Richard Bewes, until recently the Rector of All Souls Church in London, has written up seven steps atheists should take to make their message more convincing. It’s directed largely at the wave of high-profile atheists who’ve been in the media eye this year—people like Richard Dawkins and Philip Pulman.

Bewes’ thoughts echo my own on this issue (although he’s much more eloquent than I). I posted a link to a Peter Berkowitz essay last month that hits on a lot of the same points. There’s an obvious sarcastic edge to Bewes’ essay, but the challenge is perfectly serious and, I think, made in a spirit of good faith: if atheists want Christians to take their arguments seriously, they need to come up with more compelling (and positive) reasons than what we’ve seen in recent years.