Peter Hitchens lost faith as a teenager. But eventually finding atheism barren, he came by a logical process to his current affiliation to an unmodernised belief in Christianity. Hitchens describes his return from the far political left. Familiar with British left-wing politics, it was travelling in the Communist bloc that first undermined and replaced his leftism, a process virtually completed when he became a newspaper's resident Moscow correspondent in 1990, just before the collapse of the Communist Party. He became convinced of certain propositions. That modern western social democratic politics is a form of false religion in which people try to substitute a social conscience for an individual one. That utopianism is actively dangerous. That liberty and law are attainable human objectives which are also the good by-products of Christian faith. Faith is the best antidote to utopianism, dismissing the dangerous idea of earthly perfection, discouraging people from acting as if they were God, encouraging people to act in the belief that there is a God and an ordered, purposeful universe, governed by an unalterable law.
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"A beliver's riposte to the book by his atheist brother, Christopher Hitchens, God Is Not Great." Simon Hoggart, The Guardian "An absolutely must-read book...Peter Hitchens's forthcoming The Rage Against God." Catholic Herald "Agreed mortality lives on borrowed time...As Peter Hitchens observes, God offers authoritative moral laws, and judgement upon those who knowingly break them." Christopher Howse, Telegraph "The Rage Against God is a magnificent, sustained cry against the aggressive secularism taking control of our weakened culture." --The Spectator
'The two best-written books were Christopher Hitchens's memoirs Hitch 22 and his brother Peter's The Rage Against God. Even though the authors set the benchmark for sibling rivalry, their books prove there is something special about them. Both are restless romantics, enemies of cosy consensus, original minds - and products of an education system that wanted all children to be cultured and questioning. Peter's book reads as if Cardinal Newman were reflecting on life after battle-scarred years as a foreign correspondent, while Christopher's book, if it were a thoroughbred horse, would be by George Orwell out of Kingsley Amis. I can think of no better pair of books for Christmas reflection.' --Michael Gove, Mail on Sunday, 5th December 2010
'The two best-written books were Christopher Hitchens's memoirs Hitch 22 and his brother Peter's The Rage Against God. Even though the authors set the benchmark for sibling rivalry, their books prove there is something special about them. Both are restless romantics, enemies of cosy consensus, original minds - and products of an education system that wanted all children to be cultured and questioning. Peter's book reads as if Cardinal Newman were reflecting on life after battle-scarred years as a foreign correspondent, while Christopher's book, if it were a thoroughbred horse, would be by George Orwell out of Kingsley Amis. I can think of no better pair of books for Christmas reflection.' --Michael Gove, Mail on Sunday, 5th December 2010
About the Author
Peter Hitchens is a British journalist, author and broadcaster. He witnessed most of the final scenes of the Cold War, and was a resident correspondent in the Soviet capital and in Washington, DC. He frequently revisits both Russia and the USA. He currently writes for the Mail on Sunday, where he is a columnist and occasional foreign correspondent, reporting most recently from Iran, North Korea, Burma, The Congo and China, winning the journalism category in the 2010 George Orwell Prize for this correspondence.
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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
There are already some good reviews here, so there's no need to duplicate the basic outline of this book.
"The Rage Against God" is a good general reposte to the "New Atheism" which seems to be getting too much attention these days.
It must have been somewhat more difficult to write in the context of Peter's relationship with his brother Christopher (who wrote the appaling book "God is Not Great").
The New Atheism is a completely failed philosophy - and Peter Hitchen's explains why. I heartily recommend his book.
"The Rage Against God" is a good general reposte to the "New Atheism" which seems to be getting too much attention these days.
It must have been somewhat more difficult to write in the context of Peter's relationship with his brother Christopher (who wrote the appaling book "God is Not Great").
The New Atheism is a completely failed philosophy - and Peter Hitchen's explains why. I heartily recommend his book.
74 of 80 people found the following review helpful
By Paddington
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Not perhaps what I expected - less a tightly argued polemic than an occasionally argumentative memoir. Thankfully, like The Broken Compass, it happens to be some of the best biographical writing around today - much as Hitchens would probably disown such a judgement.
For all his image as a snarling conservative, Hitchens' written persona is a joy to spend time with. Fiercely but properly original (his observations all have solid premises, rather than being cheap shocks), curmudgeonly but graceful, and with winning depths of earnestness and nostalgia; he is never boring, frequently compelling, and usually provocative and sympathetic in equal measure. The trouble is, there are so few people out there actually writing down proper thoughts in proper sentences anymore. Most writing today is just the wisdom of the age in the clichés of the time: dislocated, tedious and hollow. It's like reading through mental smog. So I'm sure those who do not agree with a drop of Hitchens' politics or religion would still find the sheer clarity and warmth of this book's prose engaging.
I think one or two of its points are so striking that a little more tracing out of their foundations and implications would have been enjoyable. The death of faith in England, and the likely conclusion of atheism, are perhaps the two most important subjects when looking at the past century and looking ahead in the present one. But the book's subtle approach to its subject is haunting and memorable even without this. And much of its message is perhaps more powerful for being unspoken.
Probably the best English political writer since Orwell. And certainly the least self-satisfied, most interesting autobiographer writing in England today.
For all his image as a snarling conservative, Hitchens' written persona is a joy to spend time with. Fiercely but properly original (his observations all have solid premises, rather than being cheap shocks), curmudgeonly but graceful, and with winning depths of earnestness and nostalgia; he is never boring, frequently compelling, and usually provocative and sympathetic in equal measure. The trouble is, there are so few people out there actually writing down proper thoughts in proper sentences anymore. Most writing today is just the wisdom of the age in the clichés of the time: dislocated, tedious and hollow. It's like reading through mental smog. So I'm sure those who do not agree with a drop of Hitchens' politics or religion would still find the sheer clarity and warmth of this book's prose engaging.
I think one or two of its points are so striking that a little more tracing out of their foundations and implications would have been enjoyable. The death of faith in England, and the likely conclusion of atheism, are perhaps the two most important subjects when looking at the past century and looking ahead in the present one. But the book's subtle approach to its subject is haunting and memorable even without this. And much of its message is perhaps more powerful for being unspoken.
Probably the best English political writer since Orwell. And certainly the least self-satisfied, most interesting autobiographer writing in England today.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
By John Hardy
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I'm about the same age as the author, so can very much relate to the lost world he describes. He writes well in any easy readable style. This isn't a high flown philosophical treatise, to be valued mainly for its powerful arguments. On the other hand it does give some insight into the motivations of the militant atheists whose anger and intolerance so mystify those who disagree with them.
I liked the epilogue best where the author describes the beginnings of a restored relationship with his brother despite their great differences
I liked the epilogue best where the author describes the beginnings of a restored relationship with his brother despite their great differences
80 of 90 people found the following review helpful
By Mally Malone
Format:Hardcover
"The Rage Against God" isn't a conventional work of apologetics. There are already plenty of those out there. This book is less about theory than about practice. Why do people really reject or accept God? Why is their rejection of God often so very virulent? What part has religion played in recent English history? How important was atheism to the history of communism, and to the cultural revolution that swept through the Western world in the last few decades?
The first part of the book-- essentially a memoir of Peter Hitchens's changing attitudes to religion-- is the most readable. Hitchens is at his best when he's evoking the England of his childhood. (At one point he apologises for indulging this tendency. He shouldn't.) I relished his description of Evensong ("the very heart of English Christianity"), of his boyhood feelings of utter security while lying in bed and listening to the sirens of ocean liners in Portsmouth harbour, of the austere and stoical Remembrance Sunday ceremony ("No outsider could possibly have penetrated its English mystery, or imagined that we were in fact enjoying ourselves, But we were.".)
But the very particularity of this book, though it makes it a powerful memoir, somewhat limits its importance as a tract. Hitchens is writing primarily about English Christianity, and its long decline (which, he shows, long predated his own childhood). As an anglophile and an admirer of Hitchens's writing, I found it enthralling. As an Irish Catholic, I found it of limited relevance. Hitchens devotes a long section to criticising (affectionately and reverentially) the surrogate religion of English patriotism. He's also scathing about the modernising tendencies within the Church of England.... Read more ›
The first part of the book-- essentially a memoir of Peter Hitchens's changing attitudes to religion-- is the most readable. Hitchens is at his best when he's evoking the England of his childhood. (At one point he apologises for indulging this tendency. He shouldn't.) I relished his description of Evensong ("the very heart of English Christianity"), of his boyhood feelings of utter security while lying in bed and listening to the sirens of ocean liners in Portsmouth harbour, of the austere and stoical Remembrance Sunday ceremony ("No outsider could possibly have penetrated its English mystery, or imagined that we were in fact enjoying ourselves, But we were.".)
But the very particularity of this book, though it makes it a powerful memoir, somewhat limits its importance as a tract. Hitchens is writing primarily about English Christianity, and its long decline (which, he shows, long predated his own childhood). As an anglophile and an admirer of Hitchens's writing, I found it enthralling. As an Irish Catholic, I found it of limited relevance. Hitchens devotes a long section to criticising (affectionately and reverentially) the surrogate religion of English patriotism. He's also scathing about the modernising tendencies within the Church of England.... Read more ›
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By aussie mark
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Hitchens has written a thought-provoking, powerful critique of the modern decline in ethics in Western society. He bases his argument on a similar ground as found in his book 'The Cameron Delusion' which explores the idea from more of a political persepctive. In this book, he examines the subject from more of a religious perspective. However, his central tenet remains that 'our society' is in danger of decending into a valueless morass because of the erosion of the traditional bulwarks that built up our society in the first place - in this case the Christian faith and the churches which represent it. As we turn away from Christian values we are replacing them with the Cult of the Self. The removal of the absolute values proscribed by religion and "its necessary ally death" and replacing them with comparative values built around human desires, inevitably leads to an unattractive expediency in setting any decisions. Hitchens argues cogently from his experiences in the Soviet Union as to how destructive of personal happiness and freedoms our society risks becoming by removing any sense of loyalty to a higher Being. Allegiance to God and a Faith makes it difficult for a despot to control an individual's behaviour. As he neatly frames it, if a despot can go to Hell from a North Korean palace and an imprisoned dissident can go to Heaven from a North Korean torture chamber, then it is difficult for the despot to eliminate all the dissidents.
Much of Hitchens book is set in his home UK environment, but is largely applicable to other similar societies, such as Australia or the USA. He frequently uses his more famous atheist brother as a starting-point and at times the book becomes more of a memoir than argument, which makes for a more enjoyable balance for the reader.... Read more ›
Much of Hitchens book is set in his home UK environment, but is largely applicable to other similar societies, such as Australia or the USA. He frequently uses his more famous atheist brother as a starting-point and at times the book becomes more of a memoir than argument, which makes for a more enjoyable balance for the reader.... Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Rage against God
Enjoyed this book very much. The arguments pro and con are well made. The writers opinion is undisguised but does not detract from the polemic of others.
Published 8 days ago by donald macdonald
5.0 out of 5 stars
Choses the side of life.
Peter Hitchens is not ashamed of Christ and states the case clearly against human self-service salvation. To rage against God is futile.
Published 1 month ago by Sean Frazer Williamson
4.0 out of 5 stars
An important building block in the defence of the freedom of...
There is already enough noise around the area of discussion covered by books like this. So I'll just say this - its a great and enlightening read. Read more
Published 3 months ago by CalebJones
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Rage should be against people
Thanks Peter Hitchens, such a frank book not always showing your self in a good light but perhaps thats why I believed you.
Published 3 months ago by Gillian A. Herbert
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not what I expected
I normally like Peter Hitchens' writings but a little disappointed with this particular book. Did not find it an easy read.
Published 4 months ago by S. Byrne
5.0 out of 5 stars
Rage Against God
A very interesting insight on how faith shapes and guides our societies ethics and values. The points put forward in this book are free from angst riddled codes of rhetoric. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Matthew James Webster
4.0 out of 5 stars
THis book should be in every library and book shop : But ubfortunatly...
I read Peter Hitchins every week in the Mail on Sunday and he has a repeatedly expressed his believe in how Christian values in this country are being steadily eroded. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Frank Dooley
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Rage Against God
This will be of interest to anyone interested in the position of Christianity, or of any religious belief, in the modern world. Read more
Published 5 months ago by John King
4.0 out of 5 stars
A revealing insight into Hitchens' worldview
This was the first of Hitchens' books that I have read. Previously I was only aware of him by reputation - which has not always been favourable. Read more
Published 5 months ago by cornutus
2.0 out of 5 stars
Fails to convince...
Like others, I read Peter Hitchens' column regularly and agree with much he has to say on crime, drugs and immigration. However, on religion, we part company. Read more
Published 6 months ago by P. Borrington
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