This book does centre on the divinity of Jesus, but in the course of his argument Professor Swinburne discusses a number of other issues as well, including the nature of God; the Holy Trinity; Jesus’ incarnation, life, teaching, atonement for sin, resurrection; the church, scripture and scriptural interpretation. One of the top Christian philosophers on the planet, Professor Swinburne predictably writes with great clarity, penetration and verve.

Though he occasionally quotes and deduces from scripture, Professor Swinburne does mostly natural theology here. Of course, some theologians view natural theology with suspicion, thinking that it shows a lack of faith, or that it is presumptuous where the powers of reason are concerned, or that it doesn't work. Better, I think, to read a piece of natural theology and draw conclusions afterwards.

In the present case, Professor Swinburne offers ‘a priori reasons’ for the truth of ‘the central theological doctrines of Christianity’ and then historical evidence for the life and resurrection of Jesus and for the teaching of the church. He checks his thinking throughout with reference to the Nicene Creed.

Following Richard of St Victor, Professor Swinburne reasons that if there is one divine person there would have to be three. God the Father would want everlastingly to cause the existence of God the Son in order to have a proper object for his love, but then the Father and the Son would want everlastingly to cause the existence of the Holy Spirit in order to cooperate in sharing their fullness with a third. The doctrine of the Holy Trinity is not merely a centuries’ long deduction from scripture. It is a rationally inevitable conclusion from the nature of divinity, and ‘the hypothesis that there is a Trinity is not more complicated than the hypothesis of theism’.

Similarly, the incarnation should not surprise us. Even good human beings want to share the lot of those for whom they are responsible and, particularly, where there is trouble and pain. How much more would a perfectly good divine person want to do the same – especially since he is responsible (with good reason) for allowing all the trouble. Hence the incarnation of the second person of the Holy Trinity, the one who made atonement for the sin which causes a lot of the trouble.

In the course of his life, Jesus proclaimed his divinity, usually indirectly, claimed to forgive sins not against himself, led a perfect life of suffering, taught compelling moral and theological doctrine, was naturally accused of blasphemy and, at the Last Supper, claimed to make atonement by sacrificing his body and blood. All of this leads towards the conclusion that he was a divine person as well as a human one. But then there is excellent evidence for the resurrection, which is thus a ‘signature event’, validating Jesus’ claims and therefore his divine status. Jesus also founded the church to keep his movement going and to interpret his work for a later sequence of times and cultures. There is no other prophet in history with this profile.

Interestingly, Professor Swinburne notes that some of the apostles and other early Christians were willing to die rather than recant where the resurrection is concerned, which strongly suggests that they were not trying to deceive anybody. Were they themselves deceived? All of them? ‘Massively improbable’, Professor Swinburne judges.

Stated summarily, Professor Swinburne's project may look presumptuous or simplistic. It isn't. The simplicity, the inevitability, the rational plausibility of Professor Swinburne's claims in this book come from enormously powerful and sophisticated thinking – much of it as fresh as bread from the oven.