36 Arguments for the Existence of God
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Narrated by:
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Steven Pinker
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Rebecca Newberger Goldstein
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Oliver Wyman
About this listen
After Cass Seltzers book becomes a surprise best seller, he's dubbed the atheist with a soul and becomes a celebrity. He wins over the stunning Lucinda Mandelbaum, the goddess of game theory, and loses himself in a spiritually expansive infatuation.Then a former girlfriend appears: an anthropologist who invites him to join in her quest for immortality through biochemistry. And he is haunted by reminders of the two people who ignited his passion to understand religion: his mentor and professor - a renowned literary scholar with a suspicious obsession with messianism - and an angelic six-year-old mathematical genius who is heir to the leadership of a Hasidic sect. Each encounter reinforces Cass's theory that the religious impulse spills over into life at large.
36 Arguments for the Existence of God plunges into the great debate of our day: the clash between faith and reason. World events are being shaped by fervent believers at home and abroad, while a new atheism is asserting itself in the public sphere. On purely intellectual grounds the skeptics would seem to have everything on their side. Yet people refuse to accept their seemingly irrefutable arguments and continue to embrace faith in God as their source of meaning, purpose, and comfort.
Through the enchantment of fiction, award-winning novelist and MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Newberger Goldstein shows that the tension between religion and doubt cannot be understood through rational argument alone. It also must be explored from the point of view of individual people caught in the raptures and torments of religious experience in all their variety.
Using her gifts in fiction and philosophy, Goldstein has produced a true crossover novel, complete with a nail-biting debate ("Resolved: God Exists") and a stand-alone appendix with the 36 arguments (and responses) that propelled Seltzer to stardom.
©2010 Rebecca Goldstein (P)2010 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Narrator Oliver Wyman skillfully inhabits the robust, zany cast of characters that populate this novel, from a young, female, hippie anthropology grad student to the Rebbe, or leader, of a sect of fictional ultra-orthodox Jews known as the Valdeners.
His most nuanced performance comes with his sensitive portrayal of the Rebbe's son, Azarya. As the only son, he is in line to accept the mantle of Valdener leadership from his father. But Azarya's life becomes complicated when Roz Margolis — the grad student — after a chance meeting with Azarya as a 6-year-old, believes he possesses a genius that is too profound to remain trapped within the confines of his upstate New York community. Roz only meets Azarya because her boyfriend is also a grad student whose mentor, Jonas Elijah Klapper, is interested in the Valdeners.
Klapper’s existence gives Wyman a chance to have as much fun as any voice actor could hope to have portraying a character. Born Jonas Klepfish, Jonas Elijah Klapper (the book’s narrator always refers to him by his full name) grew up on the Lower East Side of New York City, managed to graduate from Columbia University and become a professor there, and then jumped ship for Frankfurter University (a thinly disguised Brandeis) in Weedham, Mass., by the time the story begins. Along the way, Klapper has affected an English accent and the use of 75-cent words whenever a 5-cent word would do. And Klapper is not the only oddball. The book is populated with them — a bubbe with borderline personality disorder and a "lupine" French poet among them — making the novel a hugely entertaining listening experience.
But the story, which spans about 20 years, doesn’t neglect to develop main characters whose faults, foibles, and humanity deeply endear them to the listener. As the title suggests, the characters spend a great deal of time meditating on whether or how God manifests himself among them, as they come to realize that if they've only got each other, they're not in such bad shape. —Maggie Frank
Critic reviews
"Oliver Wyman’s narration contains just the right bit of mischief to deliver the polysyllabic academician’s jargon in this ambitious, humorous new novel…Wyman is wonderful as puffed-up conversations about the psychology of religion, Matthew Arnold’s poetry, and the Kabbalah rain down." (AudioFile)
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Kenneth Trachtenberg, an eccentric and witty native of Paris, travels to the Midwest to spend time with his famous American uncle, a world-renowned botanist and self-described "plant visionary". After numerous affairs and failed relationships, the restless Uncle Benn seeks a settled existence in the form of marriage - but tying the knot again opens the door to a host of new torments.
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A great book
- By John A. on 03-16-22
By: Saul Bellow
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What Is Not Yours Is Not Yours
- Stories
- By: Helen Oyeyemi
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Piter Marek, Bahni Turpin
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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In "Books and Roses", one special key opens a library, a garden, and clues to at least two lovers' fates. In "Is Your Blood as Red as This?", an unlikely key opens the heart of a student at a puppeteering school. "'Sorry' Doesn't Sweeten Her Tea" involves a "house of locks", where doors can be closed only with a key - with surprising unobservable developments. And in "If a Book Is Locked There's Probably a Good Reason for That Don't You Think", a key keeps a mystical diary locked (for good reason).
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clever
- By jared rogerson on 03-15-18
By: Helen Oyeyemi
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Ordinary Light
- A Memoir
- By: Tracy K. Smith
- Narrated by: Tracy K. Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Tracy K. Smith has a fairly typical upbringing in suburban California: the youngest in a family of five children raised with limitless affection and a firm belief in God by a stay-at-home mother and an engineer father. But after spending a summer in Alabama at her grandmother's home, she returns to California with a new sense of what it means for her to be Black: from her mother's memories of picking cotton as a girl in her father's field for pennies a bushel to her parents' involvement in the Civil Rights Movement.
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Simply spoken - poetic
- By CarolynneRHarris on 04-27-15
By: Tracy K. Smith
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The Chosen
- By: Chaim Potok
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Though they've lived their entire lives less than five blocks from each other, Reuven Malter and Danny Saunders exist in very different worlds. Reuven blends easily into both his secular Jewish faith and his typical American teen life, while Danny's conservative Hasidic clothes and appearance make him stick out in any crowd. Their improbable friendship teaches them that the differences separating people through cultures and generations are never as great as they seem.
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truly rates overused "classic" label
- By connie on 11-05-08
By: Chaim Potok
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Fury
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Salman Rushdie
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The world renowned author of The Satanic Verses and The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie is a Whitbread Award winner and recipient of the Booker Prize. His first truly American novel, Fury is a metaphorically rich black comedy that reflects the pressure-cooker of modern life. Malik Solanka, irascible doll-maker and retired historian of ideas, suffers the pain of wanting without knowing exactly what it is he wants.
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surprisingly good
- By David on 11-21-07
By: Salman Rushdie
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44 Scotland Street
- By: Alexander McCall Smith
- Narrated by: Robert Ian Mackenzie
- Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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The brilliant Alexander McCall Smith became an international sensation with his New York Times best-selling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels. His award-winning wit, made famous through that series, is fully on display in 44 Scotland Street.
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Smith's answer to Maupin
- By Amazon Customer on 10-23-05
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A Prayer for Owen Meany
- By: John Irving
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 27 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Of all of John Irving's books, this is the one that lends itself best to audio. In print, Owen Meany's dialogue is set in capital letters; for this production, Irving himself selected Joe Barrett to deliver Meany's difficult voice as intended. In the summer of 1953, two 11-year-old boys – best friends – are playing in a Little League baseball game in Gravesend, New Hampshire. One of the boys hits a foul ball that kills the other boy's mother. The boy who hits the ball doesn't believe in accidents; Owen Meany believes he is God's instrument. What happens to Owen after that 1953 foul ball is extraordinary and terrifying.
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Outstanding
- By Alan on 03-28-11
By: John Irving
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The Mathematician's Shiva
- By: Stuart Rojstaczer
- Narrated by: Angela Brazil, Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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When the greatest female mathematician in history passes away, her son, Alexander "Sasha" Karnokovitch, just wants to mourn his mother in peace. But rumor has it the notoriously eccentric Polish émigré has solved one of the most difficult problems in all of mathematics and has spitefully taken the solution to her grave. A ragtag group of mathematicians from around the world descends upon Rachela's shiva, determined to find the proof or solve it for themselves - even if it means prying up the floorboards for notes.
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Great read
- By Lee Crowe on 07-27-15
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The Night Listener
- By: Armistead Maupin
- Narrated by: Armistead Maupin
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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This unprecedented audio project is as thought-provoking as it is mesmeric. The Night Listener is a meditation on the power of voices and the faith we place in them, and an extraordinary audio experience from an American literary icon.
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Wheels within wheels
- By Naomi on 07-06-03
By: Armistead Maupin
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Dreams from My Father
- A Story of Race and Inheritance
- By: Barack Obama
- Narrated by: Barack Obama
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a Black African father and a White American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a Black American. It begins in New York, where Barack Obama learns that his father - a figure he knows more as a myth than as a man - has been killed in a car accident. This sudden death inspires an emotional odyssey - first to a small town in Kansas, from which he retraces the migration of his mother’s family to Hawaii, and then to Kenya, where he meets the African side of his family.
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Powerful
- By Gene R. on 10-26-21
By: Barack Obama
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The Canterbury Sisters
- By: Kim Wright
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Che Milan's life is falling apart. Not only has her longtime lover abruptly dumped her, but her eccentric, demanding mother has recently died. When an urn of ashes arrives along with a note reminding Che of a half-forgotten promise to take her mother to Canterbury, Che finds herself reluctantly undertaking a pilgrimage. Within days she joins a group of women who are walking the 60 miles from London to the shrine of Becket in Canterbury Cathedral.
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The Canterbury Sisters
- By Melissa on 09-22-19
By: Kim Wright
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The Stranger House
- By: Reginald Hill
- Narrated by: Gordon Griffin
- Length: 16 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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For years, the Stranger House has stood in the village of Illthwaite, offering refuge to travellers. People like Sam, a brilliant young mathematician, who believes that anything that can't be explained by maths isn't worth explaining. And Miguel, a historian running from a priests' seminary, who sees ghosts. Sam is an experienced young woman, Miguel a 26-year-old virgin.
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an OK read
- By Jen Terry on 01-18-08
By: Reginald Hill
What listeners say about 36 Arguments for the Existence of God
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Carol Sprague
- 11-19-23
Engaging story excellent performance
Author tells a tale with many twists and turns. Writing style is occasionally poetry in prose when describing landscapes and characters which reach for Dickensian heights. The appendix went off into philosophical weeds, but ended with one last interesting tidbit.
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- Levi M.
- 03-11-18
Beautiful and Deeply Thought-Provoking
Relatable characters (at least to people familiar with academic spheres), a gripping plot, and subtle explorations into difficult philosophical, psychological, and moral problems through dialogue and narrative (along with a brilliantly concise appendix that brings more rigor than is commonly employed in popular analyses of "the God question") made this book a joy to read. The author, though certainly approximately aligned with the New Atheists, is more sympathetic to the meaningfullness religious belief can foster than most authors who argue against the existence of God for the public.
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1 person found this helpful
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 03-08-16
DENIAL
This is not the story one expects from its title. “36 Argument for the Existence of God” is about denial, not affirmation of God’s existence.
Rebecca Goldstein writes like Stephen Pinker on steroids. The subtitle of the book might be “The Science of Human Nature denies the existence of God”. Goldstein has done a masterful job of creating “fear and trembling” in believers; i.e. in the opposite sense of Kierkegaard’s meaning of the phrase.
If you are a believer, “36 Arguments…” is a clear explanation of your battleground; it reveals the manifesto, strategy, and tactics of a non-believer. Faith is always a refuge but is it enough? “36 Arguments for the Existence of God” is a fascinating piece of literature.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall
- David
- 07-03-10
Subtly Codifying Your Atheist Suspicions
Oliver Wyman reads perfectly, doing justice to the varied characters and the sometimes lofty or esoteric tone of the book. Hearing the Jewish phrasing (and other less vernacular words) aloud was a great treat and wonderful learning experience that I could not create when reading the book.
The book is a fascinating look at some of the "Varieties of Religious Illusion" through an engaging character story. Full of allegory that I'm sure I'm not fully grasping, but I very much enjoyed the presentation of what I did grasp. The plot and setting will be familiar to those in grad school, but only a few things in the book require much extrinsic knowledge for comprehension, thanks to the aside thinking of the main character(s).
Rather thorough in its assessment of faith, the ways in which we believe, and human nature. Not always an easy listen, but well worth the time and thought.
This narration from Oliver (and later the author) makes a stellar companion to the physical book.
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17 people found this helpful
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- Kendra
- 02-08-12
Good for the agnostic layman
I enjoyed the story line of this book, even though I don't inhabit the same world the characters do. Parts of the story are enlightening and/or emotional, but I didn't really get into it. However, the appendix is fantastic. I didn't feel like the author attacked God or religion, but did attack some of the arguments put forward to claim his (hers?, its?) existence. This was eye opening to me and focused many scattered thoughts I have long had. The 36 arguments and thier refutations are all short and sweet (there will be plenty more to say by all parties), but the agnostic apologetics are good for the novice.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Monty Bludworth
- 07-05-10
A bit over my head..........
Although I am thoroughly enjoying "36 Arguments for the Existence of God" the arguments are way over my head. Oh, I get a point here or there but for the most part my linear mind can't process the authors writing.
However, it is very well written and quite engaging.
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8 people found this helpful
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- connie
- 07-02-10
wish I'd waited for the movie
I might "get" a film version -- it might be clever and manic-- but as a longish novel/appendix, this doesn't work for me.
As a "for dummies" guide to mathematics, philosophy and psychology (and I am one of the dummies), it's not so bad. As satire on academia, well, there are much better ones out there
Literature about a god-soaked or a god-absent universe usually doesn't announce itself in the title or frame itself in verbal debate, even if that debate adds an ironic layer. I supposed this is "inventive" fiction, but for me, in its bad moments (and there were many), it read like chic lit with Wikipedia links.
The novel didn't really entertain, divert or (as suggested by its clasification as literary fiction) capture my imagination-- I am left wondering if it was worth 15 hours of listening, not wondering at the universe.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Leah
- 04-25-22
mediocre white guy narrator
the story was interesting until it wasn't and the narrator is uncle vanilla, when he did some of the female voices it was kinda silly. I eventually became bored.
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- John Panagotopulos
- 10-14-10
Dissappointed
I enjoyed the book until I reached the Appendix. Argument number one, the Cosmological Argument, is the most famous of the many arguments for the existence of God, but is misstated by the author. Why does she do this? Either she is ignorant of the actual argument or she purposefully misstates it. Neither option is good. She then refutes the argument as she stated it, which is no surprise; straw man arguments are easy to refute. Of all the methods of attempting to deal with the Cosmological Argument, this is one of the more dishonest.
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11 people found this helpful
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- Avid Capitalist Consumer
- 10-12-23
Boring.
A Jewish religious professor who says he’s an atheist writes a book and gets famous. He starts recounting his life including his insufferable mentor, his wild ex girlfriend, aloof ex-wife, and current love of his life girlfriend. The book is heavy on Judaism so if you’re not interested in that then I would skip. I did not finish, I got about 12 hours in before I had enough.
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