Devout believers of every faith throughout the history of humanity have held the same intense convictions that their deities are real. These gods have been worshiped, sacrificed to, and pleaded with for divine favors. In spite of the fervor of their followers, the gods of Classical Egyptian Religion lie buried in the desert sands. The glorious pantheons of Greek, Roman and Norse deities are merely objects of cultural and mythological studies.

A new generation of atheists is boldly declaring that the same process is happening to Christianity and religion in general and that the triumph of rational thought will lead the world into a new era of human achievement. They advocate a reasoned humanism that will lift mankind to a higher level of individual and societal achievement by replacing faith.

The author, Joseph Carrieres, has been both a participant and keen observer of this cultural clash. As a young man, he entered seminary studies to become a Catholic priest with the complete conviction that the most radical response he could make to the God who had granted him everything was to dedicate his life in service. In a few years, he had not only left the seminary, he had become a convinced atheist.

Yet he never became hostile to faith and has maintained a decades-long dialogue with his best friend, a seminary classmate who had remained and been ordained as a priest. This book is not the author's personal life story; rather, it delves into the process that compelled him to reject faith-and then later caused him to embrace it anew.

The author makes no claims to ultimate truth. He does posit why a belief in God is not only preferable to an atheist cosmos, it is more rational. Yet this God is infinitely beyond the dogmas of any particular faith.