I first encountered David Bentley Hart via his contributions to First Things, a journal focusing on religion and public life. I enjoyed both his perspective and his writing style, and when I had some spare money, I decided his treatise on the “New Atheists” would make a good read. I was not disappointed. Atheist Delusions is an erudite and enjoyable corrective to thinkers like Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, etc.
Those unacquainted with David Bentley Hart, however, should receive a few warnings before they rush off to buy his books. First, Atheist Delusions is a polemic. Particularly in the first half of the book, Hart has some strong (and often snarky) words for the New Atheists. As a result, he can come off as extremely condescending to his opponents. Some of this is due to the nature of the work, and some of it is due to Hart’s natural pugnacity. I suspect that a large part of it is due to Hart’s frustration at the intellectual shallowness of the New Atheists. Since I agree with Hart, I am pretty sympathetic to his rhetoric. Those who are not would be well-advised to have patience, as there is enough important historical data in the first half of the book to merit a read. Second, despite the blurb on the cover, Atheist Delusions is not a “spirited brief on behalf of Christian truth.” Hart does not attempt to argue that Christianity is true; his concern is to set the record straight regarding the historical track record of institutional Christianity, particularly the Catholic Church. Readers expecting a typical apologia for Christian dogma will be disappointed.
That being said, Atheist Delusions is a worthy read for anyone interested in understanding the role of Christianity in culture. The book can be broadly divided into two parts. The first deals with a modern understanding of Christian history. The common belief of modernity, Hart argues, is that when religious institutions wield political power, they oppose rational progress and commit heinous acts of violence to punish those who challenge their authority. Thus, religion is inherently dangerous and irrational; it must be contained by the secular state in order to preserve its integrity. While acknowledging the failures of the church, Hart also tells the other side of the story, reminding us that the institutional church is not the villain it is so often made out to be. In the end, he does a wonderful job of challenging our collective suspicion of institutional religion.
The second part focuses on what Hart refers to as the “Christian Revolution.” Here, Hart’s thesis is that ancient Christianity introduced the Western world to an ethos of compassion and equality that was unknown to pagan traditions. The pagan world, Hart argues, had no concept of the equality of every human being; the superiority of master to slave, civilized to uncivilized, and male to female was axiomatic. It was Christianity, with its radical assertion that all people are created in the image of God, that introduced the idea that everyone was ultimately equal in the sight of God. His ultimate argument is that, in a post-Christian society, these moral statements are no longer intelligible. To be sure, many non-religious people will espouse the ultimate equality of all people, but Hart argues that they can only do so because they retain vestigial elements of Christian thought. Without a commitment to God or any moral standard higher than the autonomous self, however, Hart argues this commitment to equality ultimately has no justification, and we cannot assume it will command universal assent in the future.
Overall, Atheist Delusions is a well-written, enjoyable rejoinder to the New Atheists. Those interested in polemic will find Hart a master; those looking for a cogent reading of history more accommodating to Christian faith will find an important perspective here. The potential reader is advised to keep a dictionary nearby while reading, as Hart’s erudition is on full display.
Final Rating: 4.0/5.0
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