Godless

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

By: Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins - foreword

Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker

From the introduction by Dan Barker: Millions of good people live moral, happy, loving, meaningful lives without believing in a god.

Oprah said it was 17 years, but it was actually 19 years between my first sermon at the age of 15 and my last sermon at the age of 34. Part 1 of Godless, "Rejecting God", tells the story of how I moved from devout preacher to atheist and beyond. Part 2, "Why I Am an Atheist", presents my philosophical reasons for unbelief. Part 3, "What's Wrong with Christianity", critiques the bible (its reliability as well as its morality) and the historical evidence for Jesus. Part 4, "Life Is Good!", comes back to my personal story, taking a case to the United States Supreme Court, dealing with personal trauma, and experiencing the excitement of Adventures in Atheism.

©2008 Dan Barker and Richard Dawkins (P)2015 Pitchstone Publishing

Critic reviews

"Valuable in the human story are the reflections of intelligent and ethical people who listen to the voice of reason and who allow it to vanquish bigotry and superstition. This book is a classic example." (Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great)

"The most eloquent witness of internal delusion that I know - a triumphantly smiling refugee from the zany, surreal world of American fundamentalist Protestantism - is Dan Barker." (Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion)

" Godless was a revelation to me. I don't think anyone can match the (devastating!) clarity, intensity, and honesty which Dan Barker brings to the journey - faith to reason, childhood to growing up, fantasy to reality, intoxication to sobriety." (Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia)

Magnificent!

This book is right up there with such master pieces as "God is not great" by Christopher Hitchens.

Wonderful Book - You are going to love it

Any additional comments?

For those that want to understand more her/his atheism is the perfect book. The second and third part where explains the Bible contradictions you will feel in "heaven" with new information.

For those that want to understand "the other side" it will be hard, but it is written from the heart and with totally transparency coming from a former Pastor.

And it is also funny.

Eye opening

The story got a little hard to follow sometimes but still enlightening. I learned quite a bit.

Awesome

Unique perspective from an ex evangelical. He makes some excellent points. I join ffrf because of this book.

Enjoyed the book until chapter 13… at that point the book became mono stereo so only could hear in one ear. Mildly frustrating.

Overall I enjoyed the points he made. Just wish the recording was better. Probably was satan who messed with it that rascal.

Compelling but bloviated

As a Christian, there were some very thought provoking moments in this books. However, there were other parts that, as a previous pastor, he was disingenuous. This book could have been a 1/3 as long and better presented the information.

As a father, I appreciated how much he loves and respects his wife. And I was touched by his daughter's early birth. Although I got a laugh out of his daughter taking her maternal grandfather's last name.

What a nice man

Wish I could have a conversation with him.

Thanks for sharing your story, Dan.

Essential for those who question

In my journey to become more of a freethinker, it was important to me that I start with a book that validated my past. Barker is not one to immediately shame those who ever held religious beliefs, but shares his story as to how he started in the same place and make the courageous steps to question.

Workout For Analytical Mind

Great book for anyone curious to hear the other side of the story to religion (focus on Christianity).

Recomendado

¡Genial libro e historia! Argumentos bien detallados en la tercera parte. Sin embargo, es posible que el tono burlón de ciertas afirmaciones no funcione como para convencer a gente religiosa en una primera lectura.
Una sola queja: No sé si la velocidad de la grabación original fue modificada pero era demasiado lenta así que escuché todo el libro a 1.25x.