Atheism and Theism JJ Haldane - Common Sense Atheism

80 J.J. Haldane
these quarters: Kant’s ‘refutation’ of natural theology, Darwin’s scientific
alternative to creationism, and scholarly demythologizing of scripture all
being cases in point.
However, to the extent that it is invulnerable to such criticisms it seems to
diminish in anything other than emotional or assertive content. If one’s world
view makes no metaphysical or historical claims then it has nothing to fear
from these quarters, but equally it has nothing to contribute to them either;
and this raises the question of what people think they are doing when they
engage in personal prayer or sacramental worship. If Christianity is compatible
with Christ’s having been a confused, trouble-making zealot whose bones
now lie beneath the sands of Palestine and whose ‘exploits’ are no more than
the self-serving fictions of people ignorant of the real events of his life, and
with there being no reason to believe, and some reason not to believe, in the
existence of a divine creator, then its claims to our attention are only those of
a self-contained lifestyle and not of a true account of reality.
Moreover it is a mistake to oppose metaphysics and spirituality. As a
general methodological principle one should not presume that because one
mode of description and assessment is available it follows that another is
excluded. Not only might they be compatible but one may have to draw on
both to construct an adequate account. Praying for the dead is a characteristic
religious activity expressing a commitment to the value of human life. Saying
this does not make metaphysical questions about the possibility and nature
of an afterlife irrelevant. On the contrary, it is plausible to hold that the
meaning of this activity is given in part by the idea that death may not be
the end of the story. Thus if there are insurmountable difficulties in the
ideas of disembodiment, reincarnation or resurrection, then the meaning of
the religious practice is threatened. As St Paul says, with great seriousness, in
his first letter to the Corinthians:
But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised; and
if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in
vain . . . If for this life only we have hoped then we are of all men most to be
pitied. (1 Corinthians 15: 13–20) 2
Religion: metaphysical or spiritual? I answer ‘both’; but in doing so I am
not claiming that every good and true believer needs to be able to offer proofs
and refutations. I do maintain, though, that unless religion is in principle
rationally defensible then belief is unwarranted; and further that the appropriateness
of doctrinal commitment depends upon membership of a (historically
extended) religious community within which there are theologians and
others competent to provide reasonable defences of these commitments. This
is analogous to what is sometimes termed ‘the division of intellectual labour’.
Testimony, theological competence and teaching authority are essential to