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God's Funeral: A Biography of Faith and Doubt in Western Civilization
by
A.N. Wilson
In the course of the nineteenth century, the idea of God became unknowable and then impossible. Scottish philosopher David Hume had wittily but devastatingly kicked away the logical underpinnings of Christian theology a hundred years before; Nietzsche then declared God dead; and Thomas Hardy, through his poetry, presided glumly over his funeral.
And yet, as award-winning no...more
And yet, as award-winning no...more
Paperback, 416 pages
Published
September 12th 2000
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1999)
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Ah, what a soothing experience Wilson's prose is, a quiet and erudite voice that one must strain ever so slightly to hear and whose locution and placidity can but heighten the reasonableness and rightfulness of the learned elucidations and expositions which—lovingly carved from a stone of Victorian society—are set to stand comfortably amidst an atmosphere of genial and persuasive conversation. He has well heard the lengthy and melancholy sigh that escaped from this era when the essence of a stea...more
After a slow and shaky start, my philosophy-challenged brain cells adapted to the intellectual tone of this meticulously researched and documented book about the decline of religious faith in the 19th century. The author discusses the various scientific discoveries and philosophical arguments that led to many prominent individuals to abandon Christianity, and even God, altogether; and the effects this abandonment of belief had on these individuals and on society itself.
The thing I foun...more
The thing I foun...more
God still has " value" e.g., when a politician or other prominent individual gets himself into trouble (usually through a failing of his zipper or wallet), and he (rarely she) seeks redemption in the eyes of the public by public confession of his sins and expression of the need for divine forgiveness and grace. Witness Charles Colson, Eldridge Cleaver, and Bill Clinton (the bizarre prayer breakfast).
" Value" may have a rather foreign meaning in this context, but ...more
" Value" may have a rather foreign meaning in this context, but ...more
Religious skepticism was becoming more popular at the end of the nineteenth century among many intellectuals and writers in Europe. Why had they abandoned traditional Christianity? Was it a result of industrial and scientific progress? Was it Charles Darwin and his insightful writing on evolution? As A.N. Wilson writes, the sources of this skepticism and disbelief were many and varied. Synthesizing biography and intellectual history, Wilson traces the lives and ideas of people like Hume, Mill...more
From David`Hume, Karl Marx, George Eliot 'til Thomas Hardy, this book paints a big picture of deism and atheism in western civilization; and not only presenting details of some prominent atheist leaders, this book also gave some insight to the causes of their unbelief. The author's erudation is to be congratulated. It is highly readable, and hence an ideal place to start having an intelligent conversation between Christianity and Atheism.
I really loved this book, which was a history of "doubters" of religion from Kant to about 1910. I had never heard of many of the people, but everyone has a vague notion of their ideas, so it was nice to get a little look into the lives that led their philosophy. I read with a notebook in hand because it was full of wonderful quotes and references to interesting books.
A history of the growth of doubt in God's existence in 19th Century British literature and science. Here we are almost 200 years later and over 40% of the US population believes the earth is only 6000 years old and evolution is a godless myth. Myths have a powerful hold on the human mind. It's nice to believe that in the end the good folks will be rewarded and the evil ones punished and everything will be OK. I guess it's a way of dealing with an unfair existence.
The 19th century was the era in which it appeared that God no longer held any meaning, when Biblical literalism ceased to be tenable to thinking people, and when Darwinism seemed to eliminate the need for a Designer. This book examines the struggles and thoughts of many of the great thinkers, writers and artists of the period and how they responded to this new era in Western Culture. Many of the leading lights are present, though the emphasis is on British letters. Emerson, Carlyle, Hardy, Ma...more
Dense, learned review of the "Death of God" in Victorian England -- sort of like sipping port with an Oxford don and letting him school you about a bunch of formerly important figures you may have only heard of vaguely (Herbert Spencer, Swinburne, Carlyle). Nicely demonstrates the currents of agnostic/atheistic thought that were already flowing before Darwin kicked the props out from under Biblical literalism, while making the case that religion is important even if not factually "...more
This is an interesting book. It cover the changes that have followed the loss of faith in western culture at many different levels. It tackles the subject in a linear historical manner choosing major authors to highlight the changes in thought and belief. The chapters on Carlyle, Marx/Engles, and William James are particularly good.
Pius X was convinced that with liberalism and modernist way of thinking about the divine will lead to atheism, mayhem and nihilism in Society (Page 462). Of course, He was right, but look at the aftermath of freedom, wealth creation for the masses that came from the struggles of the minds of the Victorian age. Mr Wilson has weaved another gem looking at the minds that has shaped the world we are now enjoying. Marx, Spencer, Darwin, Kant and a host of others were luminaries of modernity and a new...more
waste of paper and environmental resources. destroy in profligate carbonaceous fashion.
2008
2002
2002
A history of the decline of religious belief among European intellectuals during the 19th century. The title is taken from a poem by Thomas Hardy. Wilson focuses on the personal stories of the writers, philosophers, and artists he writes about. This is not a dry history of an intellectual movement, but rather a series of accounts of very personal crises of faith that accurately reflect the spiritual zeitgeist of the Victorian Age.
A completely absorbing view of the Victorian despair surrounding the demythologizing of God.
Potentially interesting concept, pedantic and utterly dull execution.
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Andrew Norman Wilson is an English writer known for his critical biographies, novels and works of popular and cultural history. He is also a columnist for the London Evening Standard and was an occasional contributor to the Daily Mail,Times Literary Supplement, New Statesman, The Spectator and The Observer.
A. N. Wilson was educated at Rugby School and New College, Oxford. Destined or...more
More about A.N. Wilson...
A. N. Wilson was educated at Rugby School and New College, Oxford. Destined or...more
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