Ayaan Hirsi Ali says she “chooses to believe” in Christianity. Is it that simple?

The former Muslim turned atheist says she “chooses to believe” the claims of Christianity. Tony Wilson agrees that reason often has a part to play in a journey towards faith. But it isn’t everything.

In a recent discussion, hosted by UnHerd at the Dissident Dialogues festival in New York, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Richard Dawkins discussed her recent conversion to Christianity.

Ali, once an atheist standing alongside Dawkins in the fight against faith, has recently become a Christian - but the extent to which she has fully embraced the historical claims of Christianity has remained unclear.

During the discussion, Dawkins repeatedly tried to pin Ali down on whether she believed that Jesus was born of a virgin and had really risen from the dead. Eventually, she declared that she chose to believe these things.