Born to Wonder: Exploring Our Deepest Questions—Why Are We Here and Why Does It Matter?
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Overview
In Born to Wonder, Alister McGrath, a prolific Oxford scholar, scientist, and theologian, explores the deepest mystery at the heart of life itself.
Life is a gift. We never asked to be born. Yet here we are, living in this strange world of space and time, trying to work out what it’s all about before the darkness closes in and extinguishes us. We are adrift on a misty, grey sea of ignorance, seeking a sun-kissed island of certainty, on which we might hope to find clear answers to our deepest and most poignant questions.
What is the point of life? Why are we here? And what is it about us that makes us want to ask these questions? As far as we know, we’re the only species on earth that asks these questions, and dares to hope that we might find an answer. It seems that we are born to wonder, not merely to exist. From time to time, all of us find ourselves overwhelmed by a sense of awe or mystery, often when confronted with the beauty of nature, whether it is a mountain stream or the vast expanse of ocean waters. That is when we see a flicker of a grander vision of reality, perhaps lying beyond the horizons of our experience. It is as if, for only a moment, a veil is removed, and we catch a half-glimpsed sight of a promised land, waiting to be mapped and explored. This sense of wonder fuels much of humanity’s creativity and its search for understanding.
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Top Highlights
“It’s so much easier to dismiss alternative perspectives if you believe that their advocates are evil, warped, or deluded” (source)
- Title: Born to Wonder: Exploring Our Deepest Questions—Why Are We Here and Why Does It Matter?
- Author: Alister McGrath
- Publisher: Tyndale Refresh
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Logos Release Date: 2020
- Pages: 320
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
- ISBNs: 9781496436221, 9781496436207, 1496436202, 1496436229
- Resource ID: LLS:9781496436221
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2026-02-23T21:16:21Z
Alister McGrath (Ph.D.) is a scholar and writer who is presently Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University. After his initial studies in natural science at Oxford, taking a doctorate in molecular biophysics under the supervision of Prof Sir George Radda, McGrath moved into the field of Christian theology. He was Oxford’s Professor of Historical Theology from 1999 to 2008. He then moved to King’s College London as Professor of Theology, Ministry, and Education, before returning to Oxford as Idreos Professor in 2014. He also served as Gresham Professor of Divinity, a position established in 1597, from 2015-18. He retired in September 2022.
He is best known for his definitive and widely used textbooks on Christian theology and his authoritative biography of C. S. Lewis. As a former atheist, McGrath is fascinated by the interaction of faith, science, and atheism, and writes regularly on these themes. McGrath was born in Belfast in 1953, and holds both Irish and British citizenship. He lives in the Cotswolds near Oxford.
For McGrath’s website, including details of his weekly Youtube postings and videos helping you use his theology textbooks, go to alistermcgrath.net