“The proof was neither arithmetical, nor physical, nor esthetical, nor astronomical; it was irrefutable. The proof of God’s existence had been achieved.”
Just imagine it – an unassailable, irrefutable, irresistible proof of the existence of God. What would humanity do with such an artifact? Lawrence Cossé posits that it might not carry the broadly beneficial effects that most people have come to associate with theism, and instead flirts with the possibility that a rock-solid proof of god should be classed in with such potentially civilization-ending plot devices as ice-nine from Kurt Vonnegut, the Deplorable Word from C.S. Lewis, the floating corpse of Jehovah in James Morrow’s Godhead Trilogy, or the hypothetical zombie contagion in far too many books to name.
In the process, the author has a go at the ecclesiastical establishment, the political establishment, and any number of social conventions and institutions, in the proud tradition of French satire. While this book may not quite fit the expectations of English-speaking audiences craving a continental thriller, after reading Dan Brown, I’m inclined to think this is probably for the best.
