The Gods of Atheism

Vincent Miceli, S.J. 

How did I come across this relatively obscure book? A long story. It was mentioned in passing in an article in the magazine "This Rock," which can be found on line at Catholic answers.com. I was intrigued by the peculiar title, and it was strongly recommended by the author of the article.

The book, originally published in 1971, is a Cold War book. It appears to be about, as much as anything, the march of atheistic communism against Christianity. To that end, Miceli spends a lot of time discussing the social weaknesses of atheism, and its threat to the stability of modern culture.

Gods of Atheism is an encyclopedic discussion of the different forms of atheistic philosophy. Miceli devotes a separate chapters to many prominent anti-religious philosphers. He starts with Feuerbach, and moves through major names like Nietzche, Comte, Camus, Sarte, Heidegger, and Marx. As a Cold War book, it tends to linger over Marx and Sartre, who were widely relevant to the East-West struggles at the time of its writing.

Miceli has a deep knowledge of his subjects. Even though he does not agree with their philosophies, he is quite careful to fully explain their positions before making an effort to deconstruct them.

Miceli is an orthodox Catholic, and a priest to boot, so his analysis of each thinker should not be a surprise. Although I agree with his position, I must nonetheless admit that he is strongest when he summarizes his subject's opinion. When he gives his own answers the words seem to come right out of the Catechism, which is not necessarily bad but is also not especially original. But when his summarizes his subjects he does readers a great service. There is no way I will find the hours in my life to fully understand Nietchze or Feuerbach, and I am especially grateful for his analysis of Heidegger and Comte, because I never intend to dissect these individuals. I want to know what they say, but, heaven help me, I don't have the time to find out myself.

The narrative loses its way in the later chapters. Miceli spends much time on contemporary thinkers, including Tillich, Cox, and Van Buren. These chapters are fine, but somehow I doubt any of these individuals will take their places besides Nietchze or Marx. They look like writers in vogue in the 1960s, but will they be read in a century? Are they read now? 

This book would have been strengthened if, instead of the lengthy discussion of the current topics in atheism circa 1970, Miceli had written an introductory chapter on thinkers who, while not atheists themselves, opened the door to modern atheism. I especially craved more information about Immanuel Kant, Spinoza, and Hegel. He alludes to these great thinkers repeatedly, but never clearly discusses their views and how they gave rise to modern atheism.

An informative book, albeit a demanding one.