Samuel Wells explores the key tenets of Christian belief by engaging with the most widely used arguments against religious faith – that it’s a crutch for the deluded, a fairy tale for the simple minded, the cause of so many wars, a drug for the poor, powerless against suffering, one path among many, and so on. These are serious accusations against Christianity and Samuel takes them seriously, seeking to understand how and why they have taken hold, what part the church has had in making people so resistant to its message and what better stories it can tell in today’s world. Each chapter sets out traditional expressions of Christian beliefs, engages with the arguments against them and then seeks to express those truths afresh as stories that can inform and shape our lives. A study guide for groups is also included.

Samuel Wells is Vicar of St Martin-in-the-Fields, a prolific author, broadcaster and public theologian.