20 Best Books On Atheism (2023 Update)

Exceptional collection of essays and articles. It is a very comprehensive read regarding atheism, religion and such. It is primarily a compilation of other authors with bits of commentary by Christopher Hitchens.brotherluke*

This book is great for thos who are either just starting apologetics or even been in the game for a long time. Highly recommended read for anyone.Kieran

The book was written by a clearly well read author who has a lot of nifty quotes. It is not a book on how to reconcile Atheism with Spirituality. I'm a Scientist and agnostic. I found his views on reconciliation as sensible as hunting dragons and burning witches while denying God. It just failed at what the title suggested.paulpinelle

Alex Rosenberg is an absolute delight to read. He is intelligent, knowledgeable and very witty. This book now sits on the same shelf as "The Selfish Gene", The God Delusion", "Pale Blue Planet" etc. A classic.thesummerwind

Well written and often amusing. Dr Berlinski is a bona fide scientist who has the knowledge and expertise to make the point that Atheism and Science are not synonymous.Catherine

In David BERLINSKI's The Devil's Delusion, Richard DAWKINS (The God Delusion) and In David BERLINSKI's The Devil's Delusion, Richard DAWKINS (The God Delusion) and Christopher HITCHENS (God is Not Great) –along with many other like-minded pretentious, populist, modern-day apostles of the Science Not God cult– have met their match. One does not need to be a Jewish or Christian adherent or apologist to appreciate that BERLINSKI, though himself outside the pale as a secular Jew, delivers an erudite, entertaining, coherent, digestible, incisive, informative, and thought-provoking treatise that tackles the (Science IN – God Out) subject matter head on . . . while interspersed throughout one will find touches of BERLINSKI 's endearing sense of humor. This is a book for ALL persuasions — whether one is Spiritual, Sceptic, Scientist or Secularist. Genuine 5-Star reading — Highly recommended! VJvyntagevinyl

Tis is a must read for anyone confused about the role and claims of evolution vs. religion and creation. Is is clear that evolution has much less evidence and thus requrires much more faith.chris_d_g

Seldom do I read a book that angers me. Books that support my own understanding of a subject I read with a critical eye, searching for flaws in the logic that I might have fallen for, and which knowing, might change my thinking. Those that I read that would challenge my view I read with a clear eye, searching for evidence that may be right and that likewise, I might glean new valid new information which would lead to another change of mind. It is rare that anger arises in me at this checking exercise. I have read most of the works of the late Christopher Hitchens, once the world's most persuasive and persistent atheist, because his logic was nearly infallible, and his rhetoric is fashioned of gold. Having never met the man, I was struck with sadness, as if he were one of my own family, when it was announced that he was suffering from incurable esophageal cancer. Some Christians celebrated that this enemy of religion, whose dulcet tones and steely logic had for decades, revealed organized religion as a scam, was suffering the wrath of god by having his larynx rot away. Christians prayed that either he would die soon or that he would be cured by the power of god so he could be converted to Christianity. Hitchen, having no faith in prayer, thanked those who wished him well with their prayers, but wished they would use their energies for more effective activities. A fellow atheist philosopher, Daniel Dennett, when it had a heart attack, answered those who prayed for him with the quick quip: "Did you also sacrifice a goat in my behalf?" When Darwin died in 1882, it was known that he remained an atheist to his dying breath. In 1915, Elizabeth Cotton claimed falsely that he had converted to Christianity on his deathbed. His children, who were there at the time of his demise, countered that claim. Many other freethinkers were postumously maligned in this way over the years. Would some Christian rascal rise to claim a similar lie for Christopher Hitchens? I picked up "The Faith of Christopher Hitchens" by Larry Alex Taunton, to see what his claim was. I read all 200 pages of his claim that Hitchen was "negotiating with god" privately as the disease slowing took his life. Using suppositions he picked up on various trips to debates together, Taunton claims to have a special insight into Christopher's state of mind, and the underlying meaning of his every word in those last days of his life. Without the thinnest proof, he tries to twist Hitchen's friendship with him to mean he was contemplating conversion to Christianity, even when he was stating the exact oppositein public discourse. This is a shameful betraying of personally tolerant banter on the road to Billings and other places for competitive debate. Taunton admits that Hitchens studied his opponents line of logic and thinking, in order to best them by dissecting flaws in argument. But then he turns in an attempt to convince us that their personal discussions about the biblical book of John were intriguing and curious studies with a desire to believe in Christianity for Hitchens. Taunton is a traitor to friendship, and, like the traitor he is, waited five years to publish his misleading polemic claim. Like Elizabeth Cotton, he has made his thesis out of whole cloth, but unlike Cotton, he as been smarmy and creepy about it, admitting that Hitchen's statements are damning to his thesis, but claiming they are full of "hints" of conversion. This is a despicable argument that Hitchens, if he could, would decry mightily. My anger is kindled.merlehoward

Hoping that Taunton's suspicions of Hitchen's true inner state of affairs is true. I don't believe in everlasting hellfire but I do believe that we're resurrected to be judged by our good works and our bad (that has nothing to do with "being saved"… only that the saved are judged too – Paul: "now is judgment on the house of God"). Thoroughly enjoyed Taunton's writing and his open discussion of "no one's going to believe this and I didn't want to write this but… ". It's going to be interesting seeing Hitchens and others like him in the Resurrection (not to taunt or jeer, only to discuss this life and how we came to believe what we believed ) . We'll see how that goes.GL

THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK !I love his kind of thinking. g.Is the human baby born " Good " with the possibility of doing much evil, or is she born "evil" with the possibility of doing great good? Many of the of the author's own experiences with primates,and all animals.Then he introduces us to the beliefs of leading professors in Anthropology and geneticists.airdalesailing

I have followed Eric for a number of years because I admire his ability to boldly say it like it really is and to communicate it in such a succinct and clear way. Therefore I was excited to read his newest book, Is Atheism Dead? He has not let me down. The main premise of the book is to challenge the 1966 Time Magazine article entitled "Is God Dead?" with the overwhelming evidence that No, God is not dead, but perhaps Atheism should be. The book is laid out in three sections: 1.) Scientific evidence, 2.) Archeological evidence, and 3.) An examination of the arguments from atheists. Back in 1966 scientists thought that cells were simple blobby things. Eric uncovers how mind-blowingly complex the simplest cells are, how incredibly fine-tuned our universe is. He presents stupendous numbers indicating the amount of time necessary to do what needs to be done—it’s straight-up impossible. Life, our place in the universe, and the laws holding it all together, are stupefyingly and astonishingly complicated. Eric moves on to how archaeologists have been uncovering evidence in the sands of the Middle East, which further confirms that the Bible's account is real and accurate. As time goes on, the case only becomes stronger for those with enough courage to be honest with the evidence. Finally Eric uncovers the ridiculous worldview that grounds atheism. There is no morality, no beauty, no love, no goodness inherent to atheism if we're just molecules in motion, a clump of cells with no purpose or meaning. It is shocking to remember the millions upon millions that have been absolutely slaughtered like animals in the name of atheism…because that’s all we are in that worldview. It's a no argument at all to compare the glorious God of the Bible to the complete emptiness of atheism and Eric doesn't mince words. Atheism is untenable.EvaKB

Metaxas' latest tome is something of a sequel, or even rebuttal, to the Time magazine article (and cover feature) from 1966 which asks the question "Is God Dead?" At that time many in the scientific community would have answered "yes", and put the issue to bed. However, in the decades since, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction forcing the world to face the fact that science cannot disprove the existence of God. By exploring scientific and archaeological discoveries of late and illuminating the doubts had by renowned atheists (that ultimately led to their turn from atheism), Metaxas offers insight into what has caused the shift. Through an enormous amount of detailed information that is written in an intelligible and engaging way that only Metaxas can master, I was left in awe of our Creator, His creation, and the brilliant minds that have deciphered the science that ultimately points back to Him. I believe this book will challenge the status quo we have been fed from the scientific community for decades and force us to wrestle with whether we are going to acknowledge the facts for what they are or continue to sweep them aside to avoid the hard conversations that arise when faith and science meet. This is an exciting book that has the potential to spark thoughtful, lively discussion on the question that science cannot answer, "why?" For me, this book further proves what Paul says in Romans 1:20 and Metaxas quotes on page 308 "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Well done, Mr. Metaxas.HeatherHD

This book first came to my attention while listening to an interview of Eric Metaxas by Sean McDowell. Though I have listened to lots of apologetics broadcasts and read a good number of books in my life, this book seemed to take a different approach. The goal, I learned in the introductory chapter to the book, is not to prove the God of the Bible so much as it is to evaluate the rationality of atheism in our day and age. Intriguing. Thus, there is not a focus on the resurrection or evidence for Biblical manuscripts, etc. Rather, just a simple evaluation of whether atheism is actually even a viable worldview, given the evidence and discoveries of our day and age. As always, Metaxas writing style is beautiful and thought-provoking. He stirs my mind to think with every page, both because of the content and his word choice. His choice of stories makes the book far from dry or textbook like. I thoroughly enjoy this book, and I am now looking at picking up other texts he has written. Highly recommend it.Sarah

This is an interesting book for anyone who is an atheist or agnostic, or who may be questioning the beliefs that were forced upon them since childhood. Many of the noted individuals whose quotes appear in the book are quite adept at clarifying and highlighting the hypocrisy and silliness of so called sacred texts.djkoz58

A beautiful and honest memoir of faith, hope, and a very realistic view of life in the modern world. Peter Hitchens presents his story in masterful prose, full of enlightened anecdotes and even an overarching history of England. One of the most inspired books I have read in years. I love this book!zvianna

A beautiful and honest memoir of faith, hope, and a very realistic view of life in the modern world. Peter Hitchens presents his story in masterful prose, full of enlightened anecdotes and even an overarching history of England. One of the most inspired books I have read in years. I love this book!zvianna

Michael Poole is a Visiting Research Fellow in Science and Religion at King's College London. If he has a religious affiliation he doesn't reveal it, but states that, when talking of God, he has (like Dawkins) the Judaeo-Christian concept of God in mind. In science he holds the mainstream views of cosmology and biology. His short (96 pages, 10 chapters and an index) book deals with the "new" and strident atheism preached by Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett. The emphasis is mainly on Dawkins and his book The God Delusion. Poole writes for people "without a lot of time for reading" but who would like to see some "short responses to key claims" of the new atheism. In this Poole succeeds very well. Each of his ten chapters is devoted to a key argument or assertion of the trio. From the first assertion ("Religion is evil because many bad deeds have been done by religious people") to the tenth ("some kind of multiverse theory could in principle do for physics the same explanatory work as Darwin does for biology, rendering God improbable"), Poole presents pithy and relatively brief counter arguments. His counter arguments do not present an unanswerable case for religion, but they do expose Dawkins' ineptitude, even downright silliness, in subjects outside his own specialist field. Unlike some atheist opponents of Dawkins, and definitely unlike Dawkins himself, Poole does not resort to sarcasm and mockery despite ample opportunity to do so. As a short, sharp answer to Dawkins and others it is essential reading. Atheism must look elsewhere for a worthy champion!Tom