Indistinct Religious Histories - Essay Example

Religion and Theology Review of Hart’s Atheist Delusions Hart explored indistinct religious histories, which are offered by modern critics of religion such as Dawkins Richard and Hitchens Christopher, who are also considered as supporters of atheism. Hart offers an intrepid correction regarding the misinterpretation of the New Atheists concerning the history of Christianity, through counter arguments of the polemics and radiant accounts of Christianity. In fact, Hart acts like a massager of the human charity to be an avant-garde movement in the entire western history. Therefore, this paper is a review of Hart’s Atheist Delusions, whereby each section of the book will be reviewed. The book gives an outline concerning the transformation of Christianity during the ancient world through ways that have been forgotten such as liberalization from fatalism, presenting substantial dignity on human beings, challenging the features of cruelty in pagan society and elevation of charity above the qualities. Hart also establishes an argument concerning the term “Age of Reason,” which is considered the initiation of authority to be a cultural value. Moreover, the thesis in this book is concise, whereby it explores the misrepresentation of Christianity history during the New Atheists and the positive effect on the world’s culture. The first section of the book entails an assessment of the new “gospel of unbelief” and supporters, which is preceded by a question rose on the central principles implying that the world has facilitated modernity. The book seeks to establish whether the world can be a better place thought the modernist doctrine, absolute human autonomy, which is embraced by a substantial stability. The next section of the book entails a direct challenge to the modernity through a rewrite of the Christianity history, and an assessment of the cultural struggle between the rivalry from the pagans and growing Christianity faith. The book raises concern in exposed modern myths, which represent Christianity as forces of intolerance, fallacy, irrationalism and cruelty. On the other hand, there is an opposite representation of the paganism, whereby it is attributed to love, peace and fostering coexistence through an attitude of the minority. In the contrary, the pagans have a culture attributed to anti-intellectuals, corruption and oppression. However, despite this dissolute environment, Christianity has managed to uphold their optimism, liberation and anti-elitist, which is preached though their values of honorable integrity, thereby generating cultural conditions that foster flourishing of philosophy and science in a long period. In fact, Hart claims that Christianity takes credit for the greatest benefits enjoyed in the world today. In the third section of the book, the case established to lose the line of argumentation, whereby the information presented becomes incoherent throughout the development of six chapters. Nevertheless, the chapters sought to establish a case based on the modern conception on humanity through a positive invention of Christianity. Therefore, these offers illustration of the way culture have abandoned Christianity leading to desertion of humanity. The argument in this book becomes problematic in numerous dimensions, such as the difficulty involved in the process of deriving a discussion in the exact line of argumentation and the precision of each idea leading to the conclusion. Moreover, the last chapter of the third section depicts the Christianity doctrine in relation to the principle of manifestation, which is an elevation of human conception concerning the level of divinity. Moreover, the claim in this section seems to turn on the doubtful interpretation of the incarnation, which surpasses the ecumenical creeds of the church, instead of a precision and argumentation offered by Hart. In fact, his argument appears to be insightful than a reader can understand, and if that is the case, there is obscurity created by oblique prose. In the last two chapters, there is an element of pessimism, which is the case through visualization of the society, which has made a decision of pursuing the values enlightenment, instead of the values of Christianity, ethics and science characterizing the society. On the other hand, the thesis of the book indicating that the Western civilization has an obligation towards Christianity, compared to secularist despisers who can agree that the book has numerous reservations. The historical revisionism of Hitchens is represented through Atheist Delusions, and this is an achievement in this book. Nevertheless, Hart is hesitant in taking these issues further since it cannot be considered enough to say that Christianity is good for the universe, given that this is fact. However, the book fails to indicate Hart’s assertion that Christianity if a factual claim, since there no section of the book that share his convictions. Other problems raising concern to the evangelical readers are the doubtful assertion in the book relating to the effects of Gnostic influences to the John’s Gospel (Hart, 137). In fact, there is an element of doubts regarding the traditional doctrine of hell (Hart, 154), which is mistranslated in John 1:1, thereby raising false claims concerning the New Testament. In addition, the biblical comprehension concerning the gospel has been avoided in this book, and instead the book’s evidence points towards the Eastern Orthodox. Moreover, there is salvation is perceived to as a divination through emphasis of the incarnation and atonement. Nonetheless, the book can be considered a methodological raze of the conventional myths, which have publicized by the role of Christianity in the history. Some of these myths depict religion to be a meaning of nothing in itself, given that there are no advocates, but a manifestation. There are other myths that consider Christianity to be attributed to numerous atrocities since have been opposing the scientific facts. Furthermore, these atrocities are considered to be in a form of enlightenment, which have burdened Christians in darkness that degenerate the intellectuality and morality of human being due to obscurity and irrationality in their faith. In fact, numerous chapters of the book commence with the quotations for some of the common literatures concerning the history of Christians, based on the false assumptions, unawareness and doubtful sources. Hart can be considered to be naively celebrating the church as the only good thing in the world, and he can be considered perceptive despite the nature history of the Christianity or pagan, given that it was human. There are notions in the history claiming that Christianity is an invention entailing a potentiality for problems since the Christians are disposed to violence the same way as their heathen equivalents. The book ends with a lamentation, and apart from predicting the unavoidable renaissance of Christian faith that can contribute to the Christians’ effort of revolutionizing the temporary state of Constantine. In fact, the book depicts the instability through the sense of Christianity allowing everything that can result to ethical reactions in people’s lives. On the other hand, Christianity seems to be vanishing, whereby making other things take their place. There are principles in the book that can offer ideas misrepresented in real life, whereby losing the organic environment. In conclusion, the paper reviews Hart’s “Atheist Delusions” where by each the three sections of the book is analyzed in order to establish reasonable judgment of the content. According to review, the first section sought to demolish the irrationality in some historical literatures concerning the Christianity, and the second section entails a direct challenge to the modernity through a rewrite of the Christianity history, and an assessment of the cultural struggle between the rivalry from the pagans and rising Christianity faith. However, the last section of the book appears to be contradictory, whereby the case established to lose the line of argumentation through the lack of incoherent throughout the development of six chapters. Works Cited Hart Bentley David. Atheist Delusions: The Christian Revolution and Its Fashionable Enemies. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press. 2009 Read More