Thank you very much for this thorough criticism!
But perhaps I should have went into more detail about what I meant in the article...I intended the reason for damnation after reading the book to be something along the lines of “blasphemy against the Holy Ghost” since this is the only “unforgivable sin” Jesus speaks of. The book would show (in addition to God’s existence) that since they distrusted the conviction of the Holy Ghost and instead had to resort to absolute evidence that God exists, then they must display no faith since its pretty clear (eg. If God revealed himself with 100% certainty, then it takes no faith to believe in God)
As for the mechanics of knowing the argument without reading the book...you could assume that someone who read the book previously told you the form of the argument. However, since a standard ontological argument can be refuted it doesn’t reveal God’s existence alone.
As for the proving of faith:
If they read the book, then they must be reasonably sure that there is no threat of Hell. After all, if there is the slightest chance that they could be eternally tortured then the risks are too great and the person either 1. incredibly stupid for continuing anyways given the gravity of the consequences or 2. convinced that the work is incorrect despite evidence to the contrary.
As for the number of atheists that read the work, suppose that enough atheists have read it to cover every school of atheistic, agnostic and ignostic thought and were all familiar with every refutation to all arguments for the existence of God.
May I ask if you have any suggestions for rectifying these mistakes?
We humans are on solid ground talking about faith but getting into the “damnation” thing is folly because it attempts to limit God. In the past six months two of my former colleagues died - true story. One was an avowed atheist; the other an overt church going born again Christian. In practice their lives were identical. They were both teachers; both kind and gentle; both reached out to students; rescued animals; visited people in the hospital; gave their time and money to strangers who needed help. The notion that one is in heaven and the other in hell is absurd!
A detailed reply will have to wait until tonight...work beckons.
I'm having trouble coming up a an analogous situation. Any book that threatens damnation depending upon whether or not certain people read it will simply be dismissed as utter nonsense in the first place by people who have no belief in Heaven, Hell, or souls. It might have some entertainment value, but it won't taken seriously.
Kind of like Chick tracts. :-)