Why I Believe in a Personal God

Rating:
Summary: Doubt and belief...
Review: The current Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams is noted for being a scholar and theologian. The prior Archbishop, George Carey, was not heralded as an academic of the same nature (which is somewhat surprising, given that he was a professor of theology), but was nonetheless a practical theologian of some skill, as this text, 'Why I Believe in a Personal God: The Credibility of Faith in a Doubting Culture', written at the beginning of Carey's tenure as Cantaur, proves.

Carey starts out by asking the big question - is it even possible for intelligent people in the modern world to believe in God, any god? Carey confesses, for the comfort of his readers, something that might be rather shocking at first glance to many - he himself never found it easy to believe in God. His life is one of faith in the face of doubt and struggle, and he shares much of this struggle and process toward God in the text. Some of the pieces that make belief in God less accessible than in previous times (perhaps) is the increasing isolation of the individual and secularisation of society. There is also the multiplicity of value systems, with no solid foundation for all of society to hold to with regard to belief in the divine.

Carey looks at science, sociology, and psychology as well as theology in developing the case first against God and then for recognition of God who remains a personal and companion God even in the face of paradox and difficult questioning. Carey develops a case against secular materialism (not quite the same thing as secular humanism, but a close companion) as being too limiting and itself grounded in nothing more substantial than circular observations and reasoning; this does not in and of itself make a convincing argument for religion and faith (or Christianity in particular), but it does serve to level the playing field a bit.

Carey writes in accessible and interesting language. He doesn't give great detail about the pieces of his argument, which might disappoint the more scholarly, but this is intentional. The average reader, seeking the mind of the archbishop on matters of faith and doubt, need not concern herself or himself with all the intricacies of modern physics and psychological theory to get a reasonable grasp on Carey's line of thought.