Interdisciplinary Book and Film Reviews

THE GOD DELUSION    By Richard Dawkins Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton I heard cries and screams coming from a group of young women down the hall from my office. When I got up to take a look, a colleague explained they were praying for a woman possessed by a demon. Over the years, I have consulted on cases of people who reported being Jesus Christ or having personal encounters with supernatural beings. Often individuals and their families were in deep despair. And we live in an age when religious people destroy in the name of their faith. Supernatural experiences appear to impair rather than enhance well-being in some people. As a clinical psychologist, I approach reports of supernatural phenomena from a somewhat different perspective than does biologist, Richard Dawkins. I'm less concerned about a logical refutation than I am about the destructive power of faith-wielding combatants. ********** In The God Delusion , Dawkins leads an attack on

SEX GOD EXPLORING THE ENDLESS CONNECTIONS BETWEEN SEXUALITY AND SPIRITUALITY     By Rob Bell Reviewed by Geoffrey W. Sutton What Rob Bell Says about Sexuality and Christian Spirituality  When I was writing A House Divided , I read Bell’s book, Sex God , as part of my quest to see what various evangelical Christians have said on the subject. Bell, a graduate of Wheaton College and Fuller Theological Seminary, founded the evangelical Mars Hill Church in Grandville, Michigan. His bestselling books have sometimes promoted controversy within Christian cultures because of his nontraditional views on classic teachings about such doctrines as salvation. He has been associated with the emerging church movement. In my book, I cite Bell as an example of the views of progressive Christians in contrast to those of conservative Christians. As with most of Bell’s writings, Sex God is an easy-to-read poetry-like collection of essays aimed at a general