Can We KNOW God Is Real? may be the most unusual apologetics ever written. It offers no proof of the existence of God, but argues that no such proof is possible. The position it takes is best captured by these lines: “God is not a conclusion at the end of a chain of reasoning. God is the subject of an experience report.” Religious experience is defined, types of it distinguished, and the conditions specified under which it can be self-evident truth.

In keeping with this position, the book takes an empathetic attitude toward readers who don’t believe in God, as well as those who are perplexed by doubt and those who are curious about the belief’s credentials. Rather than arguing with such readers, they are offered a spiritual discipline by which they may discover the truth for themselves.

The book also offers a comparison  of Christian belief with the three best explanations now on offer from atheism: hard materialism, soft materialism, and mind/body dualism. Also included is a distinctive way of undercutting the best argument against belief in God, the argument that tries to show that God’s reality is inconsistent with the existence of undeserved suffering in the world. The book closes with a new argument against materialism and dualism in the form of a thought experiment. The experiment shows why it is impossible to conceive of anything as purely physical or purely rational.

Although Can We KNOW God Is Real? is intended primarily as a college or seminary textbook, care has been taken to make it accessible to the general public. It assumes no previous knowledge of philosophy and only a Sunday school acquaintance with Christianity. More technical points have been kept to the endnotes or the Appendix. This accommodation comes with a warning, however. Because many of the positions defended will be unfamiliar to most readers, what comes later in the book assumes what has been explained earlier and will not be clear to readers who skip ahead.