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No One Sees God: The Dark Night of Atheists and Believers | 
 enlarge | Author: Michael Novak
Publisher: Doubleday
Category: Book
List Price: $23.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 905
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0385526105
Dewey Decimal Number: 261.21
EAN: 9780385526104
ASIN: 0385526105
Publication Date: August 5, 2008
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Product Description
Surveying the contemporary religious landscape, the division between atheist and believer seems stark. However, having long struggled to understand the purpose of life and the meaning of suffering, Michael Novak finds the reality of spiritual life far different from the rhetorical war presented by bestselling atheists and the defenders of the faith who oppose them.
In No One Sees God, Novak brilliantly recasts the tired debate pitting faith against reason. Both the atheist and the believer experience the same “dark night” in which God’s presence seems absent, he argues, and the conflict between faith and doubt stems not from objective differences, but from divergent attitudes toward the unknown. Drawing from his lifelong passion for philosophy and his personal struggles with belief, he shows that, far from being irrational, the spiritual perspective actually provides the most satisfying answers to the eternal questions of meaning. Faith is a challenge at times, but it nonetheless offers the only fully coherent response to the human experience.
Ultimately, No One Sees God offers believers and unbelievers the opportunity to find common ground by acknowledging the complicated reality of the human struggle with doubt. Novak provides a stirring defense of the Christian worldview, while sidestepping the shrill tone that so often characterizes the discussion of faith, and given the challenges faced in the present age, all who value liberty will find hope in his new way of conversing.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 The role of metaphor... October 12, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mr. Novak (in his own 5-star review) soft-peddles his views by defining "natural theology," as "...the study of all those things we can learn about God based solely on reason alone and our experience of ourselves and the world around us." Oddly enough, he fails to recognize the obvious result of such an examination: gods as metaphor. Reasoning persons eventually dismiss the dogma of religion and other superstitions once they understand the psychological import and sociological context of such beliefs, and embrace a common, reasoned ethics. Religious conflict arises not between peaceful, loving peoples who find comfort and community in such beliefs; conflict rears its ugly head when the religiose act out of the fear, ignorance and prejudice that make them easy prey for authoritarian personalities and organizations. Civilization may not be able to progress until a quorum agree to relegate at least uncivil doctrines to the historical dustbin. A giant step toward that end is the recognition of the real risks of conflating metaphorical gods and natural forces - something Dawkins and others boldly advance.
 excellent gift for seekers/doubters/waverers in your life October 9, 2008
My title says it all for me; just a few other points, not to duplicate the other positive reviews.
1) Being gentle and kind to one's interlocutors is generally a good rhetorical tactic, especially when dealing with such a sensitive topic as belief in God, but I thought Novak went a little overboard in this regard, a little too much flattery, which with the entrenched like Dawkins, Harris, Dennett et alia, will get Novak nowhere.
2) He is correct to focus on the fact that 'God does not exist" is no more a scientific claim/fact than "God exists," and to wonder why the professional hitmen/atheists spend so much of their time and energy chasing One who does not exist, that they engage in 'scientism,' not science, which would take a more agnostic attitude.
3) Novak points out that the professional atheists love to psychologize believers, based on Freud and Marx, that faith is a comfort in a scary world, but that we believers should turn this psych weapon back on its owners: psychologize the psychologizers, debunk the debunkers.
The professional atheists do not seem to realize that they are the sweepers at the end of the elephant's parade, that the modern era after the so-called enlightenment is over, that we are into the post-modern era, when we take the good insights from rationalism, and combine them with the wisdom of Jerusalem, Athens and Rome. These so called enlighteners have had believers/conservatives on the run for 300 years, and its past time to tell the sons and daughters of Spinoza that they're not wearing any clothes, and for believers to reclaim our cultural confidence. We need to make them feel embarrassed of their unbelief, as they have convinced so many over the years to be embarrassed by faith.
These recent jokers are the death rattle of modernism, still given 'credence' only in western europe and the 2 coasts of the USA. Novak points to one reason for this recent spate: anti-God folk are always pro-free love, anti-any sexual restrictions, do anything with anyone i want, or i will pout like an adolescent.
I think it's more than coincidental that Dawkins et. al. came out during the GWBush administration. They, like all liberals, hated him and the values he stands for, and wanted to try to destablize the conservative movement at its foundation, which is the Judaeo-Christian ethic.
 Assumes its conclusions September 26, 2008
5 out of 9 found this review helpful
Novak claims to be trying to learn about God based solely on reason and on our collective experience of ourselves and the world around us. But that in fact tells us nothing about god. That's just holding a mirror up to ourselves. We see a reflection of human desires, both to understand our world and out place in it, but it is folly to confuse this type of introspection with insights into the divine, if such a thing even exists. Novak's brand of naval gazing might appeal to some, but when the author defends making the grand assumption that god exists on the mere basis that lots of other people have done so too...well, it becomes apparent that the author has no real intention of defending theism on rational grounds after all. This is a book by a smart man who wants to hold onto a comforting belief for bad reasons. No real challenge to informed atheism is to be found anywhere here.
Excellent, if a little deep. September 10, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is an excellent book presenting both a Christian reply to athiesm and an attempt to create a dialogue with athiests. It is very referential, though, so even though you are very well read, I recommend having reference materials available to clarify minor points.
Fascinating, thought-provoking, and inspiring September 7, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
A fascinating book; a remarkable meditation on the "dark night" of those who would believe in God, and those who do not. It's main theme is of finding common ground and rejecting the attitude of the "new atheists" who seem to see their own views as beyond reproach.
I am still digesting a lot of the philosophy presented in the book, and its many discussions of authors, both atheist and believer, have lengthened my "to read" list.
I do not pretend to have many astonishing insights to share in my review, I just wish to encourage others who read this book description and are intrigued by its subject matter to go ahead and purchase this book. It is profound, a meditation on belief unlike anything I've read.
Thank you, Mr. Novak. I only wish I were more articulate so I could leave a worthier review.
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