Why Christianity is Probably True… My next book

British Publisher BRF recently confirmed that they will be releasing my latest book Why Christianity is Probably True in October – the 19th October to be exact (and ISBN number 9780857466549).

Here is a taster from the book – the opening chapter to be precise. It gives a feel of the territory to be covered. Hope you enjoy it – and I’ll give some updates as the publication date draws closer…

Chapter 1: About Probability…

Perhaps you have come across the bus campaign run by the New Atheists. The little slogan blazoned across the exterior of many buses runs “There’s probably no god. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life.” It’s an interesting claim followed by a rather bossy but no doubt well intentioned instruction. It doesn’t say there is no god, but intentionally opts for the P word – probably. It then suggests an intriguing implication – that god’s likely non-existence should release us from worry and enable us to enjoy life. It’s an interesting perspective, all softened by that suggestive word probably.

Actually, for most of human history the vast majority of people have assumed that God does exist. Large numbers have been pretty emphatic about it, and have never given atheism even a passing nod. But others have acknowledged moments of doubt, and would have said more modesty, “God probably exists”.

Probably… it’s about where the weight of evidence points. It’s not about a single indisputable piece of proof (God will be at Woolworths today, so visit the store before 4, and have all doubt erased), but the accumulation of many pieces of evidence, stacked up and considered. And as we consider them, we watch the balance of the scale tilt first in one direction, then another. Because we can never be certain we have found every possible piece of evidence, we can’t be sure that the direction of the tilt will never change. But as with political elections, as more and more results are announced, at some point we feel confident that we can announce a verdict. At the early stages we proclaim it in the language of probability. Later we become more definite.

The assertion of this book is simple. If you seriously weigh the available evidence, you are likely to conclude both that God probably exists and that the Christian understanding of God is likely to be so close to accurate that the difference isn’t worth quibbling about.

Now in spite of the laid back tone, this is a bold claim. Can it be backed? Yes, yes, and yes again. And I will do so in the pages that follow. While I can’t be certain, I’m quietly confident that if you read this book to the end you too will say, “so that’s why Christianity is probably true,” and I’m hopeful that you will say this regardless of your starting point (and perhaps right now you are thinking, “That’s hardly probable”).

So what’s the evidence?

I’d like to consider it in three broad categories. The evidence of reason, the evidence of history and the evidence of experience.

I’ve chosen these fairly deliberately, and done so in response to claims that are often made in an attempt to discredit the Christian faith, without needing to seriously engage with it or its claims. These are that it is intellectually vacuous, morally suspect and experientially empty. The book is divided into three sections, and each will consider one of these claims.

The first section, “But surely faith is intellectually vacuous” is itself divided into three sections, “So here’s the problem” followed by “But have you considered?” and then there is an invitation, “Let’s weigh this up”.

The remaining two sections follow the same format, with section two centred around the statement “But we all know that faith is morally suspect” and section three, “But faith is experientially empty… just boring and irrelevant”.

You might well have heard the claim “absence of evidence is evidence of absence” – often made with the unverified assumption that there is no serious evidence to point to the likely veracity of the Christian faith. Actually, potential evidence is everywhere. It depends whether we have the eyes to spot it and the intellectual rigour to carefully consider it.

Not that this book will attempt to make faith redundant. It could be claimed that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty, for where there is certainty, faith is not needed. If it is certainty you need, this book won’t provide it. And that’s as it should be, because reasonable steps of faith characterise all human life. As you know, you can’t be certain you won’t be hit by a bus on your next venture into town (it could even be one with the slogan “There’s probably no god”), but it’s unlikely to stop you making the trip.

I hope that what you read makes the step of faith needed attainable – not a huge and blind leap in the dark, but a logical final step in a journey that points in a solid and reputable direction. Actually, it could be more than just solid and reputable. It could be life changing. For if God probably exists, there is every reason to stop worrying and to get on and to enjoy your life – and to do so with far greater purpose, confidence and hopefulness.

As always, nice chatting…