The atheism confronting Christians today makes the the likes of Madalyn Murray O’Hare of the 1950’s and ’60’s look a Smurf. In this little volume, Ravi Zacharias responds to the latest writings of Sam Harris’ (The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation) one of the new atheistic trinity, the other two namely, Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens.

The book can be read in a night, but I underlined so many pages that it took me three sittings. Its chapterless breakdown is strange: Foreword, Prologue, The End of Reason, Notes, and Subject Index, perhaps because it intends to come off as a letter instead of a traditional book. Its arguments flow more like a Mid Eastern document than an alliterated three point outline. If you’re using it as a reference tool for talking to atheists, the Subject Index in the back will be golden. If you’re looking for some intense arguments that pull the rug from underneath the fundamentalist arguments of the new atheists, this book is a trophy.

Ravi Zacharias keys in on the hopelessness and unthinkable immorality that Harris’ worldview invites, vividly illustrated by one walk down the streets of Amsterdam. He uses some presuppositional arguments against Harris, showing how with one side of his mouth Harris blames Christians and religion for war and genocide, and out the other side of his mouth complains that Christians hinder scientific progress with their resistance to genetic engineering and embryonic stem cell research, all the while saying nothing against abortionist doctors who crack the skull of a child’s head as it exits its mother’s womb.

Most interesting is Zacharias’ response to Harris lumping Islam and Christianity into the same category, as if they promoted the same thing, when Islam promotes a system of power and Christianity promotes communion with God and others.

Most admirable is Zacharias’ tone, gentle enough to show compassion to Harris yet firm enough to burn with conviction over the atrocities suggested by a “science is my God” mindset.

Ravi Zacharias. The End of Reason: A Response to the New Atheists. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2008. 143 pp.