God, Actually is a unique new religious book, a rational Christian apologetic written for agnostics and atheists as well as people of faith.

In the first decade of the twenty-first century there has been an upsurge in public discussion of the 'religion question'. This phenomenon has occurred throughout the Western world, and many factors have contributed to it. 9/11 and other jihadist atrocities, the 'war on terror', the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, natural disasters such as the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the looming threat of climate change - all these have generated widespread existential angst. But a number of other, quite disparate influences have also been at play, including - in the West - unprecedented material affluence coupled with worsening inequality.

In this fraught and unsettled atmosphere, popular 'debate' about religion has tended to be conducted by zealots and opportunists on all sides - posturing politicians, commercially-motivated proselytisers, radical atheists, and high-profile 'leaders' of the main faiths. The resultant discourse has left many ordinary citizens angry and confused, or - worse - indifferent and uninformed. Not nearly enough light has been shed on the underlying theological issues, which remain fascinating and vital. The questions 'Is there a God?' and 'What does God expect of me?' are the most important questions of all. Grappling with them is - or should be - what religion is actually about.

Deep down, most people understand this - even people who live in overwhelmingly secular countries such as Australia. The key issues are rarely done justice here by our mainstream electronic and print media, and they are scarcely taught at all in our public schools. Since those are the two sources from which most Australians derive their knowledge of the world, it is not surprising that apathy about matters spiritual runs deep. Nowadays you are unlikely to know much about Christianity unless you were instructed in it by your parents or sent to a church school. And yet, according to public opinion surveys, a large majority of Australians still profess to believe in God. In the 2006 Census, only 18.7 per cent of people classified themselves as having 'no religion'.

What these surveys are truly measuring is, I suspect, a state of uncertainty. A good many Australians must realise at some level that they do not know enough about Christianity, or any religion, to dismiss the notion of a deity out of hand; and they are reluctant to profess atheism. Many such people might sense instinctively that they ought to learn more about this most seminal of subjects - but they do not want to go to church to do it, and most choose to stay away. That circumstance gives rise to a big practical problem: ignorance, even among those who are otherwise well educated.

In many ways I am a most unlikely person to write a book defending Christianity. A decade ago the idea would have struck me as preposterous...

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Preface