God: The Most Unpleasant Character in All Fiction

Expanding on a concept from New York Times bestseller The God Delusion, former ordained minister and current atheist Dan Barker gives us a biblical play-by-play illustrating God's not-so-admirable qualities.
What words come to mind when we think of God? Merciful? Just? Compassionate? In fact, the Bible lays out God’s primary qualities clearly: jealous, petty, unforgiving, bloodthirsty, vindictive—and worse! Originally conceived as a joint presentation between influential thinker and bestselling 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 Testament (as well as 13 different editions of the “Good Book”), presenting powerful evidence for why the 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.

Daniel Barker was a Christian preacher and minister for 19 years, before leaving Christianity in 1984. Today, he is the co-president of the Freedom from Religion Foundation with his wife, Annie Laurie Gaylor, and is the author of several books, including his memoir, Godless: How an Evangelical Preacher Became One of America's Leading Atheists (Ulysses Press). He lives in Madison, WI.

Richard Dawkins is an English ethologist, evolutionary biologist, and writer. He is an emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was the University of Oxford's Professor for Public Understanding of Science from 1995 until 2008. He is the author of several New York Times bestselling books, including The Selfish Gene (Oxford University Press), The Blind Watchmaker (W.W. Norton & Co.), and The God Delusion (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). He lives in England.