In God We Doubt - Confessions Of An Angry Agnostic [Paperback]

John Humphrys (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2008

Today’s agnostics are scorned by believers for their failure to find faith, as well as by atheists for being hopelessly wishy-washy and weak-minded. But John Humphrys is proud to count himself among the agnostic ranks. In this candid memoir he charts the history of his spiritual life, from his Christian childhood through the years in which he prayed every day of his life until his growing doubts finally began to overwhelm his faith. In 2006, he challenged the leaders of three of the world’s biggest religions to prove to him that God does exist, all to no avail. Enthusiastic and honest, this intriguing study shows that while doubt is not the easiest option, if is often the only possible one for the millions who can find no easy answers to the most profound questions.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'There is all the erudition and pithy wit you would expect from Humphrys, but there is also a charming, genuine enquiry that shines through.' -- Mail on Sunday --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

John Humphrys is a noted television and radio broadcaster and the author of Beyond Words and Lost for Words.

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton; Export/Airside/Ireland ed edition (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340951583
• ISBN-13: 978-0340951583
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,637,062 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fair Comment, November 12, 2007

By 

Hande Z (Singapore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In God We Doubt: Confessions of a Failed Athiest (Hardcover)

This is not a Dawkins or Hitchens kind of book that believers can fairly attack as one written by a "Militant Atheist", though the people who use that description have not explained whether they meant it to be used to disapprove of militant atheists as they would religious extremists or whether they are saying it's all right to be a religious extremist but not a militant atheist. Humphrys just asks questions. Intelligent questions that believers and non-believers alike would and should be asking. He takes the neutral ground of an agnostic; he can't prove that there is no god, but he wants religious people to explain and prove what the god it is that they are worshipping. His chapter on interviews with a rabbi,a an Anglican Archbishop, and a Muslim academic is worth reading carefully. The reader must judge for himself whether the answers given by these three learned men clarify the religious stand. I suspect that most neutral people will be left skeptical about a personal God that micromanages human lives. If there isn't a micromanager god, then is there any use in prayer? If there is then shouldn't he take responsibility for all the ills of the world? These questions are worth pondering over.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A wishy-washy fence-sitting book without revelations, September 14, 2011

By 

Traxy "The Squeee" (Nottingham, UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: In God We Doubt: Confessions of a Failed Atheist (Paperback)

"In God We Doubt", a born again atheist friend told me, is "a wishy-washy fence-sitting book". I got about half-way through when he asked for my opinion, which was "yes, it IS a wishy-washy fence-sitting book".

It's a quick and easy read, and now that I've finished it, I'm wondering if John Humphrys (or "the guy off of Mastermind" to me) got splinters up his bum from sitting on that fence. If it was a book about a fictional character who struggled to come to terms with his God-doubting, you'd expect him to reach some sort of conclusion in the end - he'll make his mind up, somehow, that there either is a god, or there isn't. This never happens. It ends, just as it begins and has been all the way through, with a "well, there might be, or there might not be - who knows?" And where's the fun in that?

I'm not really sure why this book was written, to be honest, because it's not going to make atheists find religion, nor is it going to make a religious person become an atheist. It just sits there, being mostly harmless, saying both sides sort of have a point but both go about it wrong. If the point is to hold the hand of agnostics and say it's okay to be on the fence, sure, job done.

For someone like myself, who is somewhere nicely in the middle, "In God We Doubt" is completely redundant, simply because there's no point to it. It's preaching to the crowd already, and I don't need a book to tell me what I already know. It's an okay book. Might provoke a few thoughts in those who are unsure of what to believe, or it might not. Either way, you're probably not going to be bowled over.

3 out of 5 potential deities.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, June 22, 2011

By 

D. Shank "everything you know is wrong" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: In God We Doubt: Confessions of a Failed Atheist (Paperback)

This is a great book.....and I say that having spent the last year reading all of them (well, almost). From the militant athiests to the fundamentalist hard core I have taken the time to really explore the varying views and opinions on the nature of christinatity and belief. It has been a labor of love.

full disclosure: I entered this excercise a militant athiest myself......and coming out the other end I am still an athiest - but no longer militant.

Humphrys is largely responsible for my transformation (I am leaving out the details - this is not about me). He is a good writer and can tell a good story - and the story he has to tell here is compelling and ultimately persuasive - although that is not his intent here.

One of my other findings from my own research is that you believe what you believe and few are going to let facts or logic get in the way. Michael shermer's new book on "the beieving brain" explains in great detail the phenomenon that happens when we think what we are doing is following logic to arrive at our beliefs/conclusions. We are not. We are looking for evidence to support what we have already decided to believe.

Humphrys gets this and tells a tale here about his own journey and, more importantly, about those he encountered in the course of and after doing his broadcasts with religious leaders from the three monotheistic's.

If you are at all interested in the subject - you must get this book and read it - and think about what this author has to say and what it really means. Good stuff!