Dan Barker has narrated 5 audiobooks on Listento.it by 3 authors, with an average listener rating of 4.7★ across 39 ratings. The most-rated is Godless.
Godless
Summary
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
God
Summary
What words come to mind when we think of God? Merciful? Just? Compassionate? In fact the Bible lays out God's primary qualities clearly: He's jealous, petty, unforgiving, bloodthirsty, vindictive - and worse! Originally conceived as a joint presentation between influential thinker and best-selling author Richard Dawkins and former evangelical preacher Dan Barker, this unique book provides an investigation into what may be the most unpleasant character in all fiction. Barker combs through both the Old and New Testaments (as well as 13 different editions of the "Good Book"), presenting powerful evidence for why Scripture shouldn't govern our everyday lives. This witty, well-researched book suggests that we should move past the Bible and clear a path to a kinder and more thoughtful world.
©2016 Dan Barker (P)2016 Pitchstone Publishing
Life Driven Purpose
Summary
Every thinking person wants to lead a life of meaning and purpose. For thousands of years, holy books have told us that such a life is available only through obedience and submission to some higher power. Today, the faithful keep popular devotionals and tracts within easy reach on bedside tables and mobile devices, all communicating this common message: Life is meaningless without God. Former pastor Dan Barker eloquently, powerfully, and rationally upends this long-held belief in Life Driven Purpose. Offering words of enrichment, emancipation, and inspiration, he reminds us how millions of atheists lead happy, loving, moral, and purpose-filled lives. Practicing what he preaches, he also demonstrates through his own personal journey that life is valuable for its own sake: that meaning and purpose come not from above, but from within.
©2015 Dan Barker (P)2015 Pitchstone Publishing
God and the Folly of Faith
Summary
A thorough and hard-hitting critique that is a must-hear for anyone interested in the interaction between religion and science. It has become the prevalent view among sociologists, historians, and some theistic scientists that religion and science have never been in serious conflict. Some even claim that Christianity was responsible for the development of science. In a sweeping historical survey that begins with ancient Greek science and proceeds through the Renaissance and Enlightenment to contemporary advances in physics and cosmology, Stenger makes a convincing case that not only is this conclusion false, but Christianity actually held back the progress of science for 1,000 years. It is significant, he notes, that the scientific revolution of the 17th century occurred only after the revolts against established ecclesiastic authorities in the Renaissance and Reformation opened up new avenues of thought. The author goes on to detail how religion and science are fundamentally incompatible in several areas: the origin of the universe and its physical parameters, the origin of complexity, holism versus reductionism, the nature of mind and consciousness, and the source of morality. In the end, Stenger is most troubled by the negative influence that organized religion often exerts on politics and society. He points out antiscientific attitudes embedded in popular religion that are being used to suppress scientific results on issues of global importance, such as overpopulation and environmental degradation. When religion fosters disrespect for science, it threatens the generations of humanity that will follow ours.
©2012 Victor J. Stenger (P)2016 Pitchstone Publishing
Free Will Explained
Summary
This audiobook features a compelling essay on free will from an internationally recognized authority on atheism and author of God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction.
Do we have free will? And if we don’t, why do we feel as if we do? In a godless universe governed by impersonal laws of cause and effect, are you responsible for your actions? Former evangelical minister Dan Barker and author of God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction unveils a novel solution to the question that has baffled scientists and philosophers for millennia. He outlines the concept of what he calls “harmonic free will", a two-dimensional perspective that pivots the paradox on its axis to show that there is no single answer - both sides are right. Free will is a useful illusion - not a scientific, but a social truth.
©2018 Daniel Barker (P)2019 Pitchstone Publishing