A Google user
Harris makes one specious argument after another, oblivious to his dubious assumptions. The most glaring mistake: His assertion that the Bible contradicts itself about how to get to heaven. He claims the Bible says in places that keeping the law is required but elsewhere only faith in Jesus saves. How many Christians did he have review the book before it was published? He's right about his claim, but didn't realize that he was staring not a contradiction, but rather the gospel, in the face. He missed that you could in theory be justified by works, but since no one in reality lives a life without sin, the only practical solution is forgiveness through faith in Christ.
Harris holds a secular humanistic presupposition, which he uses to support his arguments, for example that the first four of The Ten Commandments are not related to what he calls morality. He oversimplifies history, ignoring the commuting of sentences the trade-off of slavery vs. other options for captured attackers. This skewed perspective underpins his case against the Old Testament law.
Harris assumes God does not work through practical means, in particular those that can be scientifically observed. Anything short of a giant hand reaching down from the sky he regards as essentially outside of God's domain. The more complicated view, but the one actually true to the doctrine attempts to refute, that it is right for God to be both pleased and angry, to judge with blessing and cursing, and to do so through rather ordinary means because he controls whatever detail he so chooses - this level of sophistication is entirely beyond the scope of the book. Only fairly simple issues, such as problems with Roman Catholicism and Islam were covered well. Too bad, because proving a thoughtful rebuttal to the claims of religion, especially Christianity, were the purpose of the book - a purpose left unfulfilled.
A Google user
Great read and very insightful. As with Harris' "The End of Faith..." once must read this book with a critical and rational mindset in order to come away with the points that Harris is communicating here (something religious delusion does not afford). I found myself wishing that Sam would have spent a little more time on the subject of Christian hypocrisy, specifically, as he notes in his opening paragraph, their use of bible verse as a feeble attempt to get their point across.
A Google user
Its time to acknowledge how our beliefs in the supernatural are affecting the world around us. Our world would likely be centuries more advanced at this very moment if Christianity wasn't supressing moral and scientific progress. Christian views on global warming, slavery, womens rights, the human soul, reproductive rights, spreading the word of god, etc... (google is limiting the length of this review) have and continue to hold back humankind.