The Faith of Christopher Hitchens

April 4, 2016
Evangelical thinker Taunton (The Grace Effect), the executive director of the Christian advocacy non-profit Fixed Point Foundation, begins this book with a confession: for years Taunton resisted writing about the late, infamous atheist Christopher Hitchens (1949â2011), because he didn't want to betray their friendship. Taunton overcomes his discomfort by recalling words from Hitchens himself that seemed to pave the way for this project, and by sidestepping sheer biography, instead "giv some account for soul." What follows are some fascinating recollections of Taunton's conversations with Hitchens (a tidbit about Al Sharpton, lengthier debates about religion and God) that occurred during their unlikely and unusual friendship, punctuated by information gathered from Peter, Hitchens's brother. Taunton's smooth and accessible prose brings to life what seems to have been a dear and lively friendship between two thinkers at odds politically and religiously, but not intellectually. However, readers will be left with a lingering and uncomfortable feeling that Taunton has wrongly allowed readers to enter into an intimate and sacred space.