Hating God: The Untold Story of Misotheism [Hardcover]

Bernard Schweizer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 5, 2010

While atheists such as Richard Dawkins have now become public figures, there is another and perhaps darker strain of religious rebellion that has remained out of sight--people who hate God.

In this revealing book, Bernard Schweizer looks at men and women who do not question God's existence, but deny that He is merciful, competent, or good. Sifting through a wide range of literary and historical works, Schweizer finds that people hate God for a variety of reasons. Some are motivated by social injustice, human suffering, or natural catastrophes that God does not prevent. Some blame God for their personal tragedies. Schweizer concludes that, despite their blasphemous thoughts, these people tend to be creative and moral individuals, and include such literary lights as Friedrich Nietzsche, Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston, Rebecca West, Elie Wiesel, and Philip Pullman. Schweizer shows that literature is a fertile ground for God haters. Many authors, who dare not voice their negative attitude to God openly, turn to fiction to give vent to it. Indeed, Schweizer provides many new and startling readings of literary masterpieces, highlighting the undercurrent of hatred for God. Moreover, by probing the deeper mainsprings that cause sensible, rational, and moral beings to turn against God, Schweizer offers answers to some of the most vexing questions that beset human relationships with the divine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Schweizer, an associate professor of English at Long Island University (see InProfile in this issue), dissects the contemporary guard of angry atheists (Hitchens, Dawkins, Harris et al.) by placing the phenomenon in historical and literary context to show roots and development. He likes the term "misotheism" to capture the virulence of the god-haters and draws mostly from misotheists from 1800 onward, though he looks at the book of Job. Most god-haters (including Shelley, Camus, and Zora Neale Hurston, whose inclusion might surprise some) have used literature to articulate and disguise their briefs against a divinity they blame for suffering, catastrophe, and/or mass slaughter. Schweizer's textual readings are close and careful. Some figures he concentrates on are less than compelling choices; nobody reads Swinburne anymore except graduate students of English. This book provides a useful reminder that a long history of cursing God precedes the present vogue--and society has not yet collapsed from the corrosive effects of angry atheism. (Nov.)
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Review

"In Hating God, Bernard Schweizer distinguishes between atheists---those who conclude from the arbitrary and cruel acts of God that he does not exist---and misotheists---those who believe in God but engage in a life-long struggle with his apparent indifference to the world he has created. It is misotheists, those who wrestle with God in the manner of Jacob and Job, who create the rich literary tradition Schweizer so persuasively illuminates in this important book."--Stanley Fish, author of The Fugitive in Flight: Faith, Liberalism, and Law in a Classic TV Show

"Bernard Schweizer makes a long overdue distinction between atheism -- the denial of God's existence -- and misotheism -- the morally inspired hatred of God, and, in the process, reintroduces us to some of the most subversive religious thinkers who have ever lived, from Friedrich Nietzsche to Gore Vidal and Zora Neale Hurston. Hating God is one of the most exhilarating excursions into religious studies that you will ever take!"

--Barbara Ehrenreich, author of Bright-Sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America

"Schweizer skilfully plumbs pathology and pathos among real and imagined agonizers."--The Journal of Theological Studies

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA; 1st ptg edition (November 5, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0199751382
• ISBN-13: 978-0199751389
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.9 x 8.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #750,992 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Bernard Schweizer, an Associate Professor of English at Long Island University in Brooklyn (NY), is a widely respected writer and teacher. Originally from Switzerland, Prof. Schweizer believes passionately in encouraging a living interaction between literature and culture. He specializes in the study of iconoclasts and rebels, including the controversial writer and public intellectual Rebecca West. In his third book, Hating God, he explores the fascinating history behind the religious rebels he calls misotheists-that is, people of high moral caliber and profound humanity who cannot tolerate God's indifference or outright cruelty toward his creation.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars misotheism - a shady religious phenomenon brought to light April 2, 2011

By Rolando Monello

Format:Hardcover

Schweizer's book presents an amazingly new kettle of fish on the religious scene, which I have been studying academically for years. I wonder if the concept of "misotheism," which fills a gap in the system of religious classification, will spawn a following, one that either applauds the literati of his mentioning or alternatively stands up for their own views which, I surmise, may have been subconsciously tucked away. Mister Schweizer is shedding light on an area, which has surprisingly enough remained unnoticed until he blew some cobwebs from the book-covers of the classics and opened their content to a fresh viewing. Aware of the diverse emotions the misotheistic view may elicit, I hope the mere observation of an intellectual and literary stratum does not attract a negative response in defense of a deity, whose existence amazingly enough is not questioned but in a twisted manner reinforced by the misotheists. A believer in God may have a "problem" with Satanism as a form of opposition to her deity, but a negative reinforcement of God might be a worse position yet - and so the miso-misotheist would be born. I congratulate Mister Schweizer for the discovery of a phenomenon hiding in plain sight.

19 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hating God January 24, 2011

By QuestioningBeliever

Format:Hardcover

I was immediately drawn to this book because it presents a completely new class of religious rebellion.
In response to the increasing attention being given to atheists such as Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, this book seems to have found an emerging populace that have become increasingly more vocal about their feelings of discontent towards God.

In this book (which I have read and really enjoyed) Schweizer explains how this sort of god hatred has been around for many years, and because of the fear associated with expressing such blasphemous beliefs, was expressed primarily through literature. The book illustrates how literary giants such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Mark Twain, Zora Neale Hurston, Rebecca West, Elie Wiesel, and Philip Pullman all felt profound hatred towards God.

When I look at the world today, with increasing secularism, religiously motivated mass bloodshed, and considerable feelings of disillusionment in personal faith, this book seems to outline a lot of the sentiments that have apparently been around for a long time, but have not, until now, been openly discussed.

Check out the website as well.

hatinggod.com

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read September 24, 2011

By Lorenzo Lorenzo Luaces Valencia

Format:Hardcover

Not an atheist book or not so much a 'how to' or 'why' guide on nonbelieving or hating God. Instead this book discusses the surprisingly vast, sometimes subtle, literary tradition of hating god(s). I couldn't think of a reasons why believers would want to read it but it should be enjoyable and informative for the rest of us