Overview

This bold and provocative book on what went wrong with the Atheists' dream is now available in paperback Atheism is one of the most important movements in modern Western culture. For the last two hundred years, it seemed to be on the verge of eliminating religion as an outmoded and dangerous superstition. Recent years, however, have witnessed the decline of disbelief and a rise in religious/spiritual devotion throughout the world. In this highly readable book, the distinguished historian and theologian, Alister McGrath examines what went wrong with the atheist dream and explains why religion and faith are destined to play a central role in the twenty-first century. A former atheist who is now one of Christianity's foremost scholars, McGrath traces the history of atheism from its emergence in eighteenth-century Europe as a revolutionary worldview that offered liberation from the rigidity of traditional Christianity and the oppression of tyrannical monarchs, to its golden age in the first half of the twentieth century. Blending thoughtful, authoritative historical analysis with incisive portraits of such leading and influential atheists as Sigmund Freud, Marx and Richard Dawkins, McGrath exposes the flaws at the heart of atheism and argues that the renewal of faith is a natural, inevitable and necessary response to its failures.

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9781844131556

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Reviews

This is indeed a thought-provoking book * BBC History Magazine * Alister McGrath invariably combines enormous scholarship with an accessible and engaging style. -- Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury Fascinating * The Glasgow Herald * Gripping...impressive intellectual range * The New York Times * Provocative and timely -- John Gray * The Independent *

'Readable and memorable, this is intellectual history at its best'. Publishers Weekly

Author Information

Alister McGrath is Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University and Principal of Wycliffe Hall, Oxford. He is the author of numerous books, including In the Beginning- The Story of the King James Bible, The Reenchantment of Nature, and The Journey; a consulting editor of Christianity Today and the general editor of The NIV Thematic Study Bible. He lives in Oxford, UK.

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