New York Times columnist Ross Douthat did not write his new book Believe for me personally (that honor appears to belong to The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson, who is mentioned in the introduction), but it is at least written for people like me.

“I am a believing Christian,” Douthat says, explaining his motive for writing the book, “but I am not attempting a wholesale defense of Christianity … I think our moment could use something more basic, an argument that tries to lay a general foundation for religious interest and belief, to persuade skeptical readers that it’s worth becoming a seeker in the first place, and to provide guideposts and suggestions for people whose journeys begin in different places or take them in different directions.”