, Biblical Archaeology Review, 1990) backs scripture—Hitchens’ “myths” falter. Faith’s fruits—charity, art—outweigh his ledger.
Fallacy #3: Appeal to Ridicule—Scripture’s Absurdities
Hitchens mocks the Bible—talking snakes (Genesis 3), virgin births (Matthew 1)—as “fairy tales” (God Is Not Great, Ch. 6). This appeal to ridicule swaps argument for snark.
Critique: Genre matters—Genesis blends poetry and history (Walton, The Lost World of Genesis One, 2009). Virgin birth? Unique, yes—historically attested (Luke 1:1-4, Craig, Reasonable Faith, 2008). Hitchens’ “absurd” skips context—Job’s “where were you?” (38:4) humbles, doesn’t clown.
Refutation: DNA’s complexity (Axe, Journal of Molecular Biology, 2004)—odds 1 in 10⁷⁷—mirrors Genesis’ “fearfully made” (Psalm 139:14). Hitchens’ laughter doesn’t disprove—he dodges.
Error #2: Misreading the Problem of Evil
Hitchens argues evil—wars, disease—nixes God (God Is Not Great, Ch. 17). “If God’s good, why suffering?”—Epicurus redux.
Fallacy: False Dichotomy
Either God’s not omnipotent or not good—a false dichotomy. He ignores a third path: evil’s purpose.
Either God’s not omnipotent or not good—a false dichotomy. He ignores a third path: evil’s purpose.
Critique: Plantinga’s defense—free will enables love, evil’s byproduct (God, Freedom, and Evil, 1974). Natural evil? Tectonics sustain life (Ward, Rare Earth, 2000). Romans 8:28—“All things work for good”—Hitchens’ “why kids with cancer?” (Ch. 17) misses eternity’s lens.
Refutation: Christ’s cross (1 Corinthians 15:55) absorbs evil—Hitchens’ “no reason” assumes too much. Burden’s on him—he flunks.
Fallacy #4: Begging the Question—Naturalism’s Triumph
Hitchens touts science—evolution, cosmology—as God’s replacement (God Is Not Great, Ch. 4). “No need for a deity”—naturalism wins.
Critique: He assumes naturalism—begging the question. Why those laws? Big Bang (H² = (8πG/3)ρ, Planck 2018) needs a cause—Krauss’ “nothing” (A Universe from Nothing, 2012) has rules (Penrose, Cycles of Time, 2010).
Refutation: Fine-tuning odds (Davies, 2006) and DNA (Axe, 2004) scream design—“In the beginning, God” (Genesis 1:1) fits better than “it just did.”
Error #3: Moral Superiority Claim
Hitchens claims religion’s immoral—slavery, misogyny (God Is Not Great, Ch. 9)—while atheism’s enlightened.
Fallacy: Ad Hominem
He attacks faith’s flaws, not its truth—an ad hominem. Slavery? Cultural, not biblical—Philemon redeems it (v. 16).
He attacks faith’s flaws, not its truth—an ad hominem. Slavery? Cultural, not biblical—Philemon redeems it (v. 16).
Critique: Atheism’s record— Mao’s 40 million (Chang, Mao, 2005)—taints his high ground. “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44) outshines Stoic grit. Hitchens’ “immoral” skips this.
Refutation: Objective morality—“murder’s wrong” (Romans 2:15)—needs a Lawgiver. Hitchens’ humanism borrows, doesn’t build.
Why It’s a Bad Book: A Polemic, Not a Proof
God Is Not Great dazzles with prose but flops as argument. Fallacies—hasty generalization, straw man, post hoc, appeal to ridicule, false dichotomy, begging the question, ad hominem—pile up. Errors—historical twists, evil’s misread, moral smugness—deepen the mess. Hitchens swings a sledgehammer where a scalpel’s needed—science (Davies, Ward), history (Craig, Wood), and scripture (Romans, Matthew) refute him. As Lent calls for truth, “Test everything” (1 Thessalonians 5:21) finds this wanting—brilliant bluster, hollow core.
Sources:
- Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great. 2007.
- Plantinga, Alvin. God, Freedom, and Evil. 1974.
- Craig, William Lane. Reasonable Faith. 2008.
- Davies, Paul. The Goldilocks Enigma. 2006.
- Penrose, Roger. The Road to Reality. 2004 & Cycles of Time. 2010.
- Axe, Douglas. Journal of Molecular Biology. 2004.
- Ward, Peter & Brownlee, Donald. Rare Earth. 2000.
- Collins, Francis. The Language of God. 2006.
- Madden, Thomas. The New Concise History of the Crusades. 2005.
- Levack, Brian. The Witch-Hunt in Early Modern Europe. 2006.
- Wood, Bryant. Biblical Archaeology Review. 1990.
- Bible (RSV): Genesis 1:1-27, Psalm 19:1, Romans 8:28, etc.
This post delivers a scathing review and refutation of God Is Not Great, detailing Hitchens’ fallacies and errors with robust evidence and sources.
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