Believe By Ross Douthat

Do you ever wish you had more faith, but struggle to make religious belief fit with modern assumptions about the world and human life? With a rare combination of empathy, open-mindedness, and persuasive argument, Ross Douthat offers a blueprint for thinking one’s way from doubt to belief.

As a columnist for the New York Times who writes often about spiritual topics for a skeptical audience, Ross Douthat understands that many of us–whether we are agnostic, somewhat religious, or longtime believers–want to have more faith than we do. But we think we can’t believe the way our ancestors did, knowing what we know now–can we?

With clear and straightforward arguments, Believe shows how religious belief makes sense of the order of the cosmos and our place within it, illuminates the mystery of consciousness, and explains the persistent reality of encounters with the supernatural.

Douthat argues that in light of what we know today it should be harder to not have faith than to have it. With empathy, clarity, and rigor, Douthat

Why nonbelief requires ignoring what our reasoning faculties tell us about the worldHow modern scientific developments make a religious worldview more credible, not lessWhy it’s entirely reasonable to believe in mystical and supernatural realitiesHow an open-minded religious quest should proceed amid the diversity of religious faithsHow Douthat’s own Christianity is informed by his blueprint for belief

Highly relevant for our current moment, Believe offers a pathway for thinking your way from doubt into belief, from uncertainty about our place in the universe into a confidence that we are here for a reason.