My Year with God

How are Christians capable of believing? Is it faith or delusion? Or is there something wrong with me? I do not believe in spirits, gods, miracles, resurrection or eternal life. But I will seek to cast off my prejudices and give God a chance. At least for a year.

Danish writer Svend Brinkmann spent a year with God, exploring faith and religion through the eyes of a sceptic.  Each month, from January to December, he grappled with questions that had nagged at him since he was a child: Why does God let the innocent suffer? Does science disprove the existence of God? Does faith make you a better person? Can you doubt and still believe? It became a year of deep reflection and surprising revelations that challenged the bounds of his scientific worldview and led him to a new appreciation of faith and its place within a secular, mostly fulfilled life.

Svend Brinkmann lived quietly as a professor of psychology at Aalborg University until he published Stand Firm which became an overnight bestseller and quickly established him as a leading public intellectual and cultural critic. Winner of the prestigious Rosenkjær prize, Svend travels widely to host events and lecture on the key problems of modern life. In 2019 he published the acclaimed The Joy of Missing Out. He has also appeared in various television documentaries, presented Danish television’s Live Fast! programs and the Meaningful Life series, and currently hosts his own weekly show, Brinkmann’s Couch, on Danish Radio 1.

Foreword

January: Why a book about God?

February: What is religion?

March: Is there a link between ethics and faith?

April: Does faith work?

May: Can science replace religion?

June: Does the soul exist?

July: What can we learn from the Bible?

August: Could there be multiple gods?

September: How does faith affect grief?

October: Can humans become God?

November: What about doubt?

December: What have I learned?

Notes