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History & Civilization +1 more

The Gospel of Doubt

Seven thinkers from Spinoza to Twain who dared to question biblical authority and faced the consequences.

38 min readReading time
16Sections

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Chapters

16 total
  1. 01Prologue
  2. 02Chapter One - Spinoza - The Banished One
  3. 03Chapter Two - Paine - The American Heretic
  4. 04Chapter Three - Voltaire - The Firebreather
  5. 05Chapter Four - Hume - The Miracle Killer
  6. 06Chapter Five - Ingersoll - The Great Dissenter
  7. 07Chapter Six - Darrow - The Man Who Shamed the Cross
  8. 08Chapter Seven - Twain - The Trickster
  9. 09Chapter Eight - Barker - The Preacher Who Quit
  10. 10Chapter Nine - Loftus - The Deconversion Blueprint
  11. 11Chapter Ten - Avalos - The Bible Is Dangerous
  12. 12Chapter Eleven - Ehrman - The Bible’s Worst Nightmare
  13. 13Chapter Twelve - Carrier - The Mythmaker
  14. 14Chapter Thirteen - Stavrakopoulou - The God Who Had a Wife
  15. 15Chapter Fourteen - Coogan - The Editor’s Bible
  16. 16Chapter Fifteen - The Thread That Snapped
Edition notes and short pages
Dedications, notices, acknowledgments, author notes, and short passages from this book.

The Gospel of Doubt

The Gospel of Doubt
The Thinkers Who Questioned the Bible

by James Johnson

Dedication

For anyone who thought they weren’t allowed to ask.
You were.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS


THANKS TO EVERY voice in this book, even the ones who never meant to end up in one.
This isn’t about tearing anything down.
It’s about taking people seriously when they say, “I looked closely, and I changed my mind.”

Thanks also to the readers who made it this far.
You didn’t have to agree.
You just had to stay open.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


JJ IS THE author of over 200 books across history, philosophy, science, religion, and culture. His work focuses on the systems we inherit, the people who challenge them, and the stories we tell to make sense of both. He lives in Ohio and writes like it matters, because it does.

COPYRIGHT


© 2025 JAMES JOHNSON. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise — without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations used in reviews or scholarly works.

This book is a work of nonfiction. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of dates, claims, and citations. Quotations, summaries, and paraphrased views of third-party thinkers are presented for educational and commentary purposes under fair use. The opinions and beliefs described belong to the individuals profiled and do not necessarily reflect the views of the author.

Scriptural and religious texts are quoted and analyzed solely for critical, educational, and comparative review.