These Books will Make you an Atheist (Run!)

Yes, I’ve read them all. And these are only the ones I listed when I had the original Atheist View website.


On Atheism:


Atheism: A Reader 
edited by S.T. Joshi
Atheism: The Case Against God by George H. Smith
Atheist Universe: Why God Didn’t Have a Thing to do With It by David Mills
The Atheist’s Handbook to Modern Materialism by Philip A. Stahl
The End of Faith by Sam Harris
The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins
Godless in America: Conversations with an Atheist by George Ricker
Letter to a Christian Nation by Sam Harris
Natural Atheism by David Eller
Nonbelief and Evil: Two Arguments for the nonexistence of God by Theodore M. Drange

On Science and Skepticism:

The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark by Carl Sagan.
Evolution and the Myth of Creationism: A Basic Guide to the Facts in the Evolution Debate by Tim M. Berra
Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns and other Delusions by James Randi
Idiot Proof: Deluded Celebrities, Irrational powerbrokers, Media Morons, and the Erosion of Common Sense by Francis Wheen
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson
Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time by Michael Shermer

On Religion:

The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong
Bertrand Russell on God and Religion; Al Seckel, editor
Critiques of God: Making the Case Against Belief in God edited by Peter A. Angeles
Does God Exist: The Debate Between Theists and Atheists J.P. Moreland and Kai Nielsen
The Dogma of Christ and Other Essays on Religion, Psychology, and Culture by Erich Fromm
A History of God: The 4000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam by Karen Armstrong
Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why by Bart Ehrman
Moses and Monotheism by Sigmund Freud
The Origin of Satan by Elaine Pagels
Secret Origins of the Bible by Tim Callahan

On Christianity:

Adam, Eve, and the Serpent by Elaine Pagels
The Bible and its Influence by Cullen Schippe and Chuck Stetson
Backgrounds of Early Christianity by Everett Ferguson
The Bible Handbook; Revised Edition. 1986; American Atheist Press
The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology’s New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of its Sacred Texts by Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman.
The Born Again Skeptic’s Guide to the Bible by Ruth Hurmence Green.
The Case Against Christianity by Michael Martin
Challenging the Verdict by Earl Doherty
The Christ Conspiracy: The Greatest Story Ever Sold by Acharya S
Christian Fundamentalism: A Journey into the Heart of Darkness by David W. Hopewell
Christianity Before Christ by John G. Jackson
The Encyclopedia of Biblical Errancy by C. Dennis McKinsey
An Evolutionist Deconstructs Creationism by Arndt Von Hippel
The Fabrication of the Christ Myth by Harold Leidner
Farewell to God: My Reasons for Rejecting the Christian Faith by Charles Templeton
Forgery in Christianity by Joseph Wheless
God’s Secretaries: The Making of the King James Bible by Adam Nicolson
The Incredible Shrinking Son of Man by Robert M. Price
Is it God’s Word by Joseph Wheless
The Jesus Mysteries: Was the “Original Jesus” a Pagan God? By Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy.
The Jews in the Time of Jesus: An Introduction by Stephen M. Wylen
Leaving the Fold: Testimonies of Former Fundamentalists edited by Edward T. Babinski
Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist by Dan Barker
The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity by Hyam Maccoby
Psycho Bible: Behavior, Religion and the Holy Book by Armando Favazza
Why I Am Not a Christian by Bertrand Russell

Apologetics (Yes, of course I read them):

A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism by Ravi Zacharias
This is a vitriolic attack on atheists. It is designed for only two purposes: encouraging other Christians in their hatred of atheists and engendering discord between our two camps.
You can read other skeptic’s reviews of Zacharias on The Secular Web.

The Case for Christ and The Case for Faith by Lee Strobel
What can I say except that these were poor examples of unbiased reporting. Strobel pretends to be out for the truth but he just gobbles up the Christian story as it’s spoon fed to him. You can read other skeptics reviews of Strobel’s apologetics on The Secular Web.
Be sure to check out Earl Doherty’s Challenging the Verdict with the books on Christianity above.

The New Evidence that Demands a Verdict by Josh McDowell
When I first read these books, they were separate. Now they are contained in one volume under their new title. They were the first apologetics books that I read after Mr. Zacharias’ abuse (see A Shattered Visage above). The evidence does indeed demand a verdict and the verdict is: Christianity is false. McDowell’s apologetics are full of half-truths, lies, misquotes, and misrepresentations. My first thought upon reading his books was, “Is this the best Christians can do?” [Yes. Yes, it is.]
You can read other skeptics responses to McDowell on The Secular Web.

How to Make an Atheist Backslide by Ray Comfort
I had the pleasure of witnessing Mr. Comfort debate Ron Barrier of American Atheists at the 2001 convention of American Atheists in Orlando, Florida. Mr. Comfort is a passionate, articulate speaker and I’m sure he is very persuasive to his Christian audiences; but he would do best to stick to that venue. He started out with an explanation of the banana (of which he presented a visual aid) and how it is “designed” perfectly for the human animal to hold, peel and eat. He was, for we atheists, a fabulous break from the serious nature of the majority of the convention. The best part of Mr. Comfort’s appearance was the free book! Unfortunately, it doesn’t work so I don’t recommend it to any Christians looking to “make an atheist backslide.”

Letters From A Skeptic by Gregory A. Boyd
Not a bad case for Christianity. But as usual, the case is spoon fed to the vict…er, convert and he just laps it up with nary a rebuttal.  It’ll shore up your faith, but it won’t convince your atheist friends of anything.

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis
Mr. Lewis is to be respected as an author and he does present a fair and thoughtful case for Christianity and his reasons for belief.  But he is unconvincing–again, a good book for the Christian, but his lack of critical thinking applied to his own beliefs is obvious.
You can read skeptic responses to this book on The Secular Web.

That’s Just Your Interpretation: Responding to Skeptics Who Challenge Your Faith by Paul Copan
Not a bad apologetic–-fraught with the errors in critical thinking that always fail to convince rationalists, but presented thoughtfully and logically.
Mr. Copan is apparently associated with Ravi Zacharias and you can read about his support for Mr. Zacharias’ A Shattered Visage on The Secular Web.

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