Philosopher
God Is Not Great
Overview
God Is Not Great (sometimes stylized as god is not Great) is a 2007 book by journalist Christopher Hitchens in which he makes a case against organized religion. It was originally published in the United Kingdom by Atlantic Books as God Is Not Great: The Case Against Religion and in the United States by Twelve as God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, but in 2017 Atlantic Books republished it with no subtitle.
Hitchens states that organized religion is "violent, irrational, intolerant, allied to racism, tribalism, and bigotry, invested in ignorance and hostile to free inquiry, contemptuous of women and coercive toward children" and is sectarian, and that accordingly it "ought to have a great deal on its conscience". He supports his position with a mixture of personal stories, documented historical anecdotes and critical analysis of religious texts. His commentary focuses mainly on the Abrahamic religions, although it also touches on other religions, such as Eastern religions. The book sold well and received mixed reviews, with some critics finding historical inaccuracies in the text and some finding the book highly important.
The title of the book negates the Muslim affirmation Allahu akbar, which translates as "God is great".
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Philosophers who discussed God Is Not Great
Ideas God Is Not Great discusses
- First Crusade
- Abrahamic religions
- Atheism
- John Wycliffe
- Metaphysics
- Eastern religions
- Mormonism
- New Testament
- Old Testament
- Christopher Hitchens
- David Bentley Hart
- Racism
- Satan
- Freethought
- Stephen Jay Gould
- Hoover Institution
- Totalitarianism
- Ignorance
- The New York Times
- Teleological argument
- Hardcover
- Bertrand Russell
- Dogma
- Islam
Place in the tradition
Part of Antireligion.