Atheism: The Case Against God Reading Group
with Maddox Locher
10.5 hours total | 7 sessions, beginning May 30, 2025
Examine and discuss George H. Smith’s arguments against the existence of God and the validity of religion—and see whether they make sense.
Whether you were born into a religious family, grew up in a religious culture, read religion-infused books, watch religion-infused movies, or all of the above—your life is affected by the idea that there’s an all-powerful, all-knowing, all-good being whose existence you must accept and whose laws you must obey.
Christianity, the world’s largest religion, has influenced Western thought, morality, and politics for millennia. But all three monotheistic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—are actively affecting your world today. And all three have similar basic claims about God’s existence, how we can know it, and what we should and shouldn’t do individually and socially.
In this discussion of George H. Smith’s Atheism: The Case Against God, you will explore questions such as:
- What is God?
- What are the strongest arguments for God’s existence—and do they make logical sense?
- Can morality exist without God? Can it exist with God?
- Is faith a means of knowledge? Is reason a means of knowledge? Can you truly know anything? If so, how?
- Given the evidence for and against God, how should you deal with religious claims and commandments? How should you live?
Join Maddox Locher and other inquiring minds to explore these and related questions. You’ll assess some of the strongest arguments for and against God, and see what makes sense to your own reasoning mind.
Instructor
Maddox Locher
Maddox manages OSI’s digest On Solid Ground and newsletter The Future Today. He also writes a Substack sharing his journey deconstructing his belief in Evangelical Christianity. He is a Foundation for Economic Education fellow and won the “Praxian of the Year” award from college-alternative Discover Praxis for his community contributions.
Course & Session Schedule
How the Course Works
This course is interactive and discussion-driven, so enrollment is limited. Register early to secure your spot.
The course is held live on Zoom, which you can download for free here. Sessions are video recorded, so if you miss a session (or want to review), you can watch the recording. OSI may sell course recordings and/or use them for marketing, promotional, or educational purposes.
If you don’t yet have a copy of the book, you need to acquire one so you can read the chapters we’ll be discussing each week.
You can purchase the book from Amazon or BookFinder.com. For students who are unable purchase a printed book, a PDF copy will be made available while enrolled in the course.
Course handouts and supplementary materials are delivered via email. Course participants are invited to an exclusive OSI Courses group on Facebook, where they can post questions and engage in discussions with the instructor and other participants.
Have a question that wasn’t answered here? Read our FAQ or email us at [email protected].
By enrolling, you agree to OSI’s Course Terms and Conditions.
