About the Book

Epstein, the Humanist chaplain at Harvard, offers a world view for nonbelievers that is a provocative and positive response to the more hostile positions in recent bestsellers by Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins.

Book Synopsis

A provocative and positive response to Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and other New Atheists, Good Without God makes a bold claim for what nonbelievers do share and believe. Author Greg Epstein, the Humanist chaplain at Harvard, offers a world view for nonbelievers that dispenses with the hostility and intolerance of religion prevalent in national bestsellers like God is Not Great and The God Delusion. Epstein's Good Without God provides a constructive, challenging response to these manifestos by getting to the heart of Humanism and its positive belief in tolerance, community, morality, and good without having to rely on the guidance of a higher being.

From the Back Cover

An inspiring and provocative exploration of an alternative to traditional religion

Questions about the role of God and religion in today's world have never been more relevant or felt more powerfully. Many of us are searching for a place where we can find not only facts and scientific reason but also hope and moral courage. For some, answers are found in the divine. For others, including the New Atheists, religion is an "enemy."

But in Good Without God, Greg Epstein presents another, more balanced and inclusive response: Humanism. He highlights humanity's potential for goodness and the ways in which Humanists lead lives of purpose and compassion. Humanism can offer the sense of community we want and often need in good times and bad--and it teaches us that we can lead good and moral lives without the supernatural, without higher powers . . . without God.

Review Quotes

"In Good Without God, Greg Epstein shows us what it means to cross boundaries, build bridges, and work toward a society where people from all backgrounds live in equal dignity and mutual loyalty." - Eboo Patel, Founder, Interfaith Youth Core, and member of the Advisory Council of the White House Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Initiatives
"[Epstein] persuasively claims that the humanist approach to life can provide the nonreligious with purpose and dignity. A thoughtful account of an often contentious topic." - Booklist
"A passionate introduction to the philosophy of humanism.... Epstein's convivial argument gets beyond the hairsplitting, condescension and animosity...to arrive at a constructive ideology that explains why it's important to be good even without the presence of the Almighty, and how to do it." - Kirkus Reviews
"[Epstein is] perhaps the most outspoken voice for Humanism in the United States." - New York magazine
"[Epstein is] one of the [Humanist] movement's most promising young leaders." - Jewish Daily Forward