God's Funeral: The Decline of Faith in Western Civilization

In another of Wilson's books, The Victorians, he writes, "It is difficult for me to conceive of any more agreeable way of life than that of the Victorian country parson. If I had to choose my ideal span of life, I should choose to have been born in the 1830s, the son of a parson with the genetic inheritance of strong teeth." This book is, in many ways, best read as if Wilson had indeed been granted his wish, along with an erudition and wit far beyond that of the run-of-the-mill parson's son. I purchased and read this book, with much enjoyment, not because I was particularly interested in rehashing the religious and non-religious life of intellectuals in the Victorian era, but because Wilson wrote it. And nobody writes with such a mixture of the cosy and puckish as Wilson. He's indeed a particularly charming writer. All the same, the reader is best forewarned that s/he needs to have read many books in order to grasp this one. Indeed, the book is best described as for the very well-read about the very well-read. I really don't see much of a point of bothering with this book if you haven't read SOMETHING by each of the intellectuals under the chapter headings. For example, you don't need to have read the obscure Thomas Hardy poem whence the book takes its name, but I don't think you're quite ready if you haven't read Jude the Obscure. There are several reasons for this caveat. I'm not merely being snobbish. For instance, if one has read neither Kant nor Hume, it's an inevitability that one will conclude that Hume was cynical and that Kant was a kind, sincere genius. This is because Wilson cherry picks his facts about the two, as he does about all the other intellectuals described herein. He describes Hume as cynical because he advises an otherwise penniless young man to take a position in the church despite his disbelief. He does NOT tell you that Hume had gone through much travail himself because of his skepticism - seeing the best friend of his youth hanged for blasphemy because he voiced the opinion that "Christianity is nonsense." and being himself denied a post at the University of Edinburgh because of his views. As for Kant, he advises the reader to read him in the original in order to get the full flavour of his philosophy. As someone who HAS read Kant in the original (admittedly, under duress, as required reading as an undergraduate), I am fully convinced that any reader who takes him up on this challenge will find Kant's convoluted, obfuscatory prose as life-threatening to literary taste, and perhaps to sanity if one perseveres. More to the point, one will likely miss the point that what Wilson is doing in this chapter is cocking his nose at the Oxbridge establishment, who (rightly, I think) revere Hume and dismiss Kant. But, that being said, this is an interesting and fun read. Wilson makes much of how those Victorian intellectuals, like Hardy, who wanted to believe but couldn't and were sure that "God's Funeral" had taken

The title is a bit misleading, as Wilson really writes (wonderfully and with wit, by the way) about the complexities and tensions of doubt and belief or knowledge and faith during, mainly, the 19th century (with repercussions in the 20th and 21st, of course). While a great number of thinkers and writers are discussed in this book, Wilson brings them, their personalities, and their ideas alive with a few deft brushstrokes (penstrokes?); the talent of the novelist is obviously at work here, to great effect. Incredibly insightful, thought-provoking, entertaining, and moving.

At the time I read this book, I was unable to understand the importance of the Enlightenment Period. This book is not only a historical piece but also one of philosophy and religion. I recommend it to anyone interested in agnosticism and atheism (even Christianity); however, I strongly suggest familiarizing yourself with the works of Nietzsche, Kant, Hardy, Marx, Freud, etc. before jumping into this one.

No idea stood beyond the reach of some intellectual niche in Victorian England. Behind the common conception of conformity and prudishness was a spectacular diversity of mind and inclination, willing to follow any idea to its logical conclusions. A.N. Wilson does a marvelous job of bringing it all to life in a sober and compelling way, showing that the individuals at the intellectual heart of 19th century England slowly slipped out of the medieval cloak of theism as the full consequences of Darwinian theory and the scientific revolution became evident. I read this right after "Age of Reason" and before "Calling Bernadette's Bluff." My mind has been humming with gratitude ever since.

A most valuable contribution to the intellectual history of the West. It is not, as some reviewers have claimed, an argument against the existence of God. If anything, the book shows the reluctance of the author to accept the objective evidence, in an almost 'credo quia absurdum'. The author marshalls an impressive amount of valuable data and presents it in a very readable, informative and entertaining fashion.A pleasure to read. A must for anybody interested in understanding the intellectual climate of the XIX and XX Centuries in the Western World. One factual mistake (p. 249, bottom paragraph): Freud did not die in 1931. After reading this, I would like to read other works by the author. If they are half as good as God's Funeral, they are certainly an excellent read.And worth buying.