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The Complete Heretic's Guide to Western Religion #7
PLAYING GOD: An Evolutionary History of World Religion: Vol. 3 Islam and the Eastern Religions
Lovers of David Fitzgerald’s internationally-acclaimed books Ten Christian Myths That Show Jesus Never Existed At All and Mything in Action now can add PLAYING An Evolutionary History of World Religion — a comprehensive and jaw-dropping survey of ongoing revolutionary changes in scholarly opinion, and the very latest historical findings concerning the surprising origins of all our major world religions.
PLAYING GOD , vol. I
The Evolution of God (chapters 1–5) charts the evolutionary stages that all our major world religions appear to have undergone, from prehistory to the dawn of the first century. The Gods of Monotheism (chapters 6–13) reveals the surprisingly rocky twists and turns that gave us belief in a single “One True God” – and all the other One True Gods who gave Yahweh a run for his money…
PLAYING GOD , vol. II
Who’s real—and who’s not—in the Bible? Find out in God’s Imaginary Judaism (chapters 14–21) and Christianity (chapters 22–25) when we take a deep dive into the Bible’s mix of myth, folklore and political propaganda, and examine the “Biblical History” of events and figures such as Abraham, Moses, Samson, David and Solomon, Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, and many others.
PLAYING GOD , vol. III
Was Muhammad real? What about the Buddha, Confucius, Lao-Tze and all the rest? The look into God’s Imaginary Friends continues with Islam (chapters 26– 31) and The Eastern Religions (chapters 32 – 34). Find out what the most up-to-date scholarship has to say about the actual origins of Islam, and the surprising family tree connections between the Western and Eastern religions.
PLAYING GOD , vol. I
The Evolution of God (chapters 1–5) charts the evolutionary stages that all our major world religions appear to have undergone, from prehistory to the dawn of the first century. The Gods of Monotheism (chapters 6–13) reveals the surprisingly rocky twists and turns that gave us belief in a single “One True God” – and all the other One True Gods who gave Yahweh a run for his money…
PLAYING GOD , vol. II
Who’s real—and who’s not—in the Bible? Find out in God’s Imaginary Judaism (chapters 14–21) and Christianity (chapters 22–25) when we take a deep dive into the Bible’s mix of myth, folklore and political propaganda, and examine the “Biblical History” of events and figures such as Abraham, Moses, Samson, David and Solomon, Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, and many others.
PLAYING GOD , vol. III
Was Muhammad real? What about the Buddha, Confucius, Lao-Tze and all the rest? The look into God’s Imaginary Friends continues with Islam (chapters 26– 31) and The Eastern Religions (chapters 32 – 34). Find out what the most up-to-date scholarship has to say about the actual origins of Islam, and the surprising family tree connections between the Western and Eastern religions.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 23, 2024
12 people are currently reading
21 people want to read
About the author
David Fitzgerald
16 books108 followersDavid Fitzgerald is a writer and historical researcher who has been actively investigating the Historical Jesus question for over ten years.
He lectures around the country at universities and national secular events and is best known for his book Nailed and The Complete Heretic's Guide to Western Religion series.
He is also the co-author of the science fiction trilogy Time Shards with his wife, Dana Fredsti.
He lectures around the country at universities and national secular events and is best known for his book Nailed and The Complete Heretic's Guide to Western Religion series.
He is also the co-author of the science fiction trilogy Time Shards with his wife, Dana Fredsti.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 27, 2024
You can also see this review, along with others I have written, at my blog, Mr. Book's Book Reviews.
Mr. Book just finished Playing God: An Evolutionary History Of World Religion, Vol. 3: Islam And The Eastern Religions, by David Fitzgerald.
I am a big fan of David Fitzgerald’s books, so when I saw Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist, send an email saying that he had a new three volume set of books, I knew I had to get copies of them and review them here. I had already given Volumes 1 and 2 A+’s and now it’s time to move on to Volume 3.
The author perfectly sums up all religions’ “histories” when he said, “Surely if we have learned nothing else so far in this book, it’s that sacred histories are never reliable. Never. Ever.”
This book provides a devastating critique of Islam. Among its highlights are discussions on Muhammad and his origin story, how incomprehensible the Quran really is and how there is no good evidence that Muhammad ever existed.
After he finishes with Islam, the author then takes on eastern religionsm before concluding with a chapter on other fictious characters throughout history (Homer, Aesop, etc.).
Each book in this series has earned an A+ and induction into the Hall of Fame. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
Reading this series has motivated to add the author’s other books to my list of those to reread, so I can write reviews about them there. Since my reading list is always a long one, I don’t know when it will be their turns, but they will be on the list.
This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.
Mr. Book finished reading this on August 27, 2024.
Mr. Book just finished Playing God: An Evolutionary History Of World Religion, Vol. 3: Islam And The Eastern Religions, by David Fitzgerald.
I am a big fan of David Fitzgerald’s books, so when I saw Seth Andrews, The Thinking Atheist, send an email saying that he had a new three volume set of books, I knew I had to get copies of them and review them here. I had already given Volumes 1 and 2 A+’s and now it’s time to move on to Volume 3.
The author perfectly sums up all religions’ “histories” when he said, “Surely if we have learned nothing else so far in this book, it’s that sacred histories are never reliable. Never. Ever.”
This book provides a devastating critique of Islam. Among its highlights are discussions on Muhammad and his origin story, how incomprehensible the Quran really is and how there is no good evidence that Muhammad ever existed.
After he finishes with Islam, the author then takes on eastern religionsm before concluding with a chapter on other fictious characters throughout history (Homer, Aesop, etc.).
Each book in this series has earned an A+ and induction into the Hall of Fame. Goodreads requires grades on a 1-5 star system. In my personal conversion system, an A+ equates to 5 stars. (A or A+: 5 stars, B+: 4 stars, B: 3 stars, C: 2 stars, D or F: 1 star).
Reading this series has motivated to add the author’s other books to my list of those to reread, so I can write reviews about them there. Since my reading list is always a long one, I don’t know when it will be their turns, but they will be on the list.
This review has been posted at my blog, Mr. Book’s Book Reviews, and Goodreads.
Mr. Book finished reading this on August 27, 2024.
January 21, 2025
In this volume, Fitzgerald completes his 3-volume survey of the origins of the Abrahamic religions. This includes a fascinating discussion of the development of Islam in the Arabic world. The second half of the book bursts out of the boundaries of the Western world to explore the religions and mythologies of India and beyond (from Hinduism and Buddhism through even Pastafarianism and William Tell-ism). Altogether, even with the limitations I mentioned previously regarding the first volume, the three volume Playing God series is a must read for anyone interested in the development and evolution of religious thought and how it affects world history and culture.
December 26, 2025
I found the book interesting. I’m not very versed in eastern religions, aside from a few bare bone facts, so the summary on what respective scholars are saying about their origins was informative even if it ended feeling kind of repetitive and lacking meaning to me (there were fewer ah-ha moments than in the first two volumes). Still, I’m glad I have these books on my shelf as a sort of reference guide. The bibliography is extensive and if I ever decide to pursue those subjects any further I have an invaluable resource to begin my search.
September 30, 2024
A surprisingly well researched book regarding the origins of and founding fathers of world religions.
December 31, 2024
They are all myths
A brilliant “ecumenical “ review of the fallacies inherent in all religious beliefs. Highly recommended to all students of religions.
A brilliant “ecumenical “ review of the fallacies inherent in all religious beliefs. Highly recommended to all students of religions.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews