Atheist Universe

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Book cover from the retitled second edition of Atheist Universe

Atheist Universe: Why God Didn't Have a Thing To Do With It is a book originally self-published by David Mills in 2004. Ulysses Press of Berkeley, California, published a second edition in August 2006, for distribution to major bookstore chains. This edition of Atheist Universe is subtitled The Thinking Person's Answer to Christian Fundamentalism and includes a foreword by Dorion Sagan, the son of Carl Sagan.

As of March 8th, 2007, Atheist Universe sits at #1,208 in Amazon's book sales rank. However, it was at one point Amazon's best selling book on atheism.

Atheist Universe supplies counter-apologetics arguments through the Evidentalist paradigm. One of the central themes of the work is debunking Intelligent Design or Creationist thoughts through enumerating the apologetic arguments behind them and proving them false through the use of modern scientific evidence. For example, David Mills explains the typical apologist's rationale for believing the age of the Earth to be approximately 6000 years old. These apologists determine Earth's age through looking at the genealogies and ages of persons mentioned in the Bible. Mills goes on to tear this notion of a 6000-year-old Earth apart by giving such evidence as radiant light energy seen on Earth from stars that are billions of light-years away from Earth and explaining the modern scientific understanding of fossilization. Along the way, he counters such claims as a Great Flood and provides sound scientific arguments against apologist claims for it.

Atheist Universe tackles the following questions (from the back cover):

  • What is atheism, and why is it so misunderstood?
  • If God is a myth, then how did the universe appear?
  • Without God, is there an objective "right" and "wrong"?
  • What is the meaning of life without God?
  • Is there evidence of Jesus' miracles and resurrection?
  • Can atheists explain "near death" experiences and medical miracles?
  • Can science and the Bible be realistically reconciled?
  • What is the behind-the-scenes relationship between politics and religion?