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Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity | 
 enlarge | Author: John W. Loftus
Publisher: Prometheus Books
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
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Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 20374
Media: Paperback
Pages: 428
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 1
ISBN: 1591025923
Dewey Decimal Number: 211.8
EAN: 9781591025924
ASIN: 1591025923
Publication Date: August 21, 2008
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Product Description
For about two decades John W. Loftus was a devout evangelical Christian, an ordained minister of the Church of Christ, and an ardent apologist for Christianity. With three degrees--in philosophy, theology, and philosophy of religion--he was adept at using rational argumentation to defend the faith. But over the years, as he ministered to various congregations and taught at Christian colleges, doubts about the credibility of key Christian tenets began to creep into his thinking. By the late 1990s he experienced a full-blown crisis of faith, brought on by emotional upheavals in his personal life as well as the gathering weight of the doubts he had long entertained.In this honest appraisal of his journey from believer to atheist, Loftus carefully explains the experiences and the reasoning process that led him to reject religious belief. The bulk of the book is his "cumulative case" against Christianity. Here he lays out the philosophical, scientific, and historical reasons that can be raised against Christian belief. From the implications of religious diversity, the authority of faith vs. reason, and the problem of evil, to the contradictions between the Bible and the scientific worldview, the conflicts between traditional dogma and historical evidence, and much more, Loftus covers a great deal of intellectual terrain. For every issue he succinctly summarizes the various points of view and provides references for further reading. In conclusion, he describes the implications of life without belief in God, some liberating, some sobering. This frank critique of Christian belief from a former insider will interest freethinkers as well as anyone with doubts about the claims of religion.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
 A detailed refutation of Christian apologetics January 5, 2009
G. M. Arnold (Seattle, WA USA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've just finished reading three books on a common theme: losing one's (Christian) religion and becoming an atheist. All three are excellent, but each approaches the topic from a very different perspective. I thought I might review them all together, and post the combined review on each book at Amazon. I don't know if this is consistent with the Amazon review policy, but never mind.
The first book is Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists by Dan Barker. I was slightly put off by the subtitle: "How an evangelical preacher became one of America's leading atheists." After all, one of the key points about atheism - and one that we have to keep reminding theists about - is that atheism is not an organized body of belief, it's no more a religion than "bald" is a hair colour. So how can anyone be a "leading atheist"? Who's being led? However if one substitutes "prominent" or "influential" for "leading", we can let that pass. And Barker is certainly influential: he's co-president of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, which is one of the most active groups working to uphold the Constitutional prohibition on church-state entanglement, and seeking to counteract the negative image of atheism in this country.
The second book that I considered was William Lobdell's Losing My Religion: How I Lost My Faith Reporting on Religion in America-and Found Unexpected Peace. Lobdell is an award-winning journalist who covered religion for the Los Angeles Times. After writing about many aspects of religion for many years, he finally decided to write about his own journey.
The last volume in this trilogy was Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity, by John Loftus. Like Barker, Loftus was also an evangelical preacher, but although the arc of his experience was similar to Barker's, the result is a very different kind of book.
Let me begin by saying that each of these books is really good, and deserves a place in the library of anyone who is interested in the contemporary debate between religion and atheism. I hesitate to rank them, or recommend one over another; nevertheless I find myself compelled to do so. Of the three, Lobdell's "Losing My Religion" is the most essential, for two reasons. First, he is an excellent writer, and his prose is simply a delight to read. Secondly, he concentrates on his personal experience in a way that I haven't encountered before in books by atheists. Both Loftus and Barker set out to tell their story and argue their case, albeit in different ways, and each draws on writers as diverse as Dennett, Wells, Price, Martin, Shermer, Carrier and Nielsen in setting forth their arguments. Lobdell just wants to recount his own story, and what he has learned from it. He's not interested in converting anyone, or scoring debating points. As he writes, "To borrow Buddha's analogy, I've just spent eight years crossing a river in a raft of my own construction, and now I'm standing on a new shore. My raft was made not of dharma, like Buddhism's, but of things I gathered along the way: knowledge, maturity, humility, critical thinking and the willingness to face the world as it is, and not how I wish it to be. I don't knopw what the future holds in this new land. I don't see myself crossing the river back to Christianity... [or] adopting a new religion. My disbelief in a personal God now seems cemented to my soul. Other kinds of spirituality seem equally improbable. Besides, I like my life on this unexplored shore."
For Lobdell, the thing which provoked his crisis of faith was people: the yawning gulf between the ideals of a religion and the lives of those who practice and - especially - lead it. The horrific abuse of young people by Catholic priests, and the way it was covered up, refutes the claims of religion in many different ways. In particular, it challenges believers to justify theodicy (the "problem of evil"), as well as the Dostoievskian idea of religion as a bastion against the chaos of amorality. In contrast, for Barker and Loftus, the unravelling of their fundamentalist faiths was due to ideas: to the incoherence of religious dogma, and its incompatibility with science and reason.
Both Loftus and Barker were preachers. There are many distinct aspects to being a preacher: the performance artist, leading a collective act of worship; the scribe and teacher, explaining and interpreting the texts and practices of the faith; and the counsellor and confessor. All of these roles have roots in the shamanic and magical. As a believer, Barker was a performance artist, and he remains so in his newly found unbelief. He encourages the closeted skeptic, and fights fiercely for the rights of the non-religious. Loftus is a scribe: the apologist, the teacher. He was the defender of faith against its critics, and with the detailed knowledge that he acquired in this role, he has become the sharpest critic of religious apology.. Each of their books reflects the way that they interpreted the role of preacher.
Both Barker and Loftus seek to encourage those who seek affirmation of their skepticism or unbelief. Barker concentrates on the emotional, the social: "you are not alone", "you are not a bad person". Loftus focuses on the ideas, the dogma: the Bible is riddled with inconsistencies, the supposedly biographical accounts in the New Testament are demonstrably fictitious, the attempts by contemporary theologians to construct a coherent interpretation of the contradictory mess are failures, and so forth. If you have read some of the authorities that Loftus cites - Mackie, Martin, et al - I would still recommend his book, because he pulls all of the threads together in a compact and accessible manner. If you are unfamiliar with the literature, Loftus may be all you need. (Add Hitchens for spice, of course!)
I recommend all three books.
Whether Xians accept it or not......John has some valid points. January 2, 2009
Kounterfeit Records (RALEIGH,NC)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I can certainly understand why some people who were critical of the book would point out arguments they don't like from Loftus,but where did he claim that his arguments were new atheistic arguments? Nowhere in 428 pages did I see him claim this.He opened with his own personal experiences and then proceeded to the basic core refutations and objections that atheists have to Xianity.Are there better writers?Possibly.But please understand that nearly all atheist literature from Ingersoll to B.C.Johnson, to Sam Harris to Victor Stenger to David Mills,to Christopher Hitchens and so on are going to employ this train of thought.Think of your basic run of the mill evangelical books that tell you the same silly thing over and over about how Jesus loves you, and wants you to confess your sins, and jabber jabber, so you can live with him in heaven forever, blah blah blah he died for you, and so on.. if you're honest, what you'll get with each new book that comes out is maybe a slightly different take on what science says in relation to the bible and go over the philosophiocal objections that atheists have with theism.I myself am an atheist because xians are impoverished in thought to be able to defend the objections.There just isn't good reason to believe in any sort of Sky Daddy.The universe is beautiful and perfectly natural in itself.The bottom line is that Prometheus puts out this stream of authors like Zondervan puts out apologetic material.It gets 4 stars because Loftus seemed to be honest about his reasons for coming to atheism.If Christians can buy into Strobel's conversion story, then it has to go both ways.
Excellent Comprehensive Overview January 1, 2009
D. Weatherford (Spanish Fork, UT USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This is the best all-encompassing critique of Christianity that I have been able to find so far (and I have read A LOT). However, I would not recommend it as an introductory text on any of it's subjects (biblical criticism, philosophy of religion, biblical archaeology etc). If you want to have an in-depth review of these topics then get individual books about them because there is too much info for one book. On the other hand, if you want an easier-to-read introduction, then I suggest you buy GODLESS by Dan Barker. But, if you want a convincing interpretation of the findings of biblical scholarship, archaeology, and philosophy, this is the book you are looking for.
That said, the reason for rating it a 4 has to do with writing style and the book binding.
I think that the prose is rather dry in many places and he can sometimes drone on. Also, I found an excessive amount of typos and other errors that could easily have been spotted with more reviewing.
The plastic cover-shield on my copy started to peel off which is quite frustrating because the rest of the book is pretty high-quality. I ended up just wrapping the edges in electrical tape. I suppose this is not that bad, the book is so great that I will likely use it often as a reference for further study.
Highly recommended!
A cumulative case against Christianity December 24, 2008
Anthony Lawson (Kentucky USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and at times just couldn't put it down. John's deconversion story was very moving and I'm sure rings true for a great many that have gone through the heartache of abandoning the Christian faith.
John presents a cumulative case against Christianity. He starts by explaining his control beliefs covering various arguments including the existence of God, the issue of science and religion, the question of historical evidence, miracles, the problem of evil and a number of other topics. One of the most unique is what he calls the "outsider test for faith" where he essentially asks Christians to critically examine their faith as an outsider would from the perspective of skepticism, much in the same vain that a Christian would evaluate other faiths and worldviews.
John continues his line of argumentation by examining the many problems with the Bible covering such topics as archaeology, the Exodus and Canaanite conquest, science and Genesis, prophecy, and the resurrection of Christ. A number of theological problems are also dealt with such as the virgin birth, the incarnation, the passion, the devil, and hell.
The shortest section is on why John is an atheist today. I would love to have seen this greatly expanded but I understand the limits that were set on him by the publisher.
John covers a lot of material in as little space as possible. He deals with each topic adequately and gives the reader references for further reading in the notes and bibliography. All in all one of the best books that I have read on the subject and highly recommended.
Almost Same Reason's I became An Atheist December 22, 2008
John Grove (Simi Valley, CA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is the most honest [so honest in fact it is stunning], intellectually challenging book I have read on this particularly subject. I have read almost everything from Dawkings, Harris, etc.. but this book as one has said "hits the bulls eye".
I enjoyed every page and it struck a chord in me because the reasons he gives and the story he tells is almost exactly like mine. [I was licensed to preach but was not a pastor or anything like that].
My only criticism of the book was not its content [which was incredible] but the overuse of "she" rather then "he". I don't know if John was trying to please the feminine crowd at the expense or neglect of using the masculine, but I found it distracting. I would try to re-word those parts because that alone bugged me and could lead some to get frustrated reading it.
But because of his knowledge, experience and the books content, it is of high value. I almost rated it four stars, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it just because his overuse of "she" bothered me.
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