Godless cover art

Godless

How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Godless

By: Dan Barker, Richard Dawkins - foreword
Narrated by: Richard Dawkins, Dan Barker
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £18.99

Buy Now for £18.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

From the introduction by Dan Barker: Millions of good people live moral, happy, loving, meaningful lives without believing in a god.

Oprah said it was 17 years, but it was actually 19 years between my first sermon at the age of 15 and my last sermon at the age of 34. Part 1 of Godless, "Rejecting God", tells the story of how I moved from devout preacher to atheist and beyond. Part 2, "Why I Am an Atheist", presents my philosophical reasons for unbelief. Part 3, "What's Wrong with Christianity", critiques the bible (its reliability as well as its morality) and the historical evidence for Jesus. Part 4, "Life Is Good!", comes back to my personal story, taking a case to the United States Supreme Court, dealing with personal trauma, and experiencing the excitement of Adventures in Atheism.

©2008 Dan Barker and Richard Dawkins (P)2015 Pitchstone Publishing Atheism Spirituality Morality Humanism Agnostic

Listeners also enjoyed...

 Baptized Atheist cover art
The Atheist Handbook to the Old Testament, Volume 1 cover art
Letter to a Christian Nation cover art
The Blind Watchmaker cover art
Books do Furnish a Life cover art
The Portable Atheist cover art
Breaking the Spell cover art
The Problem of God cover art
Life of Jesus cover art
Why Won't They Listen? cover art
Christianity Made Me Talk Like an Idiot cover art
Nailed: Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed at All cover art
Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity cover art
Jesus, Interrupted cover art
Christian Child, Atheist Adult cover art
How Jesus Became God cover art

Critic reviews

"Valuable in the human story are the reflections of intelligent and ethical people who listen to the voice of reason and who allow it to vanquish bigotry and superstition. This book is a classic example." (Christopher Hitchens, author of God is Not Great)
"The most eloquent witness of internal delusion that I know - a triumphantly smiling refugee from the zany, surreal world of American fundamentalist Protestantism - is Dan Barker." (Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion)
" Godless was a revelation to me. I don't think anyone can match the (devastating!) clarity, intensity, and honesty which Dan Barker brings to the journey - faith to reason, childhood to growing up, fantasy to reality, intoxication to sobriety." (Oliver Sacks, author of Musicophilia)
All stars
Most relevant
It's a fascinating tale of a died in the wool biblical preacher who starts to look at his own reasons for belief and eventually concludes that his reasoning was flawed. He delivers a humble story of self discovery and tells it well, followed by a lengthy dissection of his conclusions. If more people thought like Dan Barker the world would be a much better place.

Interesting and well delivered.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Being a non-believer, I worried when I read that this author is a former minister; Well, as is so often the case, I regret wasting my time worrying...will I ever learn?

This book is fantastic!

Put your worries down

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
As someone who is a lifelong atheist, 'godless' provides a valuable insight into what goes on in the mind of a evangelical preacher, on his journey out of religion and towards reason.

PS: some of Dan's narration can be a little 'wet' at times, there's some slightly irritating crackling noises that the mic picks up. I think it's always better when a biography is read by the narrator, when possible. So I could overlook the slightly annoying noises. Most people will not care too much about it, but those who're easily irritated by certain sounds might find it hard to listen to.

As a lifelong atheist..

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
the personal story of his conversion to atheism and then a comprehensive dissection.of the absurdity of the christian texts.

a fascinating story and well argued.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The author his his journey through religion, how he became a preacher, developed doubts, and the consequences. Later he discusses various arguments for and against believing in a god, as well as other topics such as morality.

The autobiographical section is an insightful and rare offering from books in this category, and is especially touching read by the author himself. The later arguments are presented with clarity and wit, and the book feels very complete while remaining interesting throughout.

Best in its category

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews