The description I read of this book says that it invites “skeptics, seekers, and lifelong Christians” to reflect on the question, “What do Christians believe?” This well written and thoughtful book does exactly that provided the reader is willing to engage the question in a fairly academic manner. It’s not the most difficult book I have ever read, but it’s not the easiest either.

My biggest critique of this book occurs in the first paragraph of the foreword. The final sentence of that paragraph begins, “In recent movies, of course, the greatest minds generally are scientists…” The author then cites two movies, one from 2014 and one from 2023. Not only are two movies from the past 11 years neither recent nor a decent enough sample size to deserve an “of course,” it is simply not a true statement. Hollywood has produced a wide array of stories in the past decade and only a few have been about scientists.

I am a Christian who respects Bishop Barron and was therefore willing to read further, but if your target audience includes “skeptics and seekers” it seems deeply unfortunate that one of the very first things they will read is an obviously false and completely unnecessary statement.