Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious, Ross Douthat. Zondervan Books (ISBN: 9780310367581) 2025.
Summary: A case for committing to a religious faith, illustrated by the author’s belief in Christianity.
One of the most refreshing things about Ross Douthat is his unapologetic public testimony to his Catholic Christian faith in his op-ed columns in The New York Times. He not only put forward a cogent defense of his faith at the height of the New Atheism, but he continues to bring Christian thought to bear on the most challenging issues of the day. In this book, he has a more modest, but utterly forthright goal. Observing the presumption for atheist materialism among much of the cultural and educated elite, he makes an argument for why everyone should be religious.
Lest this be thought a cloaked attempt at an apologetic for Christianity, Douthat is simply arguing throughout for what might be called “mere religion” as represented by the major world religions, with ones understanding of the Ultimate Reality to be determined by the particular religious beliefs to which one commits. His argument throughout is not for the psychological advantages of being religious. Rather, he argues that religious belief makes the best intellectual sense of the world in which we actually live.
He offers a threefold argument in his first three chapters. Firstly, he observes the ordered, fine-tuned nature of the universe, one in which the emergence of life is possible. Secondly, he observes the inexplicability of consciousness by material causes and how our consciousness is uniquely fitted to perceive the orderly universe. And thirdly, against the disenchanted world of the secularist, he observes the widespread nature of mystical experiences, even of secularists. He notes Craig Keener’s extensive effort to document the miraculous. On the basis of these three bodies of observations, he argues that supernaturalism is the more plausible explanation and religious belief in some form is the most warranted response.
What then is one to do? Douthat proposes that we should think about commitment to one of the major religious traditions. Most of us are insufficiently enlightened to be our own prophets, nor are we our own islands. Belief flourishes within community. Then Douthat takes up the question of how we choose. He argues for an “Emeth” principle, after a C.S. Lewis character. While none of the world’s religions are identical, all point us to some intimations of truth when pursued sincerely and virtuously. He then offers a “decision tree” of questions based personal perspective on whether ethical life or experience are more important, whether we believe in God, gods, or simply an ultimate being, and what we believe happens when we die.
He pauses to address three stumbling blocks to religious belief. Douthat addresses question concerning the problem of evil and why God allows it. Secondly, he explores wickedness within religious institutions. Finally, he considerss why religions are so hung up on sex and why sexual ethics might matter for the religious.
The penultimate chapter discusses “the end of exploring.” Sometimes, it amounts to embracing what we’ve inherited. For others, like Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Paul Kingsnorth, the end is a genuine conversion to a different faith. Or it may be a conversion from secularism to faith. Then, in the concluding chapter, Douthat relates his own journey from baptized Episcopalian through Charismatic Christianity to Catholicism. He explains the appeal of Catholicism for him and his conviction, despite the perennialist perspective, of the truth of the Nicene Creed. He describes the gospel as “the strangest story in the world.” You wouldn’t make up this story, yet he cites scholars like N.T. Wright and Richard Bauckham who attest to the eyewitness accounts of the gospels.
What is most compelling is that Douthat’s case is simply for commitment to a religion. He’s not proselytizing as a Christian. Rather, he uses his own story as an illustration. He tells us what persuaded him, not what should persuade us. Many on the journey to belief will appreciate his respect for different beliefs and his candor about his own. It will frustrate other committed believers that he leaves things so open. But the idea of the unique and ultimate truthfulness of a particular religious tradition is inherent in some but not all religions. For his audience, I am more impressed that he controverts the assumption of the reasonableness of atheism. And I am grateful that he challenges people to choose, and in his closing makes that choice an urgent matter.
