Metaphilosophical reflections on theism and atheism in the current debate

In the last few years, philosophy of religion has increasingly become a subject of dispute. Two positions seem to be the most popular. On the one hand, outspoken atheists reject religion in the name of reason and science. On the other hand, we witness an increase of scholarship sympat6hetic with evangelical movements, especially in the United States. For the purpose of this paper, I will use the term 'new atheists' for referring to the former approach, and the term ' new theists' for referring to the latter approach. 'New atheists' is a label that has become usual for identifying some thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris and Quentin Smith.