Losing Faith in Faith: From Preacher to Atheist

Dan Barker's semi-autobiographical critique of religion came into my life years ago at the same time I began asking the hard questions about the nature of existence, the universe and everything. To say that Losing Faith in Faith influenced me would be an understatement—more accurately, it fueled the flame that steered me away from dogmatic belief once and for all.

Barker's writing is clever, replete with humor and a pure joy to read for anyone wrestling with the illogicality of belief. He can no longer take religion seriously so you see that he's just laughing at the absurdity of it all.

In the mid-2000's Losing Faith was updated for a newly-energized freethought market, and the result was 2008's Godless. The new edition is worth show more checking out since it goes into further detail on most of the subjects first printed here, but I still prefer this version. show less

There is a lot in here that should be valuable to those needing detailed analysis of the bible. My atheism is not based on a "loss of faith" and I don't feel any need to argue about what the bible says or doesn't say; to me it is irrelevant. Nevertheless, I found Barker's analysis intriguing, educational, and entertaining. Especially entertaining.

I thought when I bought this book that it would be primarily about Barker's journey from preacher to atheist, but that story only takes a small part of the book. It is an interesting journey that ultimately involved Barker's parents as well. Barker grew up with fundamentalist religions. His parents did not stay with just one, however. They were seekers, constantly trying to find the religion show more that fit their beliefs best. Barker rose from dedicated church-goer to preacher at a young age. It is natural, then, that he became very familiar with the bible. However, that knowledge was always annotated by others; he did not form his own opinions.

When the time came that he actually started to look at what the bible says, literally, it didn't take long for him to break away from his beliefs.

Although Barker grew up in fundamentalist churches, the fact that his parents rejected some must have affected the young man's thinking. It meant that his parents were thinking for themselves, even if they did not go beyond fundamentalism.

After the introduction to Barker's conversion, Barker takes on one topic after another related to the bible and atheism. So in a way it is a textbook for those who like arguing about any part of the bible -from who created it to what it actually says to how it relates to what churchgoers think it says.

I enjoyed reading it and I hope others do as well. There were many times I laughed out loud. Yet I wouldn't call it cruel or condescending. show less

This book by an ex-evangelical preacher is a detail of his journey from faith to non-belief. In a sense, you could consider it his "confession', as he discusses how he converted others to the faith, and participated in anti-evolution sermons. He also contributed music and plays to the vast corpus of Christian literature, from which he still draws royalties. The author writes in a very down-to-earth, approachable style, more friend than professor.

Great compendium on rejecting fundamentalist religion from somebody who has lived through it. Authentic.

This is a good book, full of data, examples, and ideas, even if I don't like the "preacher" style of Dan. He always talks like he has the only goal of converting you, no matter what. I would prefer a more soft and less confrontational approach.
Maybe this is what religious people need in order to reconsider their faith and believes.