God, A Guide for the Perplexed is a non-fiction book by Keith Ward

Keith Ward

Keith Ward is a British cleric, philosopher, theologian and scholar. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and an ordained priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church, Oxford until 2003...

 arguing the compatibility between science

Science

Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe...

 and religion

Religion

Religion is a collection of cultural systems, belief systems, and worldviews that establishes symbols that relate humanity to spirituality and, sometimes, to moral values. Many religions have narratives, symbols, traditions and sacred histories that are intended to give meaning to life or to...

.

In seven chapters Keith Ward

Keith Ward

Keith Ward is a British cleric, philosopher, theologian and scholar. He is a Fellow of the British Academy and an ordained priest of the Church of England. He was a canon of Christ Church, Oxford until 2003...

 takes the reader through the history of mankind's religious thought. He shows how philosophical questions have always been linked with religious questions, and how religion has never been merely a set of rules or doctrines, but a quest for meaning and a search for the blazing darkness that is God. Ward also discusses Hegel and Karl Marx

Karl Marx

Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...

. While the academic ground is covered lightly, the mystical, poetic and mysterious side of religion is also given due weight.