The Rage Against God: How Atheism Led Me to Faith

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: 9780310412595

Peter Hitchens

Peter Hitchens is a British journalist, author, and broadcaster. He currently writes for the Mail on Sunday, where he is a columnist and occasional foreign correspondent, reporting most recently from Iran, North Korea, Burma, The Congo, and China. A former revolutionary, he attributes his return to faith largely to his experience of socialism in practice, which he witnessed during his many years reporting in Eastern Europe and his nearly three years as a resident correspondent in Moscow during the collapse of the Soviet Union. He lived and worked in the United States from 1993 to 1995. Hitchens lives in Oxford with his wife, Eve. They have three children.

Reviews for The Rage Against God

[Nick Tarter · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Peter does a solid job telling his story and explaining his experience of moving from lacking belief in God to believing in God. I found it compelling and well considered.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[xyz284321 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A well rounded discussion on the views, beliefs and actions of modern day and historic anti-theists with a number of entertaining stories and recollections. A must read about the on-going debate on the role of God in the hearts and minds of the modern western society.