June 2007

There has been a lot of discussion in the media (and elsewhere) recently on the question of the "New Atheism". Simply put, a lot of new books have been recently published that make the case that we should *not* believe in God. I find these books depressing, mainly because of the general lack of theological and philosophical sophistication that they contain. Sadly, I also find the Christian responses to these books equally depressing, for much the same reason. It was, therefore, with some interest, that I began to read God?

About 15 years ago I was browsing through a religious bookstore and came across a small book called "Answers, not promises" by a nun called Mother Angelica. I had never heard of her. She was apparently part of some Catholic TV channel called EWTN, that I had never heard of either (and which was not, at that time, available in Canada). But the book seemed interesting, full of little bits of everyday wisdom, so I picked it up. To make a long story short, I found it very unsatisfying. I had just finished reading a similar book of spiritual quotes from another nun, Mother Theresa.

This is the title given by the editors of the Catholic Register of Toronto to a review I wrote on Tariq Ramadan's book In the Footsteps of the Prophet: Lessons from the Life of Mohammed. Check it out!