The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith

Written by Peter Hitchens

Narrated by Peter Hitchens

What if notorious atheist Christopher Hitchens, bestselling author of God Is Not Great, had a Christian brother? He does. Meet Peter Hitchens--British journalist, author, and former atheist--as he tells his powerful story for the first time in The Rage Against God.

In The Rage Against God, Hitchens details his personal story of how he left the faith and dramatically returned. Like many of the Old Testament saints whose personal lives were intertwined with the life of their nation, so Peter's story is also the story of modern England and its spiritual decline. The path to a secular utopia, pursued by numerous modern tyrants, is truly paved with more violence than has been witnessed in any era in history.

Peter invites you to witness firsthand accounts of atheistic societies, specifically in Communist Russia, where he lived in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union. Peter brings his work as an international journalist to bear as he shows that the twentieth century--the world's bloodiest--entailed nothing short of atheism's own version of the Crusades and the Inquisition.

The Rage Against God asks and answers the three failed arguments of atheism:

• Are conflicts fought in the name of religion really just conflicts about religion?
• Is it possible to determine what is right and what is wrong without God?
• Are atheist states not actually atheist?

Join Hitchens as he provides hope for all believers whose friends or family members have left Christianity or who are enchanted by the arguments of the anti-religious intellects of our age.

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Release date: Jun 1, 2010
• ISBN: 9780310412601

Peter Hitchens

Peter Hitchens is a well-known and controversial commentator, a columnist for the Mail on Sunday and a frequent broadcaster. His first book, The Abolition of Britain, made an impact on both Left and Right with its argument that Britain had chosen the wrong future in the 1960s, and that Thatcherism had not only failed to halt the moral and cultural revolution launched by the Left, but had in many ways accelerated it.

Reviews for The Rage Against God

[xox_2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

This is the famous Christopher Hitchens's brother. Christopher is a genius while his brother Peter is an idoit. Life is not fair.

[Rebecca Gao · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I came upon this book after listening an excerpt about Peter's experience in the Soviet Union on Academic Agent's YouTube channel. Peter's thoroughly enjoyable, dulcet tones make the audio book a pleasant experience, and while I myself do not particularly identify with Peter's Christianity, his accounts of the anti-theist and Marxist societies are incredibly informative, and offer a unique and interesting perspective on our current, unfulfilling cutural secularism.

[wkalush · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Exceptional! Christopher Hitchens brother is his intellectual match and his moral superior.

[Asen Georgiev · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The analyses covers multiple angles of the atheists vs religion arguments and multiple contexts of it. The author draws a great deal out of his own experience and reflections he has made whoch are both very interesting to listen to and quite useful to keep in mind. A great book in deed.

[JustinDoward · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Written in 2010, this appears to be a response to Christopher Hitchen's 2007 book "God is not Great". It is a reasonable riposte, I think it is probably more aimed at current believers than any serious attempt to convert atheists. Peter looks at the influences that have led to the slow, sometime rapid, disintegration of theistic belief in the west and his contribution for which he appears to suffer significant remorse. The historical observations are interesting, and the link to Marxism/Leninism is well put. At first I thought it was a little disrespectful with the direct references to his perceived shortfalls in Christopher's arguments when "The Hitch" would have no opportunity to respond, but then I realised that this was first published shortly before his death so I guess they will both know which of them was right in the not too distant future. The attacks on atheism when they occur are similar but opposite to the straw-man arguments put up by many atheists so forgivable enough, though as mentioned unlikely to sway anybody not already that way inclined. Peter's book is well worth a look/listen.

[spbooks_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book was a complete let-down. I expected a deep engagement with his brother's arguments against God and how Peter's atheism led him to faith. Instead I got a rambling historical analysis that left me bored and wondering where the author was going to such an extent I couldn't be bothered reading past the first few chapters.

[davemac_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book very easy to read and informative. The personal tone and autobiographical elements were very engaging. It wasn't quite the "sibling rivalry" that the jacket blurb made it out to be ("Two brothers. Two beliefs. Two revolted. One returned.") and I was grateful for that. This is not so much an apolgia for faith as a personal memoir, an invitation to share a journey. My only reason for giving it 4 stars instead of 5 is that I was never quite sure if he was promoting a particular God (though of course he reference Christianity) or simply religion for religion's sake - there seems to be more praise for thet raditions of religion than for the content of a specific faith.

[stephenbarkley · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Peter Hitchens will likely sell a lot of copies of this book because of his brother, famed atheist Christopher Hitchens (I’ll be honest, that’s why I snagged a copy). Fortunately, this book stands well on its own.Peter uses autobiography and argument to make this point: Societies founded on atheism fail spectacularly. Having lived as a journalist in the Soviet Union, he witnessed the results of Lennin’s failed enforced-atheism. Upon returning to England, he was shocked to see the culture he was raised in degenerating in similar fashion.A major pillar of radical atheism is the premise that religion causes suffering. This book undermines that pillar and actually proposes the opposite. Most wars fought in the name of religion are not really religious, but ethnic wars with religious labels. The worst suffering is found in atheistic societies.I’d like to believe his argument but there’s one big hole unaccounted for. He nowhere accounts for the role that government style has to play in the situation. Can he really say that theistic societies are more civil than atheistic ones, or is it simply the case that democratically governed societies are more civil than communist-run states?My last quibble is the way this book was marketed. The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith is not the main point of this book. A more accurate title would be The Rage Against God: Why Societies Founded on Atheism Fail. He really said very little about how his atheism led him to faith.While I didn’t agree with all of his ideas, the overall argument of the book has certainly forced me think. What more can you ask for in a book?Disclaimer: This review copy was provided free of charge by Zondervan.

[G A McKee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I found this autobiographical testimony quite gripping. This is particularly so because I am a man born in the same year as the author, having abandoned my years of Christian (Catholic) upbringing and indoctrination during the turbulent university days of Woodstock, the Tet Offensive and man’s first step on the moon. Life experience since then, and living through the post Christian cultural wars in Australia (spearheaded by anti discrimination laws and the neo Marxist atheistic LGBT agenda) has made me come to the view as espoused by Peter Hitchins throughout this wonderful book. I am grateful to the author for writing and publishing this book. It has enriched my life and reinforced my belief that philosophers have never found an objective basis for moral judgements and therefore the only practical way a good society can prevail is by reclaiming the authority of God - and his representative (?) Jesus of Nazareth - and the countless Christian thinkers and theologians throughout the past two millennia- to tell us the difference between good and evil. After the author has passed away into the great beyond, I imagine he will live on in the hearts and minds of his children and loved ones through this beautifully written book . Amen.

[jburlinson_3 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

After flogging the religious establishment for years , the author, a little older now and experiencing twinges of rheumatism in his left arm, transfers his scourge (switches his switch?) to the right arm and goes to work on the secular establishment. The stimulus for this change of heart and arm? Hitchens is surprisingly up-front about being scared to death by a medieval depiction of the last judgment, with all those naked, wretched sinners at the bottom of the frame. He decides he doesn’t want to be one of them. It's strangely fitting, in a way, since for Peter Hitchens, as for his older brother Christopher, it's all about who deserves abuse and shame. The fact that they occupy opposite sides of the atheism argument is of little consequence when it comes to the methods they both choose to make their respective cases, which basically boils down to: "If you don't agree with me, you're an idiot." Must be fun on Boxing Day at the Hitchens house.

[taterzngravy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Rage against God reads like a restrained essay the first third of the book. It is important ot know that this is a response to his brother's book. God is not Great.HItchens details his early life in Great Britain, why he left his roots and why Great Britain left her roots and the effects of both. Hitchens set out to do anything that was contrary to what he knew about God. HIs time spent as a journalist in the Soviet Union helped him see the results of living contrary to God. when he returned to England. Many of the things he had disliked in the Soviet Union were starting to manifest themselves there and for the same reasons, the discarding of Christian beliefs. The essay was informative but subdued. Very British as we Americans think. Americans will think his conversion was understated. Yes, the entire book is understated. It doesn't have to be full of exclamation points to delver its points. That is one of the strengths of the book. The arguments stand without shouting. The description of his conversion was to give flesh to his argument.He says,I did not have a "religious experience." Nothing mystical or inexplicable took place--no trances, no swoon, no vision, no voices, no blaze of light. But I had a sudden, strong sense of religion being a thing of the present day., not imprisoned under thick layers of time. A large catalogue of misdeeds, raging from the embarrassing to the appalling, replayed themselves rapidly in my head. I had no doubt that I was among the damned, if there were any damned.This is while looking at a medieval painting. This is not how most Americans view a conversion. But it was one.In the second part of the book, he deals with "the three failed arguments of atheism." The three failed arguments are: (1) conflicts that are fought in the name of religion are about religion;(2) it is possible to determine what is right and what is wrong without God; (3) atheist states are not actually atheist. This section was the same as the first part. Convincing but subdued. It was as if the task were too easy.In the final section of the book,when he deals with the absurdity of anti-theists, as Peter's brother, Christopher refers to himself, thinking that anti-theist regimes do not reflect poorly on their view. This is where the hammers pounded. Peter Hitchens had atheism dancing in all of its nakedness. Hitchens had been there and had seen the effects of atheism. He had believed the arguments and had seen them fail. This is where the book truly succeeds. He takes away the bite in their arguments. In this section, Hitchens clearly shows why atheists want our children; giving our children their beliefs is how they think they will succeed. This book is worth reading for the purpose that it gives one confidence to bump into these arguments without being afraid, which is an important purpose of apologetics--to give believers confidence in their beliefs. When anyone shouts another down, it is important to know that there is a response. This book isn't comprehensive in its response, which the author admits, but it is sufficient.