Hating God The Untold Story of Misotheism

by Schweizer, Bernard

• ISBN13: 9780199751389
• ISBN10: 0199751382
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-11-05
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Bernard Schweizer is Associate Professor of English at Long Island University.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
A Brief History of Misotheism	p. 25
Six Case Studies in Literary Misotheism	p. 81
Absolute Misotheism I: Paganism, Radicalism, and Algernon Swinburne's War Against God	p. 83
Agonistic Misotheism I: Faith, Doubt, and Zora Neale Hurston's Resistance to God	p. 103
Agonistic Misotheism II: Bad Fathers, Historical Crises, and Rebecca West's Accusations Against God	p. 127
Agonistic Misotheism III: Divine Apathy, the Holocaust, and Elie Wiesel's Wrestling with God	p. 149
Absolute Misotheism II: Perverse Worshippers, Divine Avatars, and Peter Shaffer's Attacks Against God	p. 173
Absolute Misotheism III: Anticlericalism, Deicide, and Philip Pullman's Liberal Crusade Against God	p. 193
Conclusion	p. 215
Notes	p. 227
Works Cited	p. 231
Index	p. 241
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