Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity - John Loftus View on Amazon

For approximately 20 years, John Loftus identified himself as a devout evangelical Christian, served as an ordained minister for the Church of Christ and was also a zealous apologist for Christianity. With three degrees in theology, philosophy and philosophy of religion, Loftus was an expert at using rational arguments to defend his faith.

However, over the years, he began to doubt the credibility of certain key Christian tenets and could not get himself to stop thinking about them. By the end of the 1990s, Loftus experienced a severe crisis of faith and it is in this book that he shares with his readers the journey from being a believer to transforming into an atheist. In Why I Became an Atheist: A Former Preacher Rejects Christianity, Loftus carefully explains the experiences and processes, which eventually helped him use reason and reject religion.

The original edition of the book was published in 2006 and reissued in 2008. Since then, Loftus has been open to a good amount of critical feedback from skeptics and Christians alike. In the revised edition however, which is also more expansive compared to the first, Loftus has added new references and argumentations, addressed criticisms of the original and further refined his presentation. For every issue, he has tersely summarized the different points of view and offered explanations for improved clarity. In conclusion, he has described what life would be like without religious beliefs – some aspects that are liberating, some that are not so much. This honest critique of Christianity from a former insider will interest not only freethinkers but also those who have had the slightest doubt about religion at some point in their lives.