The God Lunch
This book has a chapter titled “The Alleged Errors of the Bible, Which Are Not Errors.” But the book is not about religion, a co-author assured me over lunch.
HOBOKEN, SEPTEMBER 26, 2025. In early August I get an email from Jessica, who works for a public-relations firm. She invites me to “an intimate lunch at Le Pavillon—Chef Daniel Boulud’s Michelin-starred culinary gem in Midtown Manhattan—to meet Michel-Yves Bolloré and Olivier Bonnassies, authors of the international bestseller God, The Science, The Evidence.”
Good food and God? Sounds fun, I’m in, I tell Jessica.
And so it comes to pass that on a Monday in late September I take the PATH from Hoboken to Manhattan. As the train rumbles under the Hudson, I skim my copy of God, The Science, The Evidence. The book seems to rehash the old idea that the universe is “fine-tuned” for our existence.
The smug, know-it-all tone is a tad off-putting. So is the explicitly Christian material, like the chapter on the “miracle of Fatima.” But I’m going to be open-minded, hear what the authors have to say over lunch.
Le Pavillon is a fancy restaurant right next to Grand Central Station. Nine people are sitting around the table when I arrive. We do the let’s-all-introduce-ourselves thing, which used to make me quake but doesn’t anymore. That’s an upside of getting old, I don’t feel so strongly. A downside too.
The two authors, Michel and Olivier, sit at opposite ends of the table. Also in attendance are Jessica, who invited me; two other PR people, male and female; a young woman in NYU’s science-writing graduate program; a physician who created a website about evidence in medicine, or something; a guy who says he invented the term “FOMO” (?); and a reporter for Bloomberg News and 60 Minutes (?!).
Michel-Yves Bolloré, the regal-looking elderly gentleman to my right, quickly establishes himself as the meal’s alpha male. The French accent helps. After ordering us to order our food, he recounts how God, The Science, The Evidence came to be. Years ago his friend Olivier, a business associate and fellow Christian, approached him about co-writing a book on all the evidence for God.
Michel is a businessman, not a scientist or writer. He agreed to do the book because Olivier promised it would only take a year. Well, it took four years, because they needed a lot of help from scientists to lay out the evidence for God in a convincing fashion.
The book to Michel’s astonishment became a huge hit in France, more than 400,000 copies sold. The French aren’t especially religious, but clearly they’re tired of “materialism,” they’re hungry for meaning, for God.
Michel and Olivier worked hard on the English edition of the book, which, Michel assures us, is much better than the original French edition, with even more contributions from top scientists.
Michel and Olivier are in the U.S. to promote the book, which is coming out in mid-October. They spent last Saturday in Princeton talking to a very appreciative crowd, including a Nobel laureate in physics who is reconsidering his agnosticism after hearing Michel and Olivier.
Lots of young people showed up. Michel when he was young would never have spent a sunny Saturday listening to old people talk about God! Clearly Americans are hungry for meaning too.
When Michel takes a breath, I tell him I found only a brief discussion in his book of the problem of evil. If God created us, and cares about us, why is life so horrible for so many people, like those in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan?
Michel, smiling indulgently, says this is a religious question. He doesn’t want to get into religion, his book is about science.
I reply: What do you mean your book isn’t about religion! It’s one long argument that God exists! And not just any God, but the God of the Bible! If you’re trying to make the case that God exists, you must address the problem of evil! That’s just as important as the science!
The 60 Minutes guy, who’s sitting on my left, says he finds my line of questioning offensive. I seem to be implying that anyone who believes in God is “an idiot.”
I say if that’s how I came across, I apologize, that wasn’t my intent. I was raised Catholic, and although I’m not a believer anymore, I’ve never stopped wondering whether God exists and life has some transcendent purpose. I write about this all the time.
I agree that the more science investigates the origin of the universe, of life and of our species, the more improbable our existence seems. I have a hard time believing we’re here through sheer chance. But no version of God makes sense to me. Why would God create us and then make life so horrible for innocent people? Children?
Nodding sagely, Michel says he’ll answer my question, since this obviously means so much to me. First, imagine if all of us were always good, and happy, and there were no cruelty and suffering. Think how boring that would be.
Ah, I say, so God is like a screenwriter who makes his characters torture each other and suffer because he wants his film to be dramatic?
Yes, Michel says, smiling. God also gave us freedom, the freedom to make choices, and sometimes we choose evil.
I remember the response of atheist/physicist Steven Weinberg to this “solution” to the problem of evil: So the Holocaust happened because God gave the Nazis free will? That seems like a raw deal for the Jews. And what about kids who get cancer? Are the cancer cells exercising their free will?
I hold my tongue, because I don’t want to monopolize the conversation, other people probably have questions too. Sure enough, the 60 Minutes guy asks Michel and Olivier to tell us more about how they enlisted the help of scientists, that sounds fascinating.
I think: Wow, real hardball question, 60 Minutes.
During a lull in the conversation, I tell Michel I have one more “obnoxious” question. You’re surely aware that here in the U.S., Christianity has been weaponized. Conservative Christians have allied themselves with Donald Trump. Aren’t you worried your book might give aid and comfort to the Christian right?
Michel says this is a political question, his book isn’t about politics, it’s about science. The arguments in the book transcend politics.
I say in this country, everything is political, science is political, religion is political.
I don’t press the point. I’m beginning to get a who-invited-this-asshole vibe from others at the table, not just the 60 Minutes guy.
The conversation moves on. I focus on the food. My entree is chunks of roast carrot atop balls of shredded lamb. Dessert is a fantastical pineapple/meringue sculpture. I’m not saying this God lunch is evidence of God, but man, this food is yummy. And free!
As we’re departing, I ask 60 Minutes guy if 60 Minutes is really doing something on this book. He just stares at me without answering.
Jessica, the publicist, thanks me for coming. I thank her for inviting me. She asks if I plan to write something about the book. Yes, I reply, I’m pretty sure I’m going to write something.
Postscript: I’ve given God, The Science, The Evidence a closer look. There’s a chapter titled “The Alleged Errors of the Bible, Which Are Not Errors.” Another chapter argues that the “Miracle of Fatima,” which took place in Fatima, Portugal, on October 13, 1917, really was a miracle. I can’t wait to see how 60 Minutes covers God, The Science, The Evidence.
Further Reading:
If you’re really interested in my views on God, check out Rational Mysticism.
Here are related columns:
The Election and the Problem of Evil
Math, God and the Problem of Evil
Costa Rica and the Problem of Beauty
Freeman Dyson’s Disturbing Scientific Theology