Atheist Delusions, by David Bentley Hart

Every so often you read a book that demands a second and third reading. David  Bentley Hart’s Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and It’s Fashionable  Enemies is one such book.

As the title suggests, this is Hart’s response to the recent crop of neo-atheist writings.  Hart, a Christian whose profound knowledge of the Western tradition includes a profound  respect for the tradition of unbelief within western thought, finds the current crop a  disappointment.

Hart’s purpose in this book is not to rebut their arguments point by point, but rather  to address an important sub-structure of neo-atheism: the story we tell ourselves  about religion and the Enlightenment. The story goes something like this:

There was once a thriving classical culture in the west (Greco-Roman). Christianity  came along and retarded its progress for about 1000 years. Then, about 400 years  ago there was an Enlightenment when we got rid of religion, discovered science

and recovered rationalism, empiricism and progress. This is true, and good.

It is this story that Hart sets out to correct and challenge.

As I say, I’ll be blogging my way through Hart’s 17 chapters over the next few months. I’m happy to do it for my own edification but, of course, if you wanted to go down to your local bookstore, pick up a copy and read along with me, I’d love your company.