Proofs of God

"This is the best kind of book: intellectually serious, lucid, and covering a topic of great importance and perennial interest. Levering's interlocutors range in date from the second century to the twentieth, and he is a judicious and lively interpreter of them. For a reliable depiction of the Christian enterprise of thinking about reason and the question of God's existence, this is the book to read."

"A splendid survey; ideal for students and for the intellectually curious of every vocation. Levering fits an enormous range of information in a small space without any sacrifice of detail or clarity."

"Levering's work is a careful, scholarly treatment of the history of attempts to argue for and against the existence of God. Levering recognizes the limits of such arguments and understands that they do not provide the kind of knowledge of God that Christian faith considers necessary for true relation to God. Nevertheless, he defends the value of such arguments as pointing to a mystery and majesty that requires Christian revelation to fully understand. The book is especially good in retrieving the contributions of patristic and medieval thinkers and gives a helpful account of the work of more recent thinkers, such as Maurice Blondel, Pierre Rousselot, and Réginald Garrigou-Lagrange, who are often ignored in contemporary Anglo-American philosophy."

"Matthew Levering's panoramic, well-documented Proofs of God is a wonderfully insightful and wisely argued defense of theistic proofs. Whether or not one fully embraces the arguments for classical theism, this philosophical and theological survey of the natural theological terrain from antiquity to the present is a truly impressive work on the most important topic of all--the existence of the God in whom we live, and move, and have our being and the One with whom we have to do."

"This fantastic tome serves as an essential road map to the most important thinkers in the Western tradition of natural theology. Levering provides the historical context for each thinker and expertly summarizes their work with precision and depth. Especially beautiful is the way he integrates this multimillennial conversation into the most important questions of human life. Without a doubt this book will be used with great success in philosophy and theology courses as an indispensable point of entry into the seminal texts on God and his existence. No philosophy or theology bookshelf should be without this gem."

"Demonstrating a wide knowledge of the tradition and contemporary literature, Matthew Levering makes a significant contribution to the contemporary debate about atheism and the possibility of rationally demonstrating the existence of God. This fascinating account of the multiple attempts by brilliant thinkers over the centuries to show the rationality of belief in God is a uniquely original contribution that many will find of interest."

"In this extremely helpful book, Matthew Levering offers what is perhaps the best contemporary historical overview of the major positions on the subject of natural knowledge of God. His responsible and deeply insightful analysis of early Christians, great Scholastics, Enlightenment skeptics, and influential moderns produces an extremely varied tableau but also brings these diverse positions into effective conversation with one another. The book offers a strong defense of the contemporary importance of natural theology and its intellectual viability. This traditional position, largely eclipsed in modern Christian theology, is of vital significance to Christian intellectual life and Levering illustrates magnificently why and how this tradition can flourish today."

"Proofs of God is excellent. Matthew Levering has provided a much-needed resource that will greatly facilitate the rediscovery of neglected Christian thinkers in the history of natural theology."