Atheist Delusions

The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies

By: David Bentley Hart

Narrated by: Ralph Morocco

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

In this provocative book one of the most brilliant scholars of religion today dismantles distorted religious "histories" offered up by Christopher Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, and other contemporary critics of religion and advocates of atheism. David Bentley Hart provides a bold correction of the New Atheists’s misrepresentations of the Christian past, countering their polemics with a brilliant account of Christianity and its message of human charity as the most revolutionary movement in all of Western history.

Hart outlines how Christianity transformed the ancient world in ways we may have forgotten: bringing liberation from fatalism, conferring great dignity on human beings, subverting the cruelest aspects of pagan society, and elevating charity above all virtues. He then argues that what we term the "Age of Reason" was in fact the beginning of the eclipse of reason’s authority as a cultural value. Hart closes the book in the present, delineating the ominous consequences of the decline of Christendom in a culture that is built upon its moral and spiritual values.

©2009 David Bentley Hart (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Compelling Argument Torpedoed by Awful Narration

Hart’s arguments and his excoriation of the writings of the new atheists are engaging and entertaining. But not a minute will go by as you listen to this audiobook without a mispronunciation of a common word or name detailing your concentration and enjoyment. Perticular? Tee-ko Bra-hee? Bay-nal? Those are just three examples - I could cite dozens more. Did anyone listen to this before it was released? Hart certainly couldn’t have.

Great... except for narration

Didnt like the over articulated, robotic bass boost narration, desperately barron of anything resembling inflection or emotion, but I suffered it for the fantastic writing of David B Hart.

Complex but not an easy listen

This is Grad School vocabulary, which the reader doesn't always pronounce correctly. Interesting information though.

Great material, dreadful narration

The material alone makes this worth the listen, which is good because the narration is dreadfully monotonous. Hart brings his characteristic wit and slightly pretentious tone to examine what makes western culture what it is. He argues for more historical and philosophical literacy so that we can at least acknowledge the importance of Christianity on our culture and ourselves, whether or not we believe it.

I highly recommend it, but the narration is just so bad. Maybe buy the actual book and read it if that's an option for you.

Great book, awful narration

The content of the book is excellent, but the narration is the worst I’ve ever heard on Audible. VERY slow, monotone, and robotic. I suffered through 11+ hours for the content’s sake, but Audible didn’t make it easy.

I don't believe I have ever heard better writing.

David Bentley Hart has gifted the world with an incredible piece of work here. I highly recommend this book.

Erudite point of view

In his usual snarky way Hart points out the foibles of the new atheists without “wasting time” with any detailed dismantling of their argumentation other than to label it as pretty much imbecilic.

The book is quite thick with history, names, dates, and places. Too much to absorb from an audio book but somewhat interesting.

The big negative is the horrible quality of the narration. If you think of tonality on a scale of one to 100, the reader kept vocal variation between 49 and 51. Excruciatingly monotone.

That said, I did find the content interesting enough to suffer through the narration.

The big takeaway is that Christianity was the dawn of a people who cared for the sick, the widows, the poor, the orphans, the hungry, and others in need in a way that had never and has never been done by any pagan religious or secular society.

Excellent book, boring narrator

Turn the narration speed up to 1.25 for this to be tolerable. This book is an triumphant look back at the past of Christianity, how it changed the world's conscience forever and how that is now slipping away.

transformational genius

absolutely wonderful and engaging. a must read for any intellectual person of faith (I would highly recommend this as a graduate student)

Unfortunate Title for a Great Book

DB Hart's writing is superb as per usual in this description of the cultural revolution of Christianity in the ancient world and the counter-revolution of modernity a millennia and a half later. The context of this cultural/historical essay, as the book's subtitle suggests, is in answer to the "fashionable" band of new atheists like Dawkins and Hitchens who employ an uninformed and wildly distorted picture of Christianity and its history in their arguments. The title, therefore, misses the mark in communicating what this book is; it is not a theological, philosophical, or metaphysical apologia for the Faith.

The narrator is utterly intolerable unless you listen at 1.25x at least. He also pronounces some things weird. But overall it's terrific.