A New Guide to the Debate about God
Has quantum physics opened a new way into religious belief? Does the sometimes astonishing goodness of humankind indicate a divinity? Because there have always been religions, might we assume a transcendent reality to which they aspire? If you are still debating these questions, or have friends who are wavering, you may wonder where to go for an unbiassed consideration of the pros and cons. That is what A New Guide to the Debate about God (SCM, £9.95) attempts. Its author, Martin Prozesky, a professor at the University of Natal, South Africa, works painstakingly through mainline arguments for the existence of God, then similarly and with scrupulous fairness through those of secular sceptics and adherents of other faith. His final chapter evaluates and weighs in the balance each claim and counterclaim.
His conclusion? He hopes for a widened and weakened liberal theism but admits it is only "about as probable as secularism". Easy to read and an admirable aid to clear thinking, this New Guide, a quarter of a century after David Jenkins' Guide to the Debate about God, deMonstates how the debate has sharpened. - A.A.
A New Guide to the Debate about God, by Martin Prozesky. SCM, £9.95.