Beyond all Reasonable Doubt

In his foreword to Michael Meredith's book Archbishop Rowan Williams writes that it is 'the record of a life seeking understanding'. This is exactly right - Meredith explores both scientific and religious traditions about the existence of God within a framework whose common element is experience. He concludes that science can neither prove nor disprove the reality of God. The same applies, he argues to scripture and other people's experiences, which can at best provide pointers. The only bedrock, which he himself demonstrates with personal testimony, is the sense of being within oneself that enables one to 'observe from inside the experiment'. He vividly describes a number of his own experiences in an intimate style in which the reader feels sympathetically involved. An overriding feature of the book is the humility and scrupulous care that the author brings to his writing, which means that his words can act gently on the reader without forcing any conclusions. They are an invitation to make contact with the transcendent within ourselves so that we may know in a similar way.