In the tradition of G.K. Chesterton’s Orthodoxy—but with more swears—comes this brilliant and funny affirmation of the intellectual, emotional, and aesthetic satisfactions Christianity offers. British novelist Spufford brings his usual psychological insight to the task of describing what belief actually feels like and the sense it makes to a thoughtful modern person, while dealing sensibly (if not definitively) with such issues as the problem of evil, the Church’s terrible record, and the ever-vexing, utterly beside the point question of whether you need Christianity to be a good person.
He makes short work of Bertrand Russell’s famous invisible-teapot analogy and of the noncanonical gospels (which so challenge the faith of people who haven’t got any and haven’t read them). All of this he does while managing a basically kindly, if sometimes exasperated, tone. With David Bentley Hart’s Atheist Delusions, this book would make an ideal tandem gift for your curious agnostic friends. (HarperOne)
About the Author
Phil Christman teaches English at the University of Michigan and attends St. Clare's Episcopal Church in Ann Arbor, Mich.
