The God delusion? The rationality of faith
Alister E McGrath
Does belief in God make sense? Or is it simply a delusion, a sad example of wish-fulfilment on the part of lonely and longing human beings? As CS Lewis once commented, reflecting on his early beliefs as an atheist: "Nearly all that I loved I believed to be imaginary; nearly all that I believed to be real I thought grim and meaningless."
This issue has gained importance recently on account of present debates in our culture. Although the "New Atheism," which burst on to the scene in 2006, has now lost much of its novelty value, the questions it raises continue to be discussed. Is belief in God a rational response to reality, or an outmoded delusion, spread throughout the population by viruses of the mind, based on flimsy and naïve reasoning, and imposed by authoritarian institutions and individuals?
There is, of course, a more radical viewpoint: that all human attempts - whether theist or atheist - to construct meaning or establish values are equally delusional. This bleak view of reality is found at many points in the writings of Richard Dawkins. "The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference."
We impose meaning and value on a meaningless universe. Meaning is invented, not discerned. This thought, as consistent as it is austere, is found by many to be unbearable.
In this lecture, I shall consider the capacity of the Christian faith to make sense of things. In choosing to focus on the question of its rationality, I am not reducing Christianity to a rational explanation of things, nor implying that this is the chief of its theological virtues. I am simply making the point that our present cultural context has been shaped by the rise of aggressive assertions of the fundamental irrationality of faith, and that it is therefore necessary to respond to these in a measured and informed way. So in what way does belief in God help us to make sense of things?
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