Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
Jacob fighting the angel, by Delacroix, on the cover of the French-language edition (Traité d'athéologie).
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| Author | Michel Onfray |
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| Country | France |
| Language | French |
| Subject | Atheism, criticism of religion |
| Publisher | Éditions Grasset |
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Publication date
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2005 |
| Pages | 281 pp |
| ISBN | |
Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam (French: Traité d'athéologie) is a 2005 book by French author Michel Onfray. According to Onfray, the term "athéologie" is taken from a project of a series of books written and compiled by Georges Bataille under the vocable La Somme athéologique, which was ultimately never completed.
The book sold over 200,000 copies. Two other books were written shortly after its publication as replies to its arguments: L'Anti-traité d’athéologie, Le système Onfray mis à nu by Matthieu Baumier, and Dieu avec esprit: Réponse à Michel Onfray by Irène Fernandez.
The book was translated into English in 2007 with the titles Atheist Manifesto: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and In Defence of Atheism: The Case Against Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
In the first part "Athéologie", the author develops Nietzsche's doctrine, but criticizing his view on the death of God. Then he shows how the concept of atheist was originally a pejorative connotation and concluded that the survival of Christianity in the form of Christian atheism on the Judeo-Christian morality. The second part "Monotheisme" is a structural analysis of the three Abrahamic religions in which the author highlights common features, including the contempt for the body and matter, denial of progress and science, misanthropy and hatred of the intellect. The third part "Christianisme" challenges the existence of Jesus which would be based on secondhand testimonies, asserts that the Apostle Paul, described as neurotic and hysterical, exploited the character of Jesus to lead the world in his hatred of the flesh, then explains how, opportunistically, Emperor Constantine made Christianity a state religion. In the last part "Théocratie", the author explains the relationship of the three monotheistic religions with political power, and describes their worst abuses. Then he shows several of contradictions in the sacred books and considers that these texts are often used to justify evil. He depicts Islam notably through the Iranian revolution and the regime of the Ayatollah Khomeini. The book concludes by proposing a new atheism or secularism that he called "post-Christian" or "post-modern" in which God and the morality which it relates are gone.
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