There have been many books written to respond to the writings of “the new atheists,” such as Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion. The title of this book might suggest it is more of the same. However, here you will not find apologetic or philosophical answers to the aforementioned. Rather, Yancey directs his writing to those who have asked, “what good is God?” when they experience pain or death or poverty or unfairness – in other words, to everyone.

Yancey states that “this book brings together my two roles, speaker and writer, as I meet with alcoholics and Bible-college students, with CEOs in China and Dalits (Untouchables) in India, with C.S. Lewis fans in Cambridge and charismatics in Johannesburg. If Christian faith is true, it must have some effect on these distinct groups, and, as I spend time with them, my own faith refines. Along the way I find unexpected surprises, such as when I visit the site of Martin Luther King Jr’s assassination site on the day of Barak Obama’s election, or when a person stalked by the Chinese police suddenly shows up for an interview. In each chapter I tell the story behind the story and give a version of what I said on that occasion.”

In his chapter on a visit to a seminar on C.S. Lewis in Cambridge, Yancey reminds us that: “Though in person a powerful apologist who intimidated students and relished debate, in his writings Lewis romanced rather than browbeat readers.”

In the same way I feel that Yancey addresses the issues raised by “the new atheists” without having to mention them. Just as Lewis’ books were found in the general bookshops as well as the religious bookshops, so I have noted the same happening for Yancey’s books, proving perhaps that readers prefer to be romanced rather than rationalised.

– David McLeod