I have read a number of the books on the list but I will re-read them in their appropriate placement (though they will be striked-out on the list). I will be skipping the “beginner” level books, so they too will also be striked-out. This post will simply provide a record of what I’ve read during the challenge and what I still need to read.

I think the challenge is an important one, but at the same time I’m saddened that many people require a ‘challenge’ to do this sort of thing. It seems to me that if one is going to firmly take a position on some issue, they should engage with the material that represents any alternative positions. As should be no secret to anyone who reads much of my writing, I think that many theists and atheists alike suffer from being poorly read in the philosophy of religion (some even question the importance of such reading!). Our positions on the existence of God, whether theistic or atheists, must be rational positions. They must be reasoned, coherent and comprehensive. Theists who never engage properly in the philosophy of religion are prone to formulate concepts of God that are incoherent or contradictory, and atheists who do not engage seem largely unaware of the relevant issues at hand, holding a position that is sometimes more irrational than the concepts of God that theists hold.

Personally, this couldn’t come at a better time for me. I think this challenge will be very useful in my preparation for graduate school, simply because whatever the outcome, I will be heading into graduate school with (hopefully) a clear cut position that I want to defend and perhaps clear ideas on which problems I feel need resolving.

At any rate, I thank Luke for putting the reading list together and for provoking a challenge that will hopefully move many out of a realm of intellectual comfort and into intellectual inquiry. I am very excited to see the results of other participants, and of course, my own results at the end of the challenge. Throughout the challenge I will be using perhaps the best piece of advice that can be given to any inquiring individual, “follow the evidence where it leads.”

After I complete each book I may very well write something regarding how I feel it has impacted my position. I may not post these here, though, as I think they might make an interesting collection for a book of its own!

So, here is the list!

The Reading List

Stage 1:

1. Guy P. Harrison – 50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God (354 pages, beginner, skeptical)

2. Peter Kreeft & Ronald Tacelli – Handbook of Christian Apologetics (406 pages, beginner, apologetic)

Stage 2:

3. John Loftus & others – The Christian Delusion (385 pages, intermediate, skeptical)

4. William Lane Craig – Reasonable Faith (416 pages, intermediate, apologetic)

5. C. Stephan Layman – Letters to Doubting Thomas (240 pages, intermediate, apologetic)

6. John Loftus – Why I Became an Atheist (428 pages, intermediate, skeptical)

Stage 3:

7. Greg Boyd & Paul Eddy – The Jesus Legend (480 pages, intermediate, apologetic)

8. Robert Price – Jesus is Dead (279 pages, intermediate, skeptical)

Stage 4:

9. Richard Carrier – Sense and Goodness Without God (444 pages, intermediate, skeptical)

10. J.P. Moreland & William Lane Craig – Philosophical Foundations for a Christian Worldview (653 pages, advanced, apologetic)

Stage 5:

11. Michael Martin – The Case Against Christianity (256 pages, advanced, skeptical)

12. J.P. Moreland – Scaling the Secular City (288 pages, advanced, apologetic)

13. Robin Le Poidevin – Arguing for Atheism (184, pages, advanced, skeptical)

14. James F. Sennett & others – In Defense of Natural Theology (336 pages, advanced, apologetic)

Stage 6:

15. Richard Swinburne – The Existence of God (376 pages, advanced, apologetic)

16. Gregory Dawes – Theism and Explanation (222 pages, advanced, skeptical)

Stage 7:

17. Nicholas Everitt – The Non-Existence of God (352 pages, advanced, skeptical)

18. J.L. Mackie - The Miracle of Theism (278 pages, advanced, skeptical)

19. Michael J. Murray & others – Reason for the Hope Within (429 pages, advanced, apologetic)

20. Michael Martin – Atheism: A Philosophical Justification (541 pages, advanced, skeptical)

21. Paul Copan & others – The Rationality of Theism (304 pages, advanced, apologetic)

22. Graham Oppy – Arguing About Gods (472 pages, advanced, skeptical)

23. William Lane Craig & others – The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology (704 pages, advanced, apologetic)

24. Jordan Howard Sobel – Logic and Theism (676 pages, advanced, skeptical)

25. Alvin Plantinga – Warranted Christian Belief (528 pages, advanced, apologetic)