Believe

November 25, 2024
The choice to practice a faith is “not only socially or psychologically desirable but an entirely reasonable perspective on the nature of reality,” according to this stimulating if flawed treatise. Countering the notion of religion as a thoughtless surrender to the supernatural, New York Times opinion columnist Douthat (The Decadent Society) argues for a faith rooted in science, writing that the universe is “made for us” (the big bang theory suggests the existence of an intentional God who created the universe at a specific moment, according to Douthat), that human consciousness is “improbably fine-tuned” to appreciate cosmic intricacies, and that “spiritual and supernatural” phenomena stubbornly persist in an age of supposed disenchantment. Those arguments are unpacked in rich scientific detail, with an especially illuminating discussion of human consciousness as an “irreducible” mystery whose mechanics 500-odd years of scientific research have failed to account for. Later chapters are less persuasive, however, with Douthat attempting to answer the question of how evil can exist in the world given God’s goodness and omnipotence largely by positing that divine choices surpass human understanding. Elsewhere, he suggests that believers might seek out “a major world religion” partly because those faiths “triumphed over primeval belief systems for a reason,” without noting the role played by military campaigns aimed at exterminating rival faiths. This is unlikely to change minds.

January 1, 2025
In his witty and well-reasoned polemic, New York Times conservative columnist Douthat (The Deep Places, 2021) makes his case "that religious belief might be not only socially or psychologically desirable but also an entirely reasonable perspective on the nature of reality and the destiny of humankind." Citing well-known authors and philosophers (Stephen Hawking, Bertrand Russell) alongside fictional antiheroes (Tony Soprano), Douthat offers reasoning that follows an intellectual path. The organization of the universe, Douthat's argument goes, points to evidence of a world created by intelligence, order, and design. Sprinkled with references, the text occasionally reverts to a psychological plea: that human beings need community found in the form of religion. In a chapter on browsing in the "Bookstore of All Religions," Douthat zeroes in on "the big, resilient, long-enduring faith traditions--Christianity and Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism," without considering Judaism, which seems an oversight. A final chapter sums up Douthat's personal faith in Roman Catholicism, which he appreciates for its systemization and its urgency to not let life go to waste. Dense at times, but thoughtful throughout.

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