A brilliant and accessible rebuttal of The God Delusion from one of Christianity's most incisive thinkers

Long before the release of The God Delusion, Keith Ward was defending religious belief on all sides from its detractors. In the new paperback edition of this influential bestseller, Keith Ward examines the arguments put forward by a host of scientists, sociologists, and psychologists, who claim that religion is nothing more than a host of naïve superstitions and delusions.

Exploring the work of thinkers from Sigmund Freud to Emile Durkheim, Ward offers an alternative view, demonstrating religion’s key contribution to the human condition and its crucial relevance to the world today.In this, his first new book since the best-selling God: A Guide for the Perplexed (Oneworld, 2002), Keith Ward turns his attention to the role - and the validity of religion over the centuries and in the world today. His erudite yet informative and factual narrative outlines the various attempts that have been made throughout history to explain religion, including the anthropological, psychological, sociological and philosophical theories of key thinkers from Immanuel Kant to Sigmund Freud. Adopting a comparative approach, the book covers all the religious traditions from West and East alike, concluding in a compelling manner that not only are the world faiths much more than a series of theoretical perspectives, but that, in the face of discord and violence, religious understanding retains more resonance than ever before within our global community.

"a lively and interesting survey" - Reviews in Religion and Theology

"This book contains all the familiar War characteristics of clarity, verve and humour." - Church Times

"A lively and interesting survey" - Reviews in Religion and Theology

"The book offers a simple introduction to its main features and provides a useful basic background as well as an invaluable resource for visual material, with clear photo-copiable line drawings of important features of a world faith, together with explanatory text." - Christian Marketplace

"He writes so well that this rather difficult subject becomes completely gripping." - The Good Book Guide

"Professor Ward will convince most reasonable readers that human nature would be poorer if the religious impulse were denied. He puts into more intelligent words than most of us could muster what it is which would be lost if we all became material atheists." - The Spectator

"Ideal for serious students of religion." - Publishers Weekly

" This insightful book is a valuable contribution to current questions regarding the role of religion in this new millenium." - Dialogue and Alliance

" Ward lays out the case for religion with scrupulous argument and without designs." - Interreligious Insight

"Professor Ward will convince most reasonable readers that human nature would be poorer if the religious impulse were denied. He puts into more intelligent words than most of us could muster what it is which would be lost if we all became material atheists." - The Spectator

"Ideal for serious students of religion." - Publishers Weekly