One of my favourites of the 50 or so books I’ve read so far this year is The Wayfarer by the erudite and witty Andy Kind. What’s so good about it? Watch this short interview I did with Andy (and his now famous comedy sidekick) about The Wayfarer. In three minutes we cover comedy, walking, faith, loss, redemption, and hope.
One afternoon in late 2015, I opened my inbox to see an invitation from a colleague at the University of Toronto asking me to take part in a dialogue with Richard Dawkins.
The Richard Dawkins. Arguably the most well-known atheist in the world. The man who’d practically trademarked disbelief in God. One of the so-called ‘Four Horsemen of the New Atheism’. And a man who had once almost mowed me down on his bicycle as I crossed an Oxford street. (Clearly, Richard doubted not only God, but also the sanctity of zebra crossings; not everything for him was black and white).
When that email landed, I’d just written The Atheist Who Didn’t Exist, a book responding (philosophically, practically, and playfully) to the most popular arguments of Dawkins and his other New Atheist teammates: Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens. So the idea of sparring with one of them live on stage? It was terrifying but also thrillingly exciting.
During my schooldays I hated maths with a vengeance. Maths was hard, maths was difficult, but above all it seemed to me to be mind-numbingly boring. I particularly hated negative numbers and would stop at nothing to avoid them. Terrible jokes aside, my dislike of maths wasn’t unusual for many of us struggle when it comes to anything to do with numbers; indeed it’s been remarked that there are three types of people in the world: those who can count and those who can’t.
What finally got me excited about maths in my late teens was when I discovered computers and in particular computer programming. Rather than numbers that described things (“six curries”, “three trips to the loo”, “one bad night’s sleep” etc.) with computers came numbers that did things. Give a computer the right numbers and it could play a game, draw a picture, or solve a problem.
But have you ever wondered why we humans pursue happiness? After all, the rest of the animal kingdom usually seems pretty content with just the biological basics: survival and reproduction. But humans? We need so much more than merely the bare necessities of life: so what is going on here?
Beauty. Justice. Identity. Love. Stories. Nature. Hope. These things intrigue us, move us and prompt us to ask big questions. Could there be clues in our deepest desires that point to life’s meaning? Have You Ever Wondered? Finding the Everyday Clues to Meaning, Purpose and Spirituality is a fun, readable, and accessible book designed to gently start spiritual conversations. It’s one of the most exciting books it’s been my privilege to be involved with!
Have You Ever Wondered? invites you on an immersive tour through the issues that matter. This book is for anyone who has looked at a landscape and contemplated why we are drawn to beauty; or wondered why we are so insatiably curious about our universe, or even for those who have simply looked up at a million stars in the vast night’s sky and just wondered.
Whether you’re seeking and exploring spirituality and faith yourself; or if you’re a Christian looking for a gentle book to give to a friend to help them think about Jesus in an engaging way, Have You Ever Wondered? is the ideal book for you.
Starting from the things that already matter to us and showing how these are clues to life’s bigger story, Have You Ever Wondered? really is a book for anyone, no matter where they are on their spiritual journey.
With chapters written by ten different authors from a wide range of backgrounds, there’s truly something in here for everybody!
How do I get a copy?
My latest book, Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? launched with IVP on 18 March 2021 in the UK (it’s coming a few weeks later in Canada and the USA).
If you’re in the UK, you can order it from a number of booksellers including 10ofThose, Eden Books, IVP direct, Aslan Christian Books — or, if you’re desperate, Waterstones or Amazon.
American and Canadian folks can pre-order it from ChristianBook.com — it launches in North America in May.
It is also available in ebook (most formats) as well as an audiobook — the audiobook can be purchased direct from IVP, or from Audible.
Download chapter 1 (and the table of contents) as a PDF.
Listen to the first chapter of the audio book, brilliantly narrated/read by Neil Gardner. If the media player below doesn’t work, or if you’d prefer to listen to it using a different app, you can download the MP3 here.
A nuanced and sensitive examination, from an overtly Christian perspective, of how to negotiate a truth that is no less self-evident for being one that many prefer to draw a veil across: Christianity and Islam are not remotely the same.”
~ Tom Holland ― author of Dominion and In the Shadow of the Sword
“A must-read for the curious whether you have faith already or not. Prepare to be entertained, edified and gripped – I found myself unable to put it down.”
~ Dr Amy Orr-Ewing ― President, OCCA The Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics
“We need thinkers who have studied both religions extensively. Andy Bannister is just such an expert and he helps us wrestle with this important question with the depth and care it deserves.”
~ Randy Newman ― Senior Fellow at The C. S. Lewis Institute and author of Questioning Evangelism.
“This book is a must-read for all interested in inter-religious issues, both believers and non-believers.”
~ Peter G Riddell ― SOAS University of London and Australian College of Theology
“Persistently challenging, consistently provoking, deeply searching, and endlessly witty!”
~ Anna Robbins ― President and Dean of Theology, Acadia University
“A sharp witted, big hearted, and clear minded romp through one of the most pressing religious questions of our time.”
~ Dr Richard Shumack ― Research Fellow, Centre for Public Christianity and Director, Arthur Jeffery Centre for the Study of Islam, Melbourne School of Theology
Do Muslims and Christians Worship the Same God? is being published on 18 March in the UK (available a few weeks later in the USA/Canada). It’ll be available in paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats as well.
If you’d like to get your hands on a signed copy of the book before it is officially published then sign up for the Solas email list (the organisation I lead in the UK) and we’ll be letting folks know very soon how to get hold of a copy earlier than the rest of the world!
