Faith and Reason
It seems it’s become unfashionable to have faith in a god these days, it’s often the subject of ridicule in all types of media – books, video, radio & especially online, where opinions are cheap and plentiful(it also helps being anonymous). The atheist convention is on in Melbourne and here’s a few thoughts.
Didn’t science kill religion?
You may have engaged in the God vs Science debates yourself as I have. Personally, I didn’t find them to be at odds with one another primarily because Science observes nature and God doesn’t inhabit that natural world. How God does inhabit the world is open to debate and criticism. It is true that scientific discoveries are explaining things that previously were used as arguments for God, this is the “God of the gaps” argument for atheism.
I welcome this argument and it’s a great reminder that a mystery in itself isn’t evidence for anything. As new evidences arise my understanding grows and I get a more complete picture of how things came to be. The scientific & historical claims of Christianity should be questioned, things like creation and how God intervenes in the world.
I welcome hearing about both religion and science. I generally find listening to people is a good way to learn and grow, I also find the opposite to be true.
There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance — that principle is contempt prior to investigation.
Character & personal accounts
I’ve been fortunate to grow up with some intelligent Christian friends who have demonstrated what life as a Christian with some integrity looks like. I realize that those I grew up with is a small sample size and doesn’t represent the entire church.
I’m interested in reading Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton, at a glance the book seems to highlight certain virtues that I have grown to appreciate and respect about my Christian friends – Community, respect, humility & honesty. This book is a healthy break from the Dawkins crowd of celebrity atheists. The character traits most easily identifiable in the influential atheists is arrogance and ego. No doubt these are smart people, but they’re still jerks who encourage people to think themselves better than believers.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not calling Christians virtuous and atheists arrogant jerks.
I am recalling from personal accounts the effect that Christianity has had on the characters of many of my friends. I think many aspects of Christianity have encouraged these character traits in my friends and these are not evidences for God.
Church has encouraged people to come together regularly, church encourages study & reflection on morality and ethics regularly, the study of Jesus’ character, a deep respect for all people as we’re all brothers/sisters, personal reflection and solitude through prayer and quietness, an emphasis that true value is in not in material possessions – I could go on.
I am also referring to the character traits that some atheist friends have adopted when listening to the Dawkins breed of popular atheist, a general militant opposition. This is understandable – regardless of the topic, it makes people feel good to believe they know more than others. I don’t want to be militarily opposed to anyone, especially my friends. Let’s talk, reason, grow and learn together but let us all respect how little we actually know.
Character and integrity are extremely important topics, from my perspective the message and practices of Christianity are making a more positive contribution to the world than the messages and practices of those waving the atheism banner.
Biblical critique
I normally find myself disagreeing with the arguments for atheism when they attack biblical passages because they cherry pick and make big issues out of the things that are actually small issues from the standpoint of the entire bible.
Some of the most obvious issues are creation, homosexuality & hell – These topics are written about in the bible but they are only covered in a handful of verses. These handful of verses are not things that make huge impact on character.
I read the bible from start to finish and have studied the new testament & Jesus’ teaching a little more. I you haven’t read the bible before you would probably be quite surprised with what’s inside – it’s not a rule book or condemning. It is a collection of 66 books written by many different authors, 39 before of the time of Jesus in the “old testament” which make up the Hebrew bible of Judaism. The different books were written over a long period of time from 2150 B.C. to about 100 A.D
My favorite books are the Wisdom books, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs in particular.
A lot of the bible is historical accounts, songs, prayers, prophecy or letters(that were only intended to be read and shared by those receiving them)
I’m no expert but I would summarize the bible as a collection of writings about God written by many authors over a time span of over 2000 years. It’s the story of the Jewish people trying to understand Him, the life of Jesus and the early church.
The arguments
I will say that I do find the arguments on the atheist side of most debates more compelling.
This is to be expected though as God can’t be proven or disproven by argument, he is said to reveal himself through personal/spiritual means and only to those who earnestly seek him.
Without the experience of growing up with Christians I would most probably be waving the banner alongside the others at the Global Atheist Convention. As it turns out I might just listen in and take The Good Parts.
I’ve found myself quite bored with the debate over the last year though and haven’t engaged as much. People just seemed to love rehashing old arguments and there’s not actually all that much new interesting content. I value original thought.
My persuasion
Let’s all be reasonable, yet humble.
Don’t adopt others views quickly and rehash arguments, think and test stuff.
Don’t slander the bible or Christianity if you don’t understand it, ask questions.
Acknowledge the good that the message of Christ is doing in the world.
I’m in Desmond’s corner.
My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.
