God in Proof - by Nathan Schneider (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In this tour of the history of arguments for and against the existence of God, Nathan Schneider embarks on a remarkable intellectual, historical, and theological journey through the centuries of believers and unbelievers--from ancient Greeks, to medieval Arabs, to today's most eminent philosophers and the New Atheists. Schneider's sure-handed portrayal of the characters and ideas involved in the search for proof challenges how we normally think about doubt and faith while showing that, in their quest for certainty and the proofs to declare it, thinkers on either side of the God divide are often closer to one another than they would like to think.

From the Back Cover

"What to call this odd, fascinating, and absolutely compelling book? History? Treatise? Manifesto? Travelogue? Confession? It's all of the above, plus drawings that are as full of wit as the delightful prose. The combination is deceptively casual, for as Schneider's excursions into philosophy and theology knit together into a story, we see the shape of subtly powerful argument for proofs as a genre more akin to visions than logic. That makes them no less true or false; only (like this remarkable book) revelatory."--Jeff Sharlet, author of The Family

"A heartfelt exploration of a matter typically assumed to be about the head alone, full of faith yet faithful to reason and gloriously free of the cliches of 'true believers' and 'new atheists' alike."--Stephen Prothero, God is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World

"If Walter Kaufmann and Annie Dillard had a love child, it would be Nathan Schneider. Part philosophy junkie, part spiritual seeker, all journalist, Schneider takes us on a tour of proofs for the existence of God. Rather than trying to advance a single theistic idea, he reveals that the question of God's existence remains as urgent as ever--not in a final proof, but as an irrepressible confrontation between the self and the world. This is a very special book, written by a gifted observer of the human condition."--Kathryn Lofton, Yale University

God in Proof is a tour de force. I mean this, first of all, in the dictionary sense--the book is an exceptional achievement, unequaled by anyone else; it is a feat of extraordinary writing and ingenuity. But I also mean it metaphorically--Nathan Schneider takes the reader on an exciting historical tour of attempts to reinforce religious belief by way of proof. Though I'm a philosopher by profession and Schneider is not, I couldn't put the book down--philosophical insights veritably popped from the pages. I enthusiastically recommend the book to anyone, professional philosopher or not, interested in philosophical argument, in general, and proofs of God's existence, in particular."--Kelly James Clark, Return to Reason

Review Quotes

"A book that starts attractively and gets more enjoyable by the page." STARRED REVIEW--Ray Olson "Booklist" (6/1/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"A philosophically engaging and challenging work, accessible enough for the nonacademic reader as well as specialists."-- "Library Journal" (8/15/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"As a popularization of recondite argument, God in Proof mingles accessible explanations with a reporter's fresh outlook."--John L. Murphy "New York Journal of Books" (6/3/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"As journalist Nathan Schneider aptly observes in 'God in Proof, ' proofs about God can be a very preachy genre. . . . Schneider explores them as cultural artifacts, with value regardless of how one evaluates their truth value."--Becky Garrison "Washington Post" (5/14/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"By adding dollops of memoir and first-person reportage to a history of attempts to prove that God exists, Schneider makes an often dry subject both companionable and insightful. Top 10 Religion and Spirituality Books: 2013--Ilene Cooper "Booklist" (11/15/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Compulsively readable."--Phil Klay "Full Stop" (9/12/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Entertaining, well written, and historically comprehensive . . . Schneider has given us a means of clearly seeing the intimate relationship between a religious way of being in the world and the expression of this life in the rational language of proofs."--Robert Bolger "Los Angeles Review of Books" (11/9/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"For a non-specialist, Schneider, in a compact, book provides background on, synopses of, and observations about a wide spectrum of efforts to prove and disprove God's existence. . . . I recommend Proof to those whose taste in reading runs to philosophical theology and to all those for whom the intellectual side of the religious quest is an interest."--Drew Christiansen "America" (5/30/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Philosophy is the centerpiece of God in Proof, but at heart the book is a despairing/joyous/troubling/awe-inspiring/universally understood story of an individual struggling with the idea of God. In the world of philosophy, the question of God is entirely divorced from matters of the heart. But what inspires the inquiry and rises from its aftermath is entirely a matter of love--for reason, for people, and for God. God in Proof is a straightforward, unpretentious, and deeply affecting reminder of that."--Chris Francis "Yes!" (9/27/2013 12:00:00 AM)

"Relayed in non-technical language, God in Proof challanges the casual and the experienced philospher alike to engage with historical arguments as they make their own quest for truth."--Timothy Jacobs "First Things" (2/1/2014 12:00:00 AM)

"Schneider brings the vaulted ceilings of the topic of the proof of God down to a more understandable, cozier level."--Hannah Zamora "The Aquinian" (3/24/2015 12:00:00 AM)

"Though the book is informed by considerable scholarship . . . Schneider's audience includes anyone with an interest in intellectual history and faith. Tracing the philosophical dialectic in a manner both responsible to the issues and accessible to the ordinary reader, Schneider weaves together intellectual history with his own quest for faith."--William Rehg, S.J. "America" (11/4/2013 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

Nathan Schneider is the author of Thank you, Anarchy: Notes from the Occupy Apocalypse. His writing about religion and reason has appeared in Harper's, The New York Times, The New Republic, The Guardian, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Commonweal, and America, among other publications. He is an editor of the website Killing the Buddha.