This reissue of Harvey’s previous release confronts, with thoughtful compassion, the difficult questions that Christian believers are often challenged to answer.

Harvey, a computer scientist by training, begins by arguing that religious belief can be compatible with science, using logical reasoning. His narrative is both a rebuttal to certain scientific theories like natural selection and an attempt to provide rational reasons for holding spiritual beliefs. Defending against critiques concerning God’s omnipotence or the story of Creation, Harvey later asserts that “[m]y belief is a rational one” and “not blind faith.”

Harvey then turns to other grounds for challenge; for instance, claims of Biblical infallibility, even when passages contradict. Here, Harvey’s logical defense serves. In looking for “the important lessons that come from mythological teachings,” he takes into account ancient cultural frameworks, as well as the setting around the early Christian church; for instance, when he examines disagreements with Jewish believers.

In the last chapters, Harvey attempts to confront the truly troubling parts of the Bible—from accounts of the wrath of the Old Testament God to the frequent murder, genocide, and sexual violence included in the Bible—as well as the simply baffling elements, like prophecies about the end times.

Although he turns the problems over thoughtfully, Harvey rarely comes to any convincing or solid conclusions. Rather, he is most persuasive where he simply shares his own understanding: for instance, his suggestion that, in reading the Bible, “interpretive license” is acceptable. His voice is mild and tolerant, the style like a conversation with an intelligent and well-read friend.

While his defenses won’t move the needle on any standard theological arguments, Harvey’s faith alone sets an example, and his own wrestling with significant questions of belief, set within the long tradition of Christian apologetics, comes to a humane, tolerant conclusion much more palatable to modern readers than the sticking points he sets aside.