-
Battling the Gods
- Atheism in the Ancient World
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 10 hrs and 10 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Battling the Gods
Buy for $21.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Conspiracy to End America
- Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 140
Today’s Republican party is not a “normal” political party in the American tradition. It has become an autocratic movement masquerading as a political party. As Stuart Stevens argues in The Conspiracy to End America, if we look away from that truth, we greatly increase the likelihood that the America we love will slip away, never to return.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Required Reading
- By Arturo Zendejas on 10-27-23
By: Stuart Stevens
-
God
- An Anatomy
- By: Francesca Stavrakopoulou
- Narrated by: Francesca Stavrakopoulou
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 178
The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT READ!!
- By Chester Johnson on 04-27-23
-
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
- By: Homer, W. H. D. Rouse - translator
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,951
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,668
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,661
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Oddball Translation
- By Joel Jenkins on 05-11-17
By: Homer, and others
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
Letter to a Christian Nation
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Jordan Bridges
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,535
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,628
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,614
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this...should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
the examined life
- By Stanley on 12-20-06
By: Sam Harris
-
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,263
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,058
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,043
The first new collection of essays by Christopher Hitchens since 2004, Arguably offers an indispensable key to understanding the passionate and skeptical spirit of one of our most dazzling writers, widely admired for the clarity of his style, a result of his disciplined and candid thinking. Topics range from ruminations on why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men to the enduring legacies of Thomas Jefferson and George Orwell.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Grab it
- By Davol2449 on 09-02-11
-
The Conspiracy to End America
- Five Ways My Old Party Is Driving Our Democracy to Autocracy
- By: Stuart Stevens
- Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms
- Length: 5 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 153
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 140
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 140
Today’s Republican party is not a “normal” political party in the American tradition. It has become an autocratic movement masquerading as a political party. As Stuart Stevens argues in The Conspiracy to End America, if we look away from that truth, we greatly increase the likelihood that the America we love will slip away, never to return.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Required Reading
- By Arturo Zendejas on 10-27-23
By: Stuart Stevens
-
God
- An Anatomy
- By: Francesca Stavrakopoulou
- Narrated by: Francesca Stavrakopoulou
- Length: 15 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 179
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 178
The scholarship of theology and religion teaches us that the God of the Bible was without a body, only revealing himself in the Old Testament in words mysteriously uttered through his prophets, and in the New Testament in the body of Christ. The portrayal of God as corporeal and masculine is seen as merely metaphorical, figurative, or poetic. But, in this revelatory study, Francesca Stavrakopoulou presents a vividly corporeal image of God: a human-shaped deity who walks and talks and weeps and laughs, who eats, sleeps, feels, and breathes, and who is undeniably male.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
GREAT READ!!
- By Chester Johnson on 04-27-23
-
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
- By: Homer, W. H. D. Rouse - translator
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,951
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,668
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,661
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Oddball Translation
- By Joel Jenkins on 05-11-17
By: Homer, and others
-
The Identity Trap
- A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time
- By: Yascha Mounk
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 11 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 151
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 135
For much of history, societies have violently oppressed ethnic, religious, and sexual minorities. It is no surprise that many who passionately believe in social justice came to believe that members of marginalized groups need to take pride in their identity to resist injustice.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
May It Mark A Turning Point
- By Larry on 09-28-23
By: Yascha Mounk
-
Letter to a Christian Nation
- By: Sam Harris
- Narrated by: Jordan Bridges
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,535
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,628
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,614
"Forty-four percent of the American population is convinced that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead sometime in the next 50 years," writes Sam Harris. "Imagine the consequences if any significant component of the U.S. government actually believed that the world was about to end and that its ending would be glorious. The fact that nearly half of the American population apparently believes this...should be considered a moral and intellectual emergency."
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
the examined life
- By Stanley on 12-20-06
By: Sam Harris
-
Arguably: Essays by Christopher Hitchens
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 28 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,263
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,058
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,043
The first new collection of essays by Christopher Hitchens since 2004, Arguably offers an indispensable key to understanding the passionate and skeptical spirit of one of our most dazzling writers, widely admired for the clarity of his style, a result of his disciplined and candid thinking. Topics range from ruminations on why Charles Dickens was among the best of writers and the worst of men to the enduring legacies of Thomas Jefferson and George Orwell.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Grab it
- By Davol2449 on 09-02-11
-
The Evolution of God
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,062
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 679
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 676
In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Very heavy reading
- By Stephen on 08-07-09
By: Robert Wright
-
How I Opened My Mind and Let God Out
- An Electrician's Road to Atheism
- By: Frank Lerant
- Narrated by: Frank Lerant
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 35
A six-month debate at work with a religious fundamentalist led to years of research and contemplation resulting in the author's journey towards Atheism. The three great monotheisms are picked apart, exposing their shortfalls via their own texts, world history, philosophy, and thought-provoking hypotheticals. If your brilliant logical brain is ready to be freed, you have come to the right place. This book will help you quell the doubt and fear associated with leaving the credulous herd.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very well done!
- By Leon on 10-23-21
By: Frank Lerant
-
Emperor of Rome
- Ruling the Ancient World
- By: Mary Beard
- Narrated by: Mary Beard
- Length: 14 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 183
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 164
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome. Now she shines her spotlight on the emperors who ruled the Roman empire, from Julius Caesar (assassinated 44 BCE) to Alexander Severus (assassinated 235 CE). Emperor of Rome is not your usual chronological account of Roman rulers, one after another: the mad Caligula, the monster Nero, the philosopher Marcus Aurelius.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wasn't sure but won me over
- By John S. on 01-26-24
By: Mary Beard
-
We of Little Faith
- Why I Stopped Pretending to Believe (and Maybe You Should Too)
- By: Kate Cohen
- Narrated by: Kate Cohen
- Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
Even though a growing number of Americans don’t believe in god, many remain reluctant to say so out loud. Kate Cohen argues that not only is it rewarding for those of little faith to announce themselves, it’s crucial to our country’s future. As she details the challenges and joys of fully embracing atheism—especially as a parent—Washington Post contributing columnist Kate Cohen does not dismiss religion as dangerous or silly. Instead, she investigates religion’s appeal in order to explain the ways we can thrive without it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Honest, gently forthright, and very much needed
- By Rosencrantz Jones on 10-09-23
By: Kate Cohen
-
Crucible of War
- The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766
- By: Fred Anderson
- Narrated by: Paul Woodson
- Length: 29 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 591
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 512
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 515
In this vivid and compelling narrative, the Seven Years' War - long seen as a mere backdrop to the American Revolution - takes on a whole new significance. Relating the history of the war as it developed, Anderson shows how the complex array of forces brought into conflict helped both to create Britain's empire and to sow the seeds of its eventual dissolution. Beginning with a skirmish in the Pennsylvania backcountry involving an inexperienced George Washington, the Iroquois chief Tanaghrisson, and the ill-fated French emissary Jumonville, Anderson reveals a chain of events that would lead to world conflagration.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Detailed History
- By Daniel on 07-15-18
By: Fred Anderson
-
When God Spoke Greek
- The Septuagint and the Making of the Christian Bible
- By: Timothy Michael Law
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 84
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
The Septuagint, the name given to the translation of the Hebrew scriptures between the third century BC and the second century AD, played a central role in the Bible's history. Many of the Hebrew scriptures were still evolving when they were translated into Greek, and these Greek translations, along with several new Greek writings, became Holy Scripture in the early Church. Yet gradually the Septuagint lost its place at the heart of Western Christianity.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A popular & much-needed intro to the Septuagint
- By Jacobus on 06-14-14
-
Seven Types of Atheism
- By: John Gray
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
For a generation now, public debate has been corroded by a shrill, narrow derision of religion in the name of an often vaguely understood “science.” John Gray’s stimulating and enjoyable new book, Seven Types of Atheism, describes the complex, dynamic world of older atheisms, a tradition that is, he writes, in many ways intertwined with and as rich as religion itself.
By: John Gray
-
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
- By: Thomas S. Kuhn
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,136
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 818
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 800
A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, and we forget how provocative and challenging its ideas once were - and still are. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions is that kind of book.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
The problem is not with the book
- By Marcus on 08-09-09
By: Thomas S. Kuhn
-
Heaven and Hell
- A History of the Afterlife
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: John Bedford Lloyd, Bart D. Ehrman - preface
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,038
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 866
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 862
In this “eloquent understanding of how death is viewed through many spiritual traditions” (Publishers Weekly, starred review), Bart Ehrman recounts the long history of the afterlife, ranging from The Epic of Gilgamesh up to the writings of Augustine, focusing especially on the teachings of Jesus and his early followers. He discusses ancient guided tours of heaven and hell, in which a living person observes the sublime blessings of heaven for those who are saved and the horrifying torments of hell for those who are damned.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
It may not be what you expect
- By Library Bob on 05-25-20
By: Bart D. Ehrman
-
The Portable Atheist
- Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever
- By: Christopher Hitchens
- Narrated by: Nicholas Ball
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 10
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 10
Atheist? Believer? Uncertain? No matter: The Portable Atheist will engage you every step of the way. From the number one New York Times best-selling author of God Is Not Great, comes this provocative and entertaining guided tour of atheist and agnostic thought through the ages with original pieces by Salman Rushdie, Ian McEwan, and Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Half the book
- By Barry Z. on 04-02-22
-
How Jesus Became God
- The Exaltation of a Jewish Preacher from Galilee
- By: Bart D. Ehrman
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 965
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 850
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 843
In a book that took eight years to research and write, leading Bible scholar Bart D. Ehrman explores how an apocalyptic prophet from the backwaters of rural Galilee crucified for crimes against the state came to be thought of as equal with the one God Almighty Creator of all things. Ehrman sketches Jesus's transformation from a human prophet to the Son of God exalted to divine status at his resurrection. Only when some of Jesus's followers had visions of him after his death - alive again - did anyone come to think that he, the prophet from Galilee, had become God.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Wishing for a bit more meat on the bones
- By Darwin8u on 04-09-14
By: Bart D. Ehrman
-
Why I Am Not a Christian
- By: Bertrand Russell
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 154
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 129
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself - questions about man’s place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his treatment of these questions the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other work as philosopher, writer, and teacher has been famous.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Good overall
- By Eratosthenes on 09-22-19
By: Bertrand Russell
Publisher's summary
Long before the European Enlightenment and the Darwinian revolution, which we often take to mark the birth of the modern revolt against religious explanations of the world, brave people doubted the power of the gods. Religion provoked skepticism in ancient Greece, and heretics argued that history must be understood as a result of human action rather than divine intervention. They devised theories of the cosmos based on matter and notions of matter based on atoms. They developed mathematical tools that could be applied to the world around them and tried to understand that world in material terms. Their skepticism left a rich legacy of literature, philosophy, and science and was defended by great writers like Epicurus, Lucretius, Cicero, and Lucian.
Tim Whitmarsh tells the story of the tension between orthodoxy and heresy with great panache, a story that ended - for the moment - with the imposition of Christianity on the Roman Empire in 313 CE.
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
The Evolution of God
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,062
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 679
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 676
In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Very heavy reading
- By Stephen on 08-07-09
By: Robert Wright
-
Ibn Khaldun
- An Intellectual Biography
- By: Robert Irwin
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world - a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Issues with accuracy, pronounciation
- By Moh 3aly on 01-02-19
By: Robert Irwin
-
The Case for God
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 435
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 324
Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Aristotle's Children
- How Christian, Muslims and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom
- By: Richard E. Rubenstein
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 137
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Best-selling author Richard E. Rubenstein brings the past to life in this engrossing story of social, religious, and scientific revolution during one of the darkest periods in European history. When a group of Dark Ages scholars rediscovered the works of Aristotle, the great thinker's ideas ignited a firestorm of enlightened thought. This is the endlessly fascinating account of the pivotal period in history when the modern era took root.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting story of the rediscovery of Aristotle
- By John on 12-16-04
-
The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 110
One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
-
Anti-Judaism
- The Western Tradition
- By: David Nirenberg
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
This incisive history upends the complacency that confines anti-Judaism to the ideological extremes in the Western tradition. With deep learning and elegance, David Nirenberg shows how foundational anti-Judaism is to the history of the West. Questions of how we are Jewish and, more critically, how and why we are not have been churning within the Western imagination throughout its history. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; Christians and Muslims of every period; even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book: Terrible Narrator
- By LB on 12-29-16
By: David Nirenberg
-
The Evolution of God
- By: Robert Wright
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 18 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,062
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 679
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 676
In this sweeping narrative, which takes us from the Stone Age to the Information Age, Robert Wright unveils an astonishing discovery: there is a hidden pattern that the great monotheistic faiths have followed as they have evolved. Through the prisms of archeology, theology, and evolutionary psychology, Wright's findings overturn basic assumptions about Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, and are sure to cause controversy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Very heavy reading
- By Stephen on 08-07-09
By: Robert Wright
-
Ibn Khaldun
- An Intellectual Biography
- By: Robert Irwin
- Narrated by: John Telfer
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406) is generally regarded as the greatest intellectual ever to have appeared in the Arab world - a genius who ranks as one of the world's great minds. Yet the author of the Muqaddima, the most important study of history ever produced in the Islamic world, is not as well known as he should be, and his ideas are widely misunderstood. In this groundbreaking intellectual biography, Robert Irwin provides an engaging and authoritative account of Ibn Khaldun's extraordinary life, times, writings, and ideas.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Issues with accuracy, pronounciation
- By Moh 3aly on 01-02-19
By: Robert Irwin
-
The Case for God
- By: Karen Armstrong
- Narrated by: Karen Armstrong
- Length: 16 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 435
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 324
Moving from the Paleolithic age to the present, Karen Armstrong details the great lengths to which humankind has gone in order to experience a sacred reality that it called by many names, such as God, Brahman, Nirvana, Allah, or Dao. Focusing especially on Christianity but including Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Chinese spiritualities, Armstrong examines the diminished impulse toward religion in our own time, when a significant number of people either want nothing to do with God or question the efficacy of faith. Why has God become unbelievable?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great recasting of how God should be interpreted
- By John Doyle on 02-18-11
By: Karen Armstrong
-
Aristotle's Children
- How Christian, Muslims and Jews Rediscovered Ancient Wisdom
- By: Richard E. Rubenstein
- Narrated by: Nelson Runger
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 137
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Best-selling author Richard E. Rubenstein brings the past to life in this engrossing story of social, religious, and scientific revolution during one of the darkest periods in European history. When a group of Dark Ages scholars rediscovered the works of Aristotle, the great thinker's ideas ignited a firestorm of enlightened thought. This is the endlessly fascinating account of the pivotal period in history when the modern era took root.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting story of the rediscovery of Aristotle
- By John on 12-16-04
-
The Enlightenment
- And Why It Still Matters
- By: Anthony Pagden
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 16 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 125
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 110
One of our most renowned and brilliant historians takes a fresh look at the revolutionary intellectual movement that laid the foundation for the modern world. Liberty and equality. Human rights. Freedom of thought and expression. Belief in reason and progress. The value of scientific inquiry. These are just some of the ideas that were conceived and developed during the Enlightenment, and which changed forever the intellectual landscape of the Western world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
A thorough political tract rather than history
- By Jacobus on 03-08-14
By: Anthony Pagden
-
Anti-Judaism
- The Western Tradition
- By: David Nirenberg
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 17 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
This incisive history upends the complacency that confines anti-Judaism to the ideological extremes in the Western tradition. With deep learning and elegance, David Nirenberg shows how foundational anti-Judaism is to the history of the West. Questions of how we are Jewish and, more critically, how and why we are not have been churning within the Western imagination throughout its history. Ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans; Christians and Muslims of every period; even the secularists of modernity have used Judaism in constructing their visions of the world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book: Terrible Narrator
- By LB on 12-29-16
By: David Nirenberg
-
The Cave and the Light
- Plato Versus Aristotle, and the Struggle for the Soul of Western Civilization
- By: Arthur Herman
- Narrated by: Paul Hecht
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 508
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 444
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 443
The Cave and the Light reveals how two Greek philosophers became the twin fountainheads of Western culture, and how their rivalry gave Western civilization its unique dynamism down to the present.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
All of Western Philosphy Leads to Ayn Rand?!?
- By Leslie on 06-22-15
By: Arthur Herman
-
The Dream of Reason, New Edition
- A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance
- By: Anthony Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Anthony Gottlieb
- Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Already a classic, this landmark study of early Western thought now appears in a new edition with expanded coverage of the Middle Ages. Author Anthony Gottlieb looks afresh at the writings of the great thinkers, questions much of conventional wisdom, and explains his findings with unbridled brilliance and clarity. From the pre-Socratic philosophers through the celebrated days of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, up to Renaissance visionaries like Erasmus and Bacon, philosophy emerges here as a phenomenon unconfined by any one discipline.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Bias spoils the work.
- By MC on 08-21-20
By: Anthony Gottlieb
-
Lost Enlightenment
- Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane
- By: S. Frederick Starr
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 497
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 429
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 427
Lost Enlightenment recounts how, between the years 800 and 1200, Central Asia led the world in trade and economic development, the size and sophistication of its cities, the refinement of its arts, and, above all, in the advancement of knowledge in many fields. Central Asians achieved signal breakthroughs in astronomy, mathematics, geology, medicine, chemistry, music, social science, philosophy, and theology, among other subjects.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Subject worthwhile but repetative narrative
- By F-M on 04-10-14
-
Orientalism
- By: Edward Said
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 19 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 576
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 463
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 464
This landmark book, first published in 1978, remains one of the most influential books in the Social Sciences, particularly Ethnic Studies and Postcolonialism. Said is best known for describing and critiquing "Orientalism", which he perceived as a constellation of false assumptions underlying Western attitudes toward the East. In Orientalism Said claimed a "subtle and persistent Eurocentric prejudice against Arabo-Islamic peoples and their culture."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
We're lucky to have this on audio
- By Delano on 02-27-13
By: Edward Said
-
What Are We Doing Here?
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 25
Marilynne Robinson has plumbed the human spirit in her renowned novels, including Lila and Gilead, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In this new essay collection she trains her incisive mind on our modern political climate and the mysteries of faith. Whether she is investigating how the work of great thinkers about America, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and Alexis de Tocqueville, inform our political consciousness or discussing how beauty informs and disciplines daily life, Robinson's peerless prose and boundless humanity are on full display.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Unpersuasive and a bit repetitive
- By Adam Shields on 03-07-18
-
Zakhor: Jewish History and Jewish Memory (The Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
- By: Yosef Hayim Yerushalmi
- Narrated by: Aze Fellner
- Length: 4 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Winner of the National Jewish Book Award for History. This book discusses the troubling and possibly irreconcilable split between Jewish memory and Jewish historiography.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Best book of history of Judaism written in centuries
- By Bicigodo on 07-19-15
-
How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization
- By: Thomas E. Woods Jr.
- Narrated by: Barrett Whitener
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,259
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,006
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,003
Western civilization has given us modern science, the wealth of free-market economics, the security of law, a sense of human rights and freedom, charity as a virtue, splendid art and music, philosophy grounded in reason, and innumerable other gifts we take for granted.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating and informative
- By Michael Kellogg on 09-29-05
-
Seven Types of Atheism
- By: John Gray
- Narrated by: James Langton
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 70
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
For a generation now, public debate has been corroded by a shrill, narrow derision of religion in the name of an often vaguely understood “science.” John Gray’s stimulating and enjoyable new book, Seven Types of Atheism, describes the complex, dynamic world of older atheisms, a tradition that is, he writes, in many ways intertwined with and as rich as religion itself.
By: John Gray
-
The Alphabet Versus the Goddess
- The Conflict Between Word and Image
- By: Leonard Shlain
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 24 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
Who changed the sex of God? This groundbreaking book proposes that the rise of alphabetic literacy reconfigured the human brain and brought about profound changes in history, religion, and gender relations. Making remarkable connections across brain function, myth, and anthropology, Dr. Shlain shows why pre-literate cultures were principally informed by holistic, right-brain modes that venerated the Goddess, images, and feminine values.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Can't Even Get Started
- By Marie on 02-08-19
By: Leonard Shlain
-
The Givenness of Things
- Essays
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 48
The spirit of our times can appear to be one of joyless urgency. As a culture we have become less interested in the exploration of the glorious mind, and more interested in creating and mastering technologies that will yield material well-being. But while cultural pessimism is always fashionable, there is still much to give us hope.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Mostly thoughts on religious things
- By Adam Shields on 01-26-16
-
The Chalice and the Blade
- Our History, Our Future
- By: Riane Eisler
- Narrated by: Riane Eisler
- Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 290
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 245
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 243
Riane Eisler believes that war and the "war of the sexes" are concepts neither divinely nor biologically ordained. Join the author as she reconstructs a prehistoric culture based on partnership rather than domination and traces the roots of the global shift to patriarchy. Eisler, an acclaimed scholar, futurist, and activist, also presents new scripts for living based on a more socially, economically, ecologically, personally, and spiritually balanced society. This script is in direct opposition to the tension and violence typical of what she calls the dominator model. Her vision is the partnership model, which today is struggling to reemerge. This program is an important contribution to that struggle.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
the chalice and the blade
- By Anne on 07-25-08
By: Riane Eisler
-
Introducing the Ancient Greeks
- From Bronze Age Seafarers to Navigators of the Western Mind
- By: Edith Hall
- Narrated by: Sian Thomas
- Length: 12 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 75
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 64
Acclaimed classics scholar Edith Hall's Introducing the Ancient Greeks is the first book to offer a synthesis of the entire ancient Greek experience, from the rise of the Mycenaean kingdoms of the sixteenth century BC to the final victory of Christianity over paganism in AD 391. Each of the ten chapters visits a different Greek community at a different moment during the twenty centuries of ancient Greek history.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Surveying the Greeks
- By Jolene on 05-31-18
By: Edith Hall
What listeners say about Battling the Gods
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Glencannnon
- 08-13-19
We have a history as long and as rich as any relig
amazing book. recommended by Dr. Richard Carrier for a course on the history of Atheism. how sad that so many of us went through life feeling alone and out of place. rejoice! Atheists have always been around trying to knock sense into people... unfortunately, we rarely had political power. Now though, secular humanism points the way.to human flourishing. cheers!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- DFK
- 03-21-20
Fascinating history of atheism in ancient times
This book was quite fascinating, and should be of interest to atheists and theists alike, to understand how from ancient times there was a vast variety of beliefs. The book covers Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire until some time after Constantine, when atheism was suppressed. The book could use, I think, some better editing in that sometimes I sensed a repetitiveness. The narrator took some getting used to - something a bit stilted at first, but I got used to him and he was fine enough. I was not at all bored, which can happen with non-fiction.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- "josiahhanson"
- 08-11-20
a wonderful work
a wonderful work for exposing bad history and weak philosophy put forward by many in the new atheist movement.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!