During the Richard Dawkins / Alister McGrath interview, Dawkins asks McGrath how a person goes from being a deist to being a Christian. (This exchange begins around the 24 minute mark.) Dawkins lists several things Christianity "adds on" to belief in God in general (including atonement, prayer, forgiveness, etc) which Dawkins says "seem to have no substantiating basis at all," and then remarks that he is tempted to say that these things were grafted on "for no better reason than that's the way that you happen to have been brought up".

McGrath begins his reply by saying that the foundation for his belief is in the person of Jesus, and that for Christians their beliefs are not just abstract musings about "a god" but instead Jesus and His resurrection are key to "understand everything". One of the main reasons that Christians believe in God, says McGrath, is Jesus. He notes that the ideas of sin, atonement, etc are not "added on" but rather are core beliefs that have explanatory power. He concludes by saying that "Christianity is not so much about explanation but about salvation".

Here McGrath takes a different stance than I do. First, I would have made reference to Dawkins' last point, that McGrath believes because it's the way he was brought up. Dawkins is aware that McGrath was an atheist early in his life, so that comment does not apply to him. Nor does it apply to me, since I was brought up in an intentionally non-religious environment. Of course, even if McGrath DID believe just because it's the way he was brought up, that says nothing about the truthfulness of those beliefs. (See: Genetic fallacy)

My journey from agnosticism to Christian faith went something like this:

1. Does God exist?
• Yes.
2. What would God be like? What attributes would this God have?
• One God … creative … omniscient … omnipotent … good …
3. Which, if any, of the gods of the world religions comply with these attributes?
• Some: Judaism, Islam, Christianity. (And Christian splinters like Mormonism.)
4. After investigating these faiths, which seems to be worthy of further investigation?
• Christianity, for what have become my "big three" reasons (among others): Historical reliability, the person of Jesus, and salvation by grace. (And by extension, greatest "explanatory power" as McGrath says.)
5. After studying Christianity in more depth, do I have good reason to think it is true?
• Yes.

Of course, as you can read in more detail in my personal story, even after I had come to that point of intellectual acceptance it took awhile for me to take the step of "faith". This faith is not blind … see my post Faith & Evidence.

Again, like the miracles issue, I agree wholeheartedly with what Dr. McGrath is saying. However, I would have attempted to point out what makes Christianity uniquely different from other faiths and naming the reasons why belief in Jesus is warranted in the first place. These things are, I think, the "substantiating basis" that Dawkins is asking for. Christianity must be about both explanation and salvation.