St Mary’s Theologian and Sociologist Publishes New Book

Director of the Benedict XVI Centre for Religion and Society at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, Prof Stephen Bullivant has published a new book on the history of Atheism.

The two-volume Cambridge History of Atheism is co-edited with esteemed philosopher Dr Michael Ruse and offers an authoritative and up to date account of a subject of contemporary interest.

Comprised of sixty essays by an international team of scholars, this History is comprehensive in scope. The essays are written from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including religious studies, philosophy, sociology, and classics.

Offering a global overview of the subject, from antiquity to the present, the volumes examine the phenomenon of unbelief in the context of Christian, Islamic, Buddhist, Hindu, and Jewish societies. They explore atheism and the early modern Scientific Revolution, as well as the development of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and its continuing implications.

The History also includes general survey essays on the impact of scepticism, agnosticism and atheism, as well as contemporary assessments of thinking. Providing essential information on the nature and history of atheism, The Cambridge History of Atheism will be indispensable for both scholarship and teaching, at all levels.

Speaking of the book’s publication, Prof Bullivant said, “This is the second big project I’ve co-edited with Michael, after 2013’s The Oxford Handbook of Atheism, and like its predecessor this has been several years in the making. We’re just very proud to be bringing all this new, innovative, up-to-date scholarship on the history of atheism together in one place.”

The book is available to purchase online now.