[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-39577-en":3,"doc-seo-39577-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},39577,8796095360427,"Lucas Martin","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_994ba38a5ba835b3df7d355c54d3ed8d",9,"Religion & Spirituality","Life Driven Purpose How an Atheist Finds Meaning","Life Driven Purpose: How an Atheist Finds Meaning presents a secular case for morality, value, and purpose grounded in human finitude rather than divine authority. The material emphasizes rational and humanistic approaches to living, reframing purpose as something discovered and created within life. It also highlights critiques of religious misconceptions about atheists, and points readers toward a structured exploration of ethical life, skepticism, and meaning-making through the book’s chapters and referenced scholarship.","advance praise  \n“One of the biggest misconceptions about atheists is that without God they can have no morals, values, or meaning in their lives. In this lovely secular sermon, Dan Barker handily rebuts that claim, showing that true meaning and morality can come only from accepting our finitude, and dealing with it rationally and humanistically.”  \n—Jerry Coyne, Professor of Ecology and Evolution, University of Chicago, and author of Why Evolution Is True  \n“Dan Barker has cleverly reversed the arrows of purpose so they fly from the bows of life instead of raining down from an imaginary archer in the sky.”  \n—Victor J. Stenger, author of God: The Failed Hypothesis  \n“If you’ve been searching for meaning and purpose in life, it’s a sure bet you’ve never found answers in a book—at least not answers that are grounded in any kind of objective reality—until now. Dan Barker’s Life Driven Purpose deserves its own category. It’s a book of emancipation, a book of vitality, a book of enrichment, a book of celebration, a book of inspiration—put simply, a book that honestly and rationally teaches how to live.”  \n—Peter Boghossian, author of A Manual for Creating Atheists  \n“Religions hijacked the meaning of life long ago and now Dan Barker is stealing it back. In this brilliant and inspirational book, he shows that value, worth, and meaning can be discovered and created by anyone—no religion required.”  \n—Guy P. Harrison, author of Think: Why You Should Question Everything and 50 Simple Questions for Every Christian  \n“This book is really ‘Something’ (see chapter 5) . In his calm, patient voice, Dan Barker helps us understand and untwist black-and-white thinking so we can see and appreciate all the colors of the rainbow.”  \n—Linda LaScola, coauthor (with Daniel Dennett) of Caught in the Pulpit: Leaving Belief Behind  \n“Life Driven Purpose is an important book that puts the lie to the strange notion that without God life has no purpose. Living is great, fulfilling, and meaningful without God. Like his previous book, Godless, Life-Driven Purpose is a book that every one with an interest in spirituality, religion in political life, and how to lead a meaningful life will want to have on their shelves.”  \n—Daniel Everett, author of Don’t Sleep, There Are Snakes and Language  \n“Dan says he’s certainly not pretending to be a Deacon of Atheism or Bishop of Freethought, but he is. In this book Deacon Dan uses good scholarship in offering convincing answers to some of the most important reasons why believers keep on believing despite the lack of sufficient evidence. Writing with the wit and storytelling of a preacher, this series of ‘sermons’ will definitely reach the masses. I heartily endorse it. May it produce a revival, one of reason, logic, and science.”  \n—John W. Loftus, author of Why I Became An Atheist, The Outsider Test for Faith, and coauthor of God or Godless?  \n“Deftly handling the complexities of philosophy and physics, meaning and morality, Barker debunks the woefully inadequate monochromatic worldview of the religious fundamentalist and replaces it with one of rich color and beauty. This accessible, witty, and thoughtful book provides answers to the most profound questions but, more than that, it helps us embrace life; life in all its fullness.”  \n—Paul Beaumont, author of A Brief Eternity  \n“In Life Driven Purpose Dan Barker confronts the complexities of moral behavior and offers us the gift of his lifelong engagement with the Big Questions. Everyone will profit from reading Barker’s penetrating and revealing analyses, but the true believers will profit most, since they have the most to lose, and to gain. One of Barker’s advantages in wrestling with these profound issues is that for many years he was himself one of the true believers, preaching the orthodox gospel—so he knows the tricks of the trade; he’s been inside the orthodox stronghold, and knows where the bodies are buried. Barker is not only smart, he is wise, and this book","cbCaie2hf0fLZzR2","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaie2hf0fLZzR2","pdf",1703836,5,1,217,"English","en",105,"# Foreword by Daniel C. Dennett\n# Introduction\n# The Good news\n# Mere Morality\n# Religious Color Blindness\n# MuchAdo About\n# Life Is Life\n# Acknowledgments\n# Notes\n# Bibliography\n# Index\n# About the Author","[{\"question\":\"What misconception about atheists does the book address?\",\"answer\":\"It rebuts the claim that without God, atheists cannot have morals, values, or meaning in their lives.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the book ground meaning and morality?\",\"answer\":\"Meaning and morality are presented as coming from accepting human finitude and dealing with life rationally and humanistically.\"},{\"question\":\"What topics are covered in the chapter outline?\",\"answer\":\"The contents list sections on the good news, mere morality, religious color blindness, reflections in MuchAdo About, and the theme that life is life, followed by acknowledgments, notes, bibliography, and index.\"}]",1783084620,547,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"life-driven-purpose-how-an-atheist-finds-meaning","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/life-driven-purpose-how-an-atheist-finds-meaning/39577/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-15","2026-07-03",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What misconception about atheists does the book address?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"It rebuts the claim that without God, atheists cannot have morals, values, or meaning in their lives.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"How does the book ground meaning and morality?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"Meaning and morality are presented as coming from accepting human finitude and dealing with life rationally and humanistically.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What topics are covered in the chapter outline?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"The contents list sections on the good news, mere morality, religious color blindness, reflections in MuchAdo About, and the theme that life is life, followed by acknowledgments, notes, bibliography, and index.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,98,102,106,110,115,120,125,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":95,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":97},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":122,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":124},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]