Books Archives

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 6: Toxic Christianity

May 10, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

I am so excited to finally be writing the post we have all been waiting for since January. This week I finished Rick Warren’s evangelical Christian bestseller The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? I can’t wait to put it back on the shelf and let it gather dust, as it should. That way, it can’t hurt anybody.

“Here we go,” some people might be thinking. “What is it this time in this uplifting Christian book about finding your purpose that made this atheist so upset?”

I will tell you what.

Book Review: Masters of the Planet by Ian Tattersall

May 3, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you have been following my blog for a while, then you might know that I’m becoming a bit of a fanatic for paleoanthropology. The study of human origins has taken over my bookshelf, and I’ve found myself daydreaming about going back to human origins exhibits in museums. This is easy to do each time I get really lost in another book on the topic. This time, that book was Ian Tattersall’s Masters of the Planet: The Search for Our Human Origins.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 5: Throwing Your Life Away

April 26, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

Just when you thought, or at least hoped, that I had forgotten about my series reacting to Rick Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life, I’m posting about it yet again. On the bright side, we are nearly finished with this damaging book! This will be my reaction to Purpose Four out of five. This time, it’s all about serving God.

36 Best Founding Myth Quotes

April 19, 2020December 23, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

A few months ago, I wrote a rave review of one of my now-favorite books, Andrew Seidel’s The Founding Myth: Why Christian Nationalism is Un-American. Being such a fan of the book, and being in agreement with so many of Seidel’s ideas, you can imagine how excited I was last October when I learned that I could meet him on his book tour in April!

Of course, his lecture with the Pittsburgh Freethought Community has been not canceled but sadly postponed for obvious reasons. As the PFC’s marketing chair, I had excitedly but prematurely drafted an advertisement for Seidel’s visit. For now, though, I will stash away my excitement for the day when Seidel finally makes it to Pittsburgh and instead share with you 36 of my personal favorite quotes from his brilliant book.

I Read a 100-Year-Old Book on Evolution

April 12, 2020August 13, 2022Rebekah Kohlhepp

I have been excited to write this post since last May. My husband and I were on a weekend trip in State College, PA celebrating our six-year dating anniversary by visiting all the local bookstores as we like to do. In a cute café and bookstore called Webster’s, I came across a uniquely rustic book called The A B C of Evolution by Joseph McCabe. It was $20 which is above the average price for a used book, but something told me I would never find a book like this again, so I bought it. Part of what sold me was the copyright date of 1920; at the time I thought to myself that that would soon be 100 years ago! Since then I’d been waiting for the perfect time in 2020 to look back at where the study of evolution was 100 years ago.

Book Review: The Causes and Cure of Unbelief by N. J. Laforêt

April 5, 2020September 4, 2023Rebekah Kohlhepp

It can be easy to assume that old books don’t say much. The books themselves often serve as rustic decorations. I’ve definitely been guilty of buying old books with the primary intent of showing them in my collection and a secondary intent of actually reading them. But when I bought The Causes and Cure of Unbelief last fall, I knew I wanted to eventually read the whole thing. After doing so, I learned why some ideas best remain forgotten.

Book Review: Origins by Lewis Dartnell

March 22, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

The gifts I want most are typically books. My husband knows me best, so last Christmas he gave me a copy of science professor Lewis Dartnell’s Origins: How Earth’s History Shaped Human History. I always like to give special priority in my TBR list to books that John gives me, but I was intrigued by this book for several reasons, most of those reasons being the author’s tweets teasing fun facts from the book.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 4: How to Brainwash Yourself

March 15, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

I’m glad I’m reading The Purpose-Driven Life. It is teaching me to humble myself and put God first. It’s allowing me to get rid of my worries and let Jesus take the wheel. Most importantly, it’s teaching me simple ways to better my life, like being in constant conversation with God, memorizing Bible verses, and defeating temptation.

The Purpose-Driven Life Part 3: Christians Only

March 1, 2020December 5, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

The Purpose-Driven Life consists of six parts: one for each “purpose” as well as an introduction. Today we are looking at Part 3, which is Purpose #2: “You Were Formed for God’s Family.” In the past, I’ve taken each of the seven sub-sections (one for each day of the week) one at a time, but the chapters I read this week all bleed together, so I believe they can be looked at as a whole. They are:

Book Review: The Greatest Show on Earth by Richard Dawkins

February 23, 2020November 4, 2021Rebekah Kohlhepp

If you only know of Richard Dawkins as a militant anti-theist, then you don’t know Richard Dawkins. In his purest form, the man is an enthusiastic and impassioned science communicator, and one of the biggest fans of Charles Darwin that I have ever read. (And a bigot.) This was made crystal clear to me as I read The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution. I decided to read this book when everyone on the Internet collectively made it known to me that it was an amazing, must-read book.