Believe: why everyone should be religious. Ross Douthat. 2025.

In Believe, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat shows how religious belief makes sense of the order of the cosmos, illuminates the mystery of consciousness, and explains the persistent reality of encounters with the supernatural.

As a religious columnist who writes for an often-skeptical audience, Douthat knows that many of us - whether we are agnostic, spiritual or longtime believers - want to have more faith than we do. But we can’t believe the way our ancestors did, knowing what we know now….can we?

In fact, Douthat argues, religion’s claims about reality look stronger in light of what we understand about the universe today. With a rare combination of empathy, open-mindedness and persuasive argument, he explores:

• How no belief requires ignoring what our reason has revealed about the world around us
• How modern scientific developments make a religious worldview more credible, not less
• Why it’s entirely reasonable to believe in mystical and supernatural realities
• How an open-minded religious quest should proceed amid the diversity of religious faiths
• How Douthat’s own Christianity is informed by his blueprint for belief

Highly relevant for our current moment, Believe provides an intellectual pathway from doubt into faith, from uncertainty about our place in the universe into a confidence that we are here for a reason.