Leibniz on God and Religion Ed. Lloyd Strickland International Journal for Philosophy of Religion During the last century, Leibniz scholarship has primarily been devoted to his writings concerning a constellation of issues in logic, language, and mathematics. Because of the emphasis on these issues, other parts of Leibniz’s thought have been neglected. Such neglect is especially unfortunate given that Leibniz believed that his thought in these areas was ultimately supposed to both clarify and glorify the nature of God. Of course, Leibniz’s interest in the divine was not just theoretical. He believed that a proper understanding of God would elucidate different aspects of the distinct religions in western Europe in the 18 th century. Leibniz, ever the optimist, genuinely believed that debates between Catholics and Protestants could be solved with a proper understanding of the relevant issues. In other words, Leibniz’s ardent faith in reason guided his belief that tragedies like the 30 Years War would never happen again. Despite the importance of Leibniz’s interest in religious issues, English translations of his work have been relegated to texts which do not emphasize the complexity of his thoughts about religion. In fact, even in the Akademie edition of Leibniz’s writings, there is no series devoted to his religious views. Instead, his views about God and religion are interspersed throughout the other volumes. One might therefore get the impression that Leibniz was not interested in religion except as a theoretical means to a practical end. After all, his arguments often rely on metaphysical and logical assumptions, rather than revealed religious texts. Such a caricature is deeply misleading though, and becomes very apparent after reading Lloyd Strickland’s impeccable selection of translations related to Leibniz’s views about God and religion. Strickland’s Leibniz on God and Religion: A Reader includes English translations of 71 different journal articles, book reviews, private notes, essays, and correspondences which reveal Leibniz’s deep interests in philosophical theology. Some of these translations were previously unpublished in any form. Further, Strickland frames each piece with the necessary context, and offers suggestions for other material that may not be included in this volume. The translations are organized thematically and “bind together his three signature projects in theology, namely the Catholic Demonstrations, Church reunification, and the promotion of optimism.” (1-2) Although the Catholic Demonstrations were abandoned and left unfinished in 1672, they contain very early proofs for the existence of God, the immortality of the soul, the possibility of the Christian mysteries, and the authority of the Catholic Church. Such early arguments reveal the shift in Leibniz’s views on these issues in the 1670’s, to the more well-known arguments of the 1680’s, and the more popular arguments he provided toward the end of his life. Although the Catholic Demonstrations are rendered here, notably absent from the text are any of Leibniz’s writings concerning Church r eunification from the last few decades of the 17 th century. While such an absence is lamentable, it is also understandable since with the limited amount of space available, at least half of the material would have been devoted to Leibniz’s interlocutors suc h as Bossuet, Molanus, and Fontanier. Perhaps the most familiar aspect of Leibniz’s thought which is reflected in these translations is his doctrine of optimism, Leibniz’s fervent belief that God freely created this world, the best of all possible worlds, from amongst a plurality of alternatives. While this doctrine is explicit in a great deal of Leibniz’s other writings, one gains a fuller appreciation and understanding of the doctrine through Strickland’s volume.