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Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists
 
 

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Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists (Paperback)

by Dan Barker (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists + Biblical Nonsense: A Review of the Bible for Doubting Christians + God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything
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Product details

  • Paperback: 392 pages
  • Publisher: Ulysses Press (2 Oct 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1569756775
  • ISBN-13: 978-1569756775
  • Product Dimensions: 21 x 13.8 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 53,547 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #20 in  Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Other Religious & Spiritual Practices > Agnosticism & Atheism
    #61 in  Books > Biography > Medical, Legal & Social Sciences > Philosophy

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Evangelical about freedom of thought, 22 Jan 2009
By James F. Graham "jack4381" (South West UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
As an atheist who enjoys atheism enormously (it really is great fun) I've read all the big god-busting books of recent years and Dan Barker's 'Godless' really is one of the best and most likeable.

Barker might not be a prose stylist in the league of Christopher Hitchens ('God is Not Great' is the most aesthetically enjoyable of the recent atheism books) but what he lacks in high-toned literary slinkiness he more than makes up for in good humour, irony, erudition and self-examining honesty.

The arguments for atheism that constitute the bulk of the book are sometimes familiar and sometimes less so. Whereas Christopher Hitchens ranges summarily over the wide sweep of all world religions, Barker confines himself mostly to a critique of Christianity. He spends less time on scientific arguments than Richard Dawkins in 'The God Delusion' and more time on applying logic to metaphysics - which he does with some aplomb and unimpeachable thoroughness. The way he makes the intricacies of the subject so easy to follow is admirable.

He launches a full-frontal assault on the Christian God about whom specific and disprovable claims are usually made. He analyses the Christian God into a corner, showing with accesible and irrefutable argumentation that no being can possibly be both omniscient and omnipotent, or omnipotent and omnibenevolent.

His most superb chapter is entitled 'Dear Theologian'. Couched as a letter from God to a Protestant theologian, the chapter uses a deceptively whimsical tone to ruthlessly and relentlessly demolish the supposed logical and moral validity (or even intelligibility) of the conventional Christian conception of God.

He also goes further than both Dawkins or Hitchens in mounting an unimprovable potted summary of the case against an historical Jesus.

The more technical and theoretical middle-section is bookended by a kind of memoir of Barker's life as an evangelical Christian missionary, minister and songwriter... and an account of his transition to atheism.

Barker is engagingly honest and self-effacing, and retains a polite attitude towards those who were once his religious peers. His account of his own feelings as he moved from curiosity to doubt, then to an agonising period during which he continued preaching despite having abandoned his faith, is moving without being maudlin. His description of how he publically announced his atheism is amusing, poignant and fascinating. He closes the book with a life affirming chapter describing his new life and boasting (justifiably) about the work he does for the Freedom from Religion Foundation.

'Godless' will not convert any irredeemable Bible-bashers (such people are immune to logical arguments and factual evidence) but it might just get through to intelligent Christians of good faith who are curious about atheism. At the very least, it will demonstrate to them that (contrary to what they may have been told) atheists can be polite, amiable, open, funny, conscientious and moral.

For the rest of us? In my case, Barker might've been preaching to the converted... but it was an enjoyable and stimulating experience all the same.

Highly recommended.
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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally a book that I can recommended to christians, 21 Nov 2008
I have read dozens of books exposing the problems with christianity in search of a book that I could recommend to my family, all of whom are staunch christians. Many of the books out there are written by people that do not have a strong personal experience of christianity themselves and though they may be brilliant books, the christians I know could dismiss them all because the writers haven't "received the calling of the holy spirit". The few books that I have read on the subject that have been written by ex-christians may have excellent content but contain angry undertones which I know would turn the christian reader off.

Enter Dan Barker, a man who was a true believer who has escaped from the prison of christian thinking into the real world with an appreciation for the importance of genuine humanistic morality and the credibility and beauty of observable reality. He has a deep and thorough knowledge of the bible and has truly beheld the christian "experience" first hand. He cannot be accused of taking scripture out of context. He also knows much about the background of the various translations, including the original Hebrew and Greek.

I bought his previous book, "Losing Faith in Faith" hoping that it would be the book that I could pass to my family but though it had great content, I wished that it had been written as a single piece of work rather than a collection of essays and short articles.

In this new book, "Godless", he retells the best parts of "Losing Faith in Faith" as well as newer content and contains a greater emphasis on what I think is important for christians to understand about christianity. His writing was always very good, but 20+ years after his first book, it is even better and this time it is structured as a single, flowing work.

I have bought copies for my family and hope they will read this book with an open mind, if not to liberate themselves from christianity, then at least to understand that there are valid reasons for rejecting it and that life, truth and morality can be appreciated and enjoyed without religion.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Thoughts from a reluctant Atheist, 2 Jan 2009
By Mr Rob Barnes "Rob" (Buckinghamshire, England) - See all my reviews
I have a lot of respect for Dan Barker. He was the real deal. He lived a genuine life of faith until his restlessly insatiable mind got the better of him. He scratched beneath the surface, began to engage with the numerous problems with Christianity, and emerged from a long and painful journey convinced that God was a myth. This is the kind of book that theists should read, yet one that I fear that few will. My message to them is simply this; challenge your own assumptions. Spare this book a few hours of your life. It might just change it.
I describe myself as a reluctant atheist because I would love to be able to believe in Christianity as I once did. The Christians I know are a fine bunch, loving and generous and outward looking. Alas I fear that the central tenets of their belief are not historically grounded, whilst problems such as the doctrine of hell, the problem of suffering, and the absolute certainty of the truth of evolution further add to the likelyhood that the existence of God is but a man made myth.
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Why are you reading this book? Either you want to find out more or you're already an atheist. I wanted to find out more. Read more
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3.0 out of 5 stars An interesting and worthwhile read (for Christians too)
Having read Richard Dawkins's "The God Delusion" (basically a long, bad-tempered rant from an outsider looking in), I turned to this book (foreword by Professor Dawkins) with some... Read more
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