Just like the countless books that expound on the philosophies of faith and the ways that you can better serve the lord, Cunningham’s book is written for a particular audience. Namely those atheists who were unconvinced by Francis S. Collins’ look at Christianity from a scientific perspective in the first place. After all, Collins’ has made a lot of money and gained a significant amount of fame by supposedly bridging the gap between science and religion. Cunningham decries Collins’ analysis of the evidence for belief point by point in succinct readable fashion that clearly points out the errors in Collins’ case. For instance, I also had a problem with some of Collins’ more esoteric arguments concerning man’s basic need for a God-like figure. Clearly, Cunningham doesn’t have this need. Nor do I.

However, I could write a similar book pointing out the faults in “Decoding the Language of God”. For instance, he entirely misreads Collins’ case that religion has been the cause of good in the world, as well as evil. But then, somebody else could write a book pointing out all the flaws in my book pointing out all of Cunningham’s flaws. This brings me back the basic issue with “response” books. You can’t win.

While Cunningham tries to circumvent language that might offend believers, he gives them a good kick to the gut nearly right off the bat by comparing a religion that has existed for thousands of years to the belief that “herds of English-speaking unicorns live in Southern Africa”. He also mentions several times the need for believers to hold onto an “imaginary” being. Obviously, for those who do believe in Him, God is not imaginary. These are the kinds of things that don’t convince, but rather close the minds of the very readers the book is trying to explain things to. Just like a book written for fundamentalists Christians would call atheists misguided or evil, Cunningham makes a similar strike at Christianity, reducing his audience to those who are already on his side of the argument.

The difference here is that Cunningham has a much smaller readership than Collins, and that makes his work nobler in its pursuit. This is really a remarkably detailed book, and provides not only a foundation for atheist belief, but strong counter arguments to the Christian claims of the supernatural. It hold Collins’ book up to its burden of proof, and that is important. But by rushing to strike, Cunningham pits himself up against Collins’ book, “The Language of God”, which does the job of bridging two seemingly unbridgeable philosophies, and dwarfs Cunningham’s larger argument which is that religion is dangerous.

“Decoding the Language of God” is a book that everyone should read. By questioning your own core beliefs, you’ll find a stronger position on either side of the argument, which will further affirm your faith whether or not it includes a religious deity. Read it along side Francis S. Collins’ “The Language of God” to get a broader scope of the debate and the evidence for both claims.