Books by Rupert Shortt

"To many, the problem of evil and suffering constitutes by far the most serious objection to mainstream religious belief. For all its starkness and salience, though, the dilemma is also widely misinterpreted. That visceral feelings often dominate discussion is understandable on one level. But this can displace the clearer-headed thinking needed to shed greater light on the subject. In this brief but broad-ranging book, Rupert Shortt shows that belief in a divine Creator is much more coherent intellectually than many sceptics suppose. Basic misconceptions about core aspects of Judaism, Christianity and Islam can in turn spawn still greater caricatures of subjects including divine power. Having cleared the ground, Shortt goes on to discuss the nature of evil from a classical Abrahamic standpoint and how Christian resources in particular offer guidance in an area where raw emotion, conceptual thought and the deepest trials of the spirit overlap. If the dilemma has no clear solution, that need not discredit sensitive and creative ways of grappling with it."--

A timely and succinct critique that exposes the main flaws in Dawkins's latest book - including his weakness for crude caricatures, his philosophical illiteracy and other mistakes and muddles - while also demonstrating the coherence of a mature, self-critical faith and its contribution to human progress.

Investigation of the debates on religious conflict.

The aim of this book is twofold: One is to counter the huge weight of column inches being spent on the perceived, and actual, persecution of Islam. The second is to turn up the volume on the side of Christians rather than Atheists (a position which has been underpinned so vociferously by Dawkins et al in recent times).In fact there have been - and still are - many terrible stories of murder, oppression and persecution of Christians around the world, in East Timor, Burma, Egypt, China, Iran, and many other countries. The reason we don't hear much about them, says the author, is the fear of giving offence; the fact young Christians don't become radicalised; and persecuted Christians tend not to respond with violence. Yet Christians are persecuted in greater numbers than any other global religious body, and this fact is severely under-recognised.It looks likely interfaith relations will be a major challenge of the 21st century, and harmony between religions is looking pretty remote. Why are faiths now so associated with violent conflict? Why has the communications revolution had a deeper impact on Islam than on Christianity? Why is there a tendency to associate Christianity with the West, and with overt/covert forms of colonialism? Just how insular and prejudiced are we in the West about Christians abroad?