The Twilight Of Atheism by Alister McGrath
Published July 11, 2004
Alister McGrath's The Twilight Of Atheism is a brilliant work by a British Protestant Scholar. Rather than being a work of apologetics, it is a confident, frontal attack on atheism from a theistic perspective that is not presented as specifically Christian.
McGrath links the rise of atheism to the French Revolution, and its darkening prospects to the fall of Communism. At first, this seemed off-target, because I tend to think of atheism as being fueled by the march of science. But McGrath doesn't deal with objections to theism from the perspective of the physical sciences. Rather, he argues that Darwinism is compatible with theism, and that the aggresively atheist point of view is fueled by something else.
Quoting Voltaire, whom McGrath approvingly identifies as a Deist rather than an atheist, McGrath writes:
Voltaire's insight is of fundamental importance to our study of the emergence of atheism. His argument is simple: the attractiveness of atheism is directly dependent upon the corruption of Christian institutions. Reform those institutions and the plausibility of atheism is dramatically reduced.
For McGrath, it's the social sciences, building off Marx and Freud which have fueled the objection to religion, not Darwin. Freud's reputation has faded, but it's Marx reputation which has taken the greatest fall. Thus, it does make sense that the fall of Communism brings atheism into question.
It is simple-minded to see the fall of Communism as "God's work" without acknowledging that the rise of Communism in the early 20th century was equally God's work. But, on the other hand, if atheism is a more accurate model of the world than theism, it is curious that a political doctrine based on atheism has failed so spectacularly. This does not mean that the eclipse of atheism must necessarily aid traditional religion. I see a trend among many on the political left to reach out for a new spirituality, frequently along a Buddhist path. In some cases, these people may continue to deny the existence of a patriarchal or "high God." But they are more open to alternatives to philosophical materialism than in the past.
McGrath's interpretation seems consistent with my observation as an student at MIT that many physical scientists are religious, and it is the social science and liberal arts curriculums which are more hostile to religious than the sciences.
McGrath's writing is very readable, yet wrestles with ideas and thinkers at a high level. He makes a number of observations which seem startling to me, such as seeing parallels between Calvinism and Islam. This is certainly one of the best books I've read from a theistic perspective in some time.
- The Twilight Of Atheism by Alister McGrath
- Published: July 11, 2004
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- Section: Books
- Filed Under: Books: Spirituality
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Isn't capitalism atheistic/agnostic too? Not much god in there when I last checked...
Communism didn't just reject religion, it persecuted it. Atheism was a key postulate of Marxist-Leninist philosophy.
Some capitalists are atheists, but it's not mandatory, as it was under Communism. This is the 100th anniversary of Max Weber's The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. Weber saw the roots of capitalism in Calvinism.
Good review.
In response to the comment that suggested that Marxism and communism were not atheist, I would say Marxism was a complex materialist philosophy which was certainly atheist in theory as well as anti-religious in practice. It was a virtual state religion in the countries in the former Soviet block. It has declined in popularity as its failings as an economic and political theory have been exposed by the collapse of communism, but it hangs on as a philosophy. It is still a popular liberal intellectual position.
McGrath is a professional theologian who started his academic career in science. He is a good writer and summarizes complex philosophical debates in clear language. Many of his earlier books are devoted to showing that Christianity is consistent with science. He has made the points, in previous books, that science does not disprove the existence of God, and that science and the scientific method are not based on the atheist philosophical and political ideas (liberalism, humanism, modernism and post-modernism) that have dominated intellectual life in Europe and America since the Enlightment and the French Revolution.
He believes that science is and should be neutral on religious questions.
In his other books, he has treated humanism and atheism as emotional positions, as if they were religious systems. It seems that he his project in the new book is to undermine the claims of atheists that their view of the world is more sound than the view of someone who believes in a Creator.
I like his approach. He is trying to earn respect for his religious views by logical discourse.
marxism is a 'popular liberal intellectual position'?
If I up and suddenly decide to become religious, it will have to be deism. I see no evidence of an 'interested' God in human affairs at all. When abuses are curtailed or stopped, it is the result of humanism. A group of people decides that doing X to another group of people is wrong and curtails or stops the behavior.
However, I think agnosticism and atheism may arise naturally, i.e., through reason. I first began to doubt religion when I was nine or 10 years old. Sunday school lessons seemed more and more like the sci-fi I was reading. I'm going to hazard a guess that many doubters arrive at the same place because they simply don't see any reasonable evidence suggesting supernatural intervention in our lives. This is long before most of us have any grasp of political theories such as communism or capitalism. We may not have even heard of Darwin yet. There is an innate impetus for a questioning sort of person to doubt religion, I suspect.
Mac Diva,
It sounds like you were precocious in your philosophical speculations. I was mostly thinking about Hot Wheels when I was 10.
It seems that, for you, skepticism was intuitive. Sometimes children of agnostics are drawn to faith. It may have something to do with temperament. Which intuitions are correct are still an open question--more open perhaps that it was twenty years ago.
I wouldn't equate liberalism with Marxism, but some elements of Karl Marx's writings, particularly his "religion is the opiate of the people" argument have had influence beyond those who go by the label of Marxist.
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Communism wasn't based on atheism--it simply rejected religion. So does, by the way, Ayn Rand's Objectivism, which is about as far from Communism as you can get.