| "This is the disciple who is bearing witness to these things, and who has written these things; and we know that his testimony is true." John 21:24 |
| "The Post and Courier" October 14, 2007 "Believers must engage atheists in rational debate" By Jeff Kirby Special to The Post and Courier |
The question of God’s existence and identity has inspired and challenged people of different cultures and thought for millennia. In the
West, there is a cultural shift of indifference towards a belief in God, and towards any organized belief in him. The members of one
group within this trend are called “New Atheists.”
Their hallmark texts are Sam Harris’ The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation; Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell: Religion as
a Natural Phenomenon, Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons
Everything.
These books serve as a summary of recent atheistic argument and as a rallying cry to like-minded people. They attempt to encourage
rational atheism, discredit biblical faith and encourage fellow atheists in their views.
Harris writes that the movement’s goal is “to demolish the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity.” He refuses to participate in
the “conspiracy” of recognizing religion even as a social good.
The challenges posed by the “New Atheists” are important, and should be readily engaged by non-believers and theistic believers. The
criticisms can serve to raise questions, provoke doubt, renew understanding, tear down outdated approaches and call the Christian and
theistic believer to deeper thought and conviction.
The authors raise several criticisms towards theistic belief, and especially towards Christianity, but they do not discuss the rationality of
faith itself. Oddly, they do not consider the possibility of the help which faith could give to humanity’s search for meaning and
purpose.
As argued by Michael Novak, the author of Belief and Unbelief, and Terence Nichols, who wrote The Sacred Cosmos, theistic belief can
significantly contribute to humanity’s understanding of the reasonableness of existence and the order inherent within it.
Theistic belief offers the human a broad view of existence, which shows the intelligibility and breadth of life, both seen and unseen. It
can appreciate the findings of science, and its insight into the workings of the world and human experience. It can recognize the
essential place of the facts and details of science in human knowledge, but it tempers their claims. The theistic worldview shows that no
one area of knowledge can assert an all-encompassing synthesis of humanity or creation. It demonstrates that the different areas of
research and knowledge are needed, but they each contribute only a portion to our comprehension and wisdom.
An atheistic approach to life, however, would normally see existence as merely the product of chance and natural selection. But if such
randomness defined the world, where could reason or reliability be found? Everything would be chaotic. It would lack ordered meaning
and purpose. It would be without intelligibility. It would be absurd.
Paradoxically, atheists trust science, rationality, and mathematics, which relies on repetitiveness, experimentation, and stability. But
where does this understanding of reason and stability come from? By their very definition, chance or natural selection cannot give it. Its
meaning and mystery go beyond the limitations of any one discipline or field of study. It surpasses human organization. It depends on
more.
The theistic and Christian worldview acknowledges a Creator and a rational universe through him. It finds its foundation of reason,
stability, and order in him, and it asks: If there is so much reason “in” the world, shouldn’t there also be a reason “for” the world?
Theistic belief shows humanity a rich array of rationality and meaning. It dismisses the absurdities of an enclosed life, and will not allow
for a narrow and limiting view of reality and the things of existence.
Dawkins caricature of God as a “psychotic delinquent,” and others like it do not reflect the God of Christian faith or of nature. God
lovingly seeks to reveal himself and the truths of existence through various channels. Knowledge and research that are open to God
cannot become esoteric or alienating to the person.
As the great southern writer Walker Percy said, atheism “isn’t good enough.” It doesn’t explain the complexities of life or give
sufficient reasons for it. Belief in God affirms the intelligibility of existence and compels the person to search for deeper meaning and
purpose. It gives an expansive and inclusive worldview to the believer, and allows him to reasonably discuss life and explore the things
of created existence.
Rev. Jeff Kirby is a priest of the Diocese of Charleston.
West, there is a cultural shift of indifference towards a belief in God, and towards any organized belief in him. The members of one
group within this trend are called “New Atheists.”
Their hallmark texts are Sam Harris’ The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation; Daniel Dennett’s Breaking the Spell: Religion as
a Natural Phenomenon, Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion, and Christopher Hitchens’ God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons
Everything.
These books serve as a summary of recent atheistic argument and as a rallying cry to like-minded people. They attempt to encourage
rational atheism, discredit biblical faith and encourage fellow atheists in their views.
Harris writes that the movement’s goal is “to demolish the intellectual and moral pretensions of Christianity.” He refuses to participate in
the “conspiracy” of recognizing religion even as a social good.
The challenges posed by the “New Atheists” are important, and should be readily engaged by non-believers and theistic believers. The
criticisms can serve to raise questions, provoke doubt, renew understanding, tear down outdated approaches and call the Christian and
theistic believer to deeper thought and conviction.
The authors raise several criticisms towards theistic belief, and especially towards Christianity, but they do not discuss the rationality of
faith itself. Oddly, they do not consider the possibility of the help which faith could give to humanity’s search for meaning and
purpose.
As argued by Michael Novak, the author of Belief and Unbelief, and Terence Nichols, who wrote The Sacred Cosmos, theistic belief can
significantly contribute to humanity’s understanding of the reasonableness of existence and the order inherent within it.
Theistic belief offers the human a broad view of existence, which shows the intelligibility and breadth of life, both seen and unseen. It
can appreciate the findings of science, and its insight into the workings of the world and human experience. It can recognize the
essential place of the facts and details of science in human knowledge, but it tempers their claims. The theistic worldview shows that no
one area of knowledge can assert an all-encompassing synthesis of humanity or creation. It demonstrates that the different areas of
research and knowledge are needed, but they each contribute only a portion to our comprehension and wisdom.
An atheistic approach to life, however, would normally see existence as merely the product of chance and natural selection. But if such
randomness defined the world, where could reason or reliability be found? Everything would be chaotic. It would lack ordered meaning
and purpose. It would be without intelligibility. It would be absurd.
Paradoxically, atheists trust science, rationality, and mathematics, which relies on repetitiveness, experimentation, and stability. But
where does this understanding of reason and stability come from? By their very definition, chance or natural selection cannot give it. Its
meaning and mystery go beyond the limitations of any one discipline or field of study. It surpasses human organization. It depends on
more.
The theistic and Christian worldview acknowledges a Creator and a rational universe through him. It finds its foundation of reason,
stability, and order in him, and it asks: If there is so much reason “in” the world, shouldn’t there also be a reason “for” the world?
Theistic belief shows humanity a rich array of rationality and meaning. It dismisses the absurdities of an enclosed life, and will not allow
for a narrow and limiting view of reality and the things of existence.
Dawkins caricature of God as a “psychotic delinquent,” and others like it do not reflect the God of Christian faith or of nature. God
lovingly seeks to reveal himself and the truths of existence through various channels. Knowledge and research that are open to God
cannot become esoteric or alienating to the person.
As the great southern writer Walker Percy said, atheism “isn’t good enough.” It doesn’t explain the complexities of life or give
sufficient reasons for it. Belief in God affirms the intelligibility of existence and compels the person to search for deeper meaning and
purpose. It gives an expansive and inclusive worldview to the believer, and allows him to reasonably discuss life and explore the things
of created existence.
Rev. Jeff Kirby is a priest of the Diocese of Charleston.