In the Globe, columnist Sam Allis visits with Harvard minister Peter Gomes to talk about God.

[Gomes] is, on the subject of Christianity, a font of knowledge, humor, and edge.

A font of edge?

Well, never mind. Gomes has a new book called “The Scandalous Gospel of Jesus,” and he has recently been named preacher to the Henley Royal Regatta, though why a crew race needs a preacher, God only knows. Allis, however, has come to challenge him on matters of faith.

I recently stumbled on “The Little Book of Atheist Spirituality” that buoyed my spirits no end. While this manifesto contains nothing particularly new, it stands as a refreshing breath of foul air against the irritating piety of religious tomes that blow onto the scene in droves.

A refreshing breath of foul air against the irritating piety of religious tomes that blow onto the scene in droves?

If Sam Allis is metaphorically challenged, Reverend Gomes is eloquent as always. But this is an odd column. Allis says that atheists are fine, Gomes says that there must be something more, and that about wraps up the column, the Boston Globe’s idea of a learned disquisition.