Who Made God?

Third printing for “Who made God?” February 14, 2010

Following strong January sales and pre-orders in USA, EPBooks initiated a third printing of “Who made God?” for delivery by the end of February. First released in October 2009, the book was reprinted in November due to heavy demand. The second printing will be exhausted by the end of February and the book is back with the printer for the third time in five months.

Railway poster campaign January 26, 2010

During February 2010 we shall be promoting “Who made God?” to the general public by displaying large posters on the platforms of major railway stations throughout UK. The poster carries an image of the cover and comments from Fay Weldon (“Thoughtful, readable, witty, wise …”), the Archbishop of York (“written in a very lively style …”) and Principal Robert Strivens (“Richard Dawkins has more than met his match”).

General bookstore gets interested December 22, 2009

Books like “Who made God?” are not usually stocked by general or secular bookstores in UK but we have found that a little pressure can change this situation. We began by giving a copy of the book to the owner of our local bookshop and followed it up a week or two later by offering to pay for a display to be mounted. The owner liked the book so much that he refused any payment and ordered 15 copies for what he intended as a short display. However, the book sold so well that he ordered another 20 copies and then yet another 15 … all in the space of about 3 weeks. We did help by providing a small “point-of-sale” poster (copies available … please make requests on the “comments” page).

One result of this was that a complete stranger riding an escalator with me said “I’ve seen you somewhere before”. When I introduced myself he said, “I’m reading your book … it’s really entertaining and I’m going to share it with my friends!”

See our new ‘reviews and interviews’ page December 5, 2009

We have added a new sub-page to the Book page entitled ‘reviews and interviews’ where you will find a review by Tim Challies (partial, with a link to the full review), another by an anonymous reviewer that was posted on www.amazon.com, and a link to the Moody Radio interview mentioned previously in the blog.  The idea is to post new reviews and interviews as they appear, so this page will build up in content.

The year’s ‘most important book’? November 21, 2009

Joe Fleener blogging on http://www.emethaletheia.blogspot.com/ comments on “Who made God?” as follows: 

‘It is nearing the end of the year and although I have long lost count of how many books I have read this year, I have without a doubt just finished the best and likely most important book (other than the Bible) I have read this year.

      I will be writing a formal review of the book for Themelios to be published next year, so I will have much more to say soon. However, I really can’t wait until then to say “Buy this book and read it.”

      I really cannot think of another book that so effectively shatters all of the major arguments — from biology, to physics, to psychology, to just the average street-level atheist — against the Biblical account of God and His Creation, the whole time pointing the reader directly to the Gospel of Christ as the only hope for man!’

Moody Radio interview November 13, 2009

I was interviewed yesterday by Paul Butler of Moody Radio in USA about “Who made God?” and you can hear the interview using the following link:

http://moodyradiopaulbutler.wordpress.com/2009/11/13/book-who-made-god/

In the market place November 11, 2009

A Christian book enthusiast tells me that she runs a small stall in her local market place from which she sells books. When she introduced “Who made God?” to the range on offer, every copy on display was snapped up in a single session.

This supports the belief that if this book is made visible to the general public it will attract buyers and so reach out into the non-Christian world … where atheistic evolution gets saturation coverage in the mass media and in schools and colleges. “Who made God?” can be a strategic weapon in the war against atheism and unbelief and thus in the propagation of the biblical gospel. It’s no accident that Amazon have on their own initiative placed it in their “Christianity/evangelism” category (where it still stands at #2 best-seller).

 So what about helping us to raise the visibility of this book? Here are some possible ways of doing so:

1. Make sure your local Christian bookshop both stocks it and displays it prominently (if it doesn’t try some persuasion!)

2. Order copies through your local secular bookshop. Don’t be put off if they say that their wholesaler doesn’t stock it … they can still get it as a special order and this will bring it to the attention of the wholessaler. If several of your friends go to the same bookshop independently and order it, some action could ensue!

3. If you have access to the internet, log on to www.amazon.co.uk or in USA to www.amazon.com, search for the book by title, click on the cover to access the dedicated page, and post a reader’s review (while ticking other reviews with which you agree). You can only post a review if you have an account with Amazon, that is, if you have bought books from them on-line in the past or are willing to buy a book (any book) to give you access to this facility.

4. Give copies to the science and religious education staff of your local school or college.

5. Request your local library to obtain a copy.

And if you have any other ideas please post a reply/comment on this website!

First reprint planned! November 10, 2009

Only seven weeks after “Who made God?” was released in UK (and only five weeks since its release in USA) EP Books are having to order a reprint because stocks of the book are running low. Opportunity is being taken to correct a small number of misprints and restate one argument that was not as clear as it might have been.

One reason for the rapid decline in inventory has been the high level of orders received from Amazon.co.uk, their last order being for 228 copies.

#2 Best seller on ‘Evangelism’ on Amazon UK November 3, 2009

“Who made God?” is selling well on-line on www.amazon.co.uk and is the #2 best-seller in the sub-category “\ religion and spirituality \ Christianity \ Evangelism”. In the higher category of “Christianity” it has varied between #16 and #37 in the best-selling list during the past three days (as I write). These ratings are continually revised and seem to depend on recent sales over a very short period of time; hence the yo-yo effect!

But I’m pleased that Amazon decided to locate the book under ‘Christian Evangelism’ because this emphasizes that it has been written for the person-in-the-street and seeks to neutralise some of the aggressive atheism of Richard Dawkins and his friends — while crucially also setting out a positive Bible-based theism as a far more convincing alternative to the barren landscape of materialism. One problem with the many excellent anti-atheism books that have been published in recent months and years is that none of them seem to engage the atheists with biblical argument, but choose instead to fight the battle on purely philosophical grounds. This can be very effective in a way but it’s basically negative and doesn’t offer an alternative world-view to that of the highly-publicised atheism of Dawkins and Co.

Early responses to “Who made God?” November 2, 2009

The book was released in UK at the end of September and we’ve had some interesting responses. Popular author Bill Bryson responded to a complimentary copy by saying, “Thank you so much. I am immensely grateful”. Dr John Sentamu, Anglican Archbishop of York, wrote: “Thank you for sending me a copy of your book ‘Who made God?’ I note that you oppose the biologists’ evolution theory, which is accepted by very many Christians. I can see that your book is written in a very lively style and conveys complex subjects in palatable form. Although I have not been able to give it my full attention, I hope it will be a rejoinder to those atheists who imagine that they have the last word. With every blessing”. Another correspondent kindly says, “Your book will be one I will re-read again and again”.

If the Archbishop had been able to give it his full attention, of course, he would have discovered that I distinguish clearly and in detail between micro-evolution (which I accept) and macro-evolution (which I don’t). This distinction is crucial because most of the claimed evidence for evolution actually relates to micro-evolution — which occurs almost entirely within a given species to produce different varieties or races of that species and only occasionally rises to the level of speciation (the formation of new species, depending strongly on how one defines “species”). Nevertheless I am genuinely grateful to Dr Sentamu — many people in his position would not have bothered to reply at all, let alone take the trouble to actually dip into the book!