I HAVE read many books by Alister McGrath, renowned scientist and theologian. I have appreciated all of them and, indeed, reviewed one very positively in these columns only a year ago (Books, 23 February 2024). This, though, is the best I have read (Feature, 21 February). It is quite simply brilliant, a must-read for those who want to reflect deeply on the whole question of belief. It will be particularly helpful to those who want to be able to defend their own. I remember Rowan Willams being quoted as saying something along the lines that it could be such a relief not to be made to feel foolish for embracing belief. No one who has read this book need do that.
The intention of the author is consider belief in general, not just religious belief. Demonstrating clearly that it just won’t do to pretend that we live in a “purely factual, belief-free world”, he concludes that “believing is not only intellectually defensible but existentially necessary” (his italics). He offers many fascinating references from a variety of disciplines as, with characteristic clarity and accessibility, he presents a highly sophisticated argument.
In powerful testimony, McGrath explains how, having been raised in Northern Ireland during the Troubles, he gave up on religion. His first love was the natural sciences; he became an atheist with a strong interest in Marxism. It was as an Oxford undergraduate — ironically, through reading the atheist Bertrand Russell’s History of Western Philosophy — that he began to realise that it was possible to hold beliefs without being able to prove them and, in fact, that to live life to the full it was imperative to do so. “Only shallow truths can be proven,” he writes, “not the profound existential, moral and spiritual beliefs that bestow dignity and significance upon human life.”
Having looked at the necessity of belief in general, the author uses the Christian faith that he embraced as a case study, and looks at what difference faith makes, and what happens when beliefs fail. He does not shirk difficult questions emerging from the dark side of belief — tensions, intolerance, and violence.
Though belief is essential, the author notes that, in today’s world of fragmentation and polarisation, it is becoming increasingly difficult to mediate between different beliefs — between factions and tribes — as a toxic culture emerges, particularly in the United States. In the face of this, he commends the part played by “public intellectuals”, who can be “a vital building bridge of contact between communities of belief, offering an informed and empathetic account of how insight from one community might be relevant to another, resolving misunderstandings, and creating personal relationships which can mitigate suspicion and enable dialogue”.
He would be far too modest to say so, but McGrath is just such a person. While committed to believing, he is humble enough to accept that we must live with a degree of uncertainty about our lives. This book is the work of an exceptional and very mature scholar. I recommend it very highly.
Dr John Inge is a former Bishop of Worcester.
Why We Believe: Finding meaning in uncertain times
Alister McGrath
One World £18.99
(978-0-86154-921-4)
Church Times Bookshop £14.99