God's Funeral : A Biography of Faith and Doubt in Western Civilization

Rating:
Summary: An intellectual journey
Review: I found God's Funeral to be interesting and well-researched. I finished in only a couple days. I think that Wilson got both atheistic and theistic viewpoints represented well, which in itself is an accomplishment when writing about such a devisive subject.

Rating:
Summary: The problem is in the delivery - not the message
Review: I was excited upon first viewing this book. It appeared to be a historic account of the inexorable chain of events that, over time, have caused people in the West to lose belief in a supernatural power. The writing is magisterial, always authoritative, scrupulously researched - but there are problems.

The opening remains the best: Thomas Hardy's poem and his angst and inner turmoil at the discovery that his faith had feet of clay. This, for him, was a cause of deep sorrow rather than anger or hatred. The discussions of the English Enlightenment should be renamed "Lives of Intellectuals" for it is their yearnings and doubts and conjectures that he presents. It is almost as if these were the sole inhabitants of the nation and their story mimics the nation as a whole.

Wilson makes broad general statements, many of which are almost laughable..."by this time everyone had dismissed belief" or "the Utilitarians were the ones responsible for social reform". Or he was contradictory, first claiming that science caused people to lose belief in religion then commenting on the "general English ignorance of Science." As a matter of fact, at no time did the majority of Westerners lose their faith. Social reformers came from many areas but in particular the church with its drive to eliminate slavery throughout the world, and its efforts for animal and childrens rights.

One problem he alludes to repeatedly is "When faith has been discarded, what takes its place?" For this, there is no answer. One philosopher said,"One replaces God only with another god." We do not live in a Star Trek-like society, rigorously secular, humanity solemnly marching toward the goals of scientific understanding and peaceful exploration. In the case of Europe it appears that the alternative to God was politics, starting liberal, turning increasingly radical and coming to the twin scourges of mankind in the modern age - fascism and communism. The State replaced God. Marxism is offered throughout the book as some sort of refuge for the weary but it established its own gods (Lenin, Marx, Engels). Besides, the track record of totalitarianism in terms of sheer butchery makes Christian sins pale in comparison.

He concludes that those from the "Enlightenment" would be surprised as the resilience of religion in modern society. But it is a religion totally unlike that of last century. Most educated Westerners accept evolution, the physical beginning of the universe, the age of the Earth and the origins of religion in myth. More importantly, few accept Noah's Ark, Adam & Eve, miracles, the virgin birth, angels or numerous other things that we have more or less quietly discarded. Our faith, one could say, is in faith.

Rating:
Summary: Unbelievably Excellent Book
Review: The title is a bit misleading, as Wilson really writes (wonderfully and with wit, by the way) about the complexities and tensions of doubt and belief or knowledge and faith during, mainly, the 19th century (with repercussions in the 20th and 21st, of course). While a great number of thinkers and writers are discussed in this book, Wilson brings them, their personalities, and their ideas alive with a few deft brushstrokes (penstrokes?); the talent of the novelist is obviously at work here, to great effect. Incredibly insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining, and moving.