My Path to Atheism
Annie Besant
Read by Kevin Green
My Path to Atheism is a remarkable document in many ways, not least that it was written by a woman in Victorian England, not the most open free-thinking of societies, especially for women at that time. It needed a remarkable woman to write such a revolutionary and to 19th century minds, heretical document in a society where the Church had such a stronghold. Besant herself was originally married to a clergyman, but her increasingly anti-religious views and writings led to a legal separation. She went on to become a member of the National Secular Society and thence to co-edit the National Reformer, which put forth ideas on revolutionary ideas at the time such as trades unions, national education, birth control and so on. In 1877 Besant published this book 'My Path to Atheism' which was compiled from a series of lectures in which she surgically dissects the basic tenets of Christianity. As one reads the chapters, one can follow the evolution of her ideas from Theism to Atheism, ending up with a stunning refutation of the Church of England Catechism. (Summary by Kevin Green) (11 hr 13 min)
Chapters
Reviews
A very clear critique of religion
A LibriVox Listener
Well worth reading and re-reading a very much overlooked and ignored subject.
liberating
desertbug
Excellent thought provoking book ahead of its time.
Wendy sharpe
great thank you . a fascinating book !!
Are you serious
potuc
Honestly, this feels like someone just read a version of the Holy Bible written by an atheist and thought that to be the original. The so-called “proof” in this book, well, 80% of this is in the Bible when the author says it isn’t, and vice versa. Was honestly hoping for a more comprehensive atheist argument (I am myself a Catholic), to learn about what “the others” think. If you agree with this book, try reading the Bible and looking for the mentioned passages, they often either don’t exist, or are horribly misinterpreted. Hope you enjoy this more than I did.
Amazing Book, Amazing Reading
kaminari sakata
The reasoning of this book makes you wonder how people of "faith", Christians or Muslims or whatever, could be so blind to the truth. It's really admirable that Annie Besant made this stance and spoke out in the 19th century, but I'm also mortified that even now, in the 21 century, people still blindly cling to absurd beliefs. Kevin Green's reading is very remarkable and soothing. I'm listening to this book again.
Joel Gonzalez
A LibriVox Listener
As a Christian minister who studies the Bible, I couldn’t get past the first chapter, (deity of Christ). The author’s assertions about Bible Verses and Biblical history seem to ignore a lot of Verses that actually show the very thing she is saying isn’t there. I thought I would listen to this to see what the other side is saying and once again found my faith strengthened. I hold no bitterness toward the author, but found her “evidences” to be subjective (the pain of her daughters illness and humanism), and not including the whole story so there is no need for me to keep listening, as it probably won’t be any different in the rest of the book. A clear study of the Bible actually proves Jesus’ deity in all 4 Gospels not just the Synoptics. I won’t list point for point what she says incorrectly, but was easily able to in my mind as I listened. Thank you for reading this and may God grant understanding while reading His Word.