The misery of Christianity: or, A plea for a humanity without God; (Pelican books)

by Joachim Kahl

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140213244
• Release Date: January 1971
• Publisher: Pelican (Penguin)
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Good

The author was born in 1941 in Germany and was trained as a theologian. He lost his faith and published the book in 1968. It is quite a poweful book and reading between the lines it reflects the shock of the author at realising the collaborationist role the Lutheran Church played in Germany in the war.The main thesis of the book is that reading of the history of Christianity is the most effective way of spreading atheism. The writer thus goes through the history of the church discussing its abysmal record. He starts of with the support of slavery in church doctrine and the role of the church as a slave owning organisation until slavery was abolished. He finds the support of slavery deeply immoral and suggests that church doctrine and practice refused to confront the immorality of the practice.He then goes on to talk about church history in repressing divergent thought. This went through two stages of destroying paganism and then mercilessly stamping out heresy. The key to his study of these issues is to show how such oppression was part and parcel of religous doctrine rather than being anything else.The book then goes on to discuss other issues such as the churches problems in dealing with sexuality and also an examination of the early church and historical problems with the Gospels.The book is quite short but it is an excellent primer of the negative aspects of religion.

The death of Christianity

This book (incidently, written about the same time as the Satanic Bible) is an excellant expose on the shortcomings of Christianity as a world religion in the 20th century. Written by a disillusioned German pastor, it firstly focuses on the historical aspect of Christianity where the actions of biblical characters and more modern papal figures have acted in the opposite way in which the Christian faith dictates, to the detriment of others. It then focuses on ways in which modern day theologions have tried to justify Christianity and the way it has attempted to take the minds of the world. Thirdly, it discusses religion freedom and the need for it on earth. This book is well written and extensively footnoted, entirely convincing and above all, a compelling read which confirms the views of athiests and will seriously shake up the viewpoints of Christians. Definitely 5/5.