Creation of sun, moon, and planets within the Sistine Chapel ceiling Part 3 of a new series on Faith in modern Ireland with Eoin McCormack
Have you ever found yourself in the often-awkward position in work or in another social setting where you are somehow elected the spokesperson for all things Catholic? This column over the next several weeks is taking a look at how we can be prepared for those uncomfortable conversations so many Catholics find themselves in today.
Last week, we explored the philosophical assumptions underlying much of the religious debate in modern Ireland. As more Catholics distance themselves from the Church, research shows that nearly all of them end up in the ‘no-religion’ category. This suggests that, while surface-level discussions about Catholicism often focus on scandals or contentious issues, there is a much more profound philosophical development present – religious relativism. Catholicism is not merely held in contempt for the scandals, but rather, traditional religious practice is increasingly irrelevant in any sense. To read last week’s column be sure to visit www.irishcatholic.com.
This week we are continuing a similar line of enquiry by looking at one of the most prevalent underlying issues when it comes to religion in contemporary culture, and that is the issue of God.
Relativism
One of the most misunderstood realities of Church teaching that makes modern-secular people baulk, is in fact the oldest and most simple Church teaching there is – belief in God. While much of the secular media might reference what it deems to be controversial issues such as women priests or the Church’s stance on homosexuality and so on, when it comes down to it, the evidence suggests that the biggest difficulty people have with Church teaching is in fact its most fundamental and the first line of our creed: I believe in God.
Atheist-rationalist philosophies of the enlightenment period have become remarkably commonplace in western culture which now promotes a secular relativism – there is no truth, there is no God, religion therefore is irrational and irrelevant. Renowned author on these issues Charles Taylor, in his book A Secular Age, simply comments: “Belief in God is no longer axiomatic. There are alternatives.”
Influencers
While the average person may not be able to fully articulate their philosophical position on the existence of God, you can be sure that speaking through them are an array of ‘influencers’ from the atheist movement who have slowly but surely impacted contemporary cultural presuppositions. Karl Marx for example, described religion as an “opium of the masses” in 1843, Nietzsche then declared “God is dead” in 1882, and by 1952, Bertrand Russel characterised belief in God as irrational as believing that there is a “China teapot revolving about the sun.”
These influences, amongst many others, have so popularised the degrading of religious belief to the extent that many people are not even aware that there may be any good reasons for believing in God. Factors like these paved the way by 2008 for Irish author Malachi O’Doherty to reflect in his book Empty Pulpits – Ireland’s Retreat from religion, that we (the Irish) “have smartened up and become proud rationalists who agree that all devotion and ritual subservience was a bit like a belief in Santa Claus that went on too long.”
Defining terms
So how can we respond to similar accusations that have become so commonplace amongst our friends and colleagues in the culture?
By all accounts as Catholics, the first thing we can do if engaged in a conversation about God is to affirm the secularist when he/she demands that there is no ‘man in the sky’. This, I have found, so surprises your questioner that they are puzzled enough to ask you: “But I thought you were religious? Isn’t that what Christians believe?”
This is your prime moment to reveal something so basic yet so profound, about who the Church teaches God is. Not a ‘man in the sky’ that the atheists so easily characterise, not a ‘being’ of any kind, not even a ‘supreme being’ in fact, but rather: “God is the fullness of Being” (CCC 213), for anything less would be a mere creature, fiction, or fantasy.
From the very beginnings of scripture, God reveals exactly who he is. Not a ‘super being’ like the pagan gods, but rather the creator from which all else comes. Or as the catechism describes, the one who “transcends the world and history” (CCC 212). God in other words, is the immaterial creator of all things, outside of space and time, the very grounding and source of all things.
No pope, saint, or theologian worth their salt has ever taught God to be a ‘man in the sky’”
This explanation might sound abstract at first, but it is the most fundamental point to even begin to talk about God. Translated to English, ‘Yahweh’ as revealed to Moses in the burning bush, means ‘I am who I am’ – God is not a being in any sense but rather the verb ‘to be’. Explaining this distinction in your ‘religious conversion’ at the watercooler at work or over a coffee with a friend, may just be the fist time they’ve ever encountered a challenge to the simplistic caricature of God that has come from much of the atheist movement. No pope, saint, or theologian worth their salt has ever taught God to be a ‘man in the sky’.
Reasons
Once you have correctly defined the ‘subject’ of God, the next important step in this conversation might be to offer your friend/colleague some compelling reasons for why you believe. As already discussed, research is demonstrating that more and more people don’t believe that are any good reasons for believing in God in any instance, influencing them to abandon religion entirely. Proposing some simple and rational reasons therefore, may just bring the other person to reconsider their initial misconceptions.
In this context, highly acclaimed Christian apologist William Lane Craig consistently reminds his audiences that even ‘listing’ 4 or 5 reasons you have for believing in God can go a long way in changing minds. Conversations which might begin throw away remarks like “God is a childish conception, there are no good reasons to believe in that”, could be quickly turned around if you are prepared to say, “Do people really think that? Gosh, I can think of at least 5 good reasons for the existence of God.”
I can almost guarantee you that the specificity of your response will probe your inquisitor to explain what on earth you are talking about.
So, what ‘reasons to believe’ might you list in a simple conversation that could really make someone reconsider their views?
This list of course is not certainly exhaustive and something that you should consider deeper in your own considerations, but if you were to have a simple ‘list’ of reasons to hand it might look something like this:
- Personal testimony: Revealing the authentic reasons for faith from your own experiences may be the most compelling place to start. Consider where have you felt God’s presence in your own life?
- The Resurrection of Jesus: While this might sound an odd thing to bring into a discussion about the existence of God, ask your proponent what seems more rational; that all the appearances of the risen Christ were ‘made-up’ or that the resurrection really happened, and the apostles weren’t willing to go through torture and death for the sake of a lie?
- Philosophy 101 – ‘The First Mover’: All things that exist have a cause, the universe exists, therefore the universe has a cause. This ‘cause’ we call God.
- Wonder at creation or ‘The complexity of life’: For life to exists in all its complexity and beauty it seems ludicrous to think it was an accident. Consider the specificity needed in the gravitational pull for the earth not to have either imploded or exploded, but yet it is exactly as it needs to be to allow life to flourish. It seems therefore to point to a ‘designer’.
- Truth & ‘Objective Morality’: You will be hard pressed to find someone who won’t agree that some moral actions are objectively wrong. Where does this moral objectivity come from? Or if there is no objectivity, can any moral action be simply understood as ‘living your own truth’?
Expectations
To be clear, for the most part you are not going to ‘win’ an argument and have someone fall on their knees to worship God. Faith is a gift only God can give after all. As Pope St John Paul II once said: “The Church imposes nothing; she only proposes, she proposes like a lover to the beloved.” To ‘propose’ the faith however, we need to know how. In having a reasonable, well thought through explanation for your faith, you may just be tilling the soil for the Holy Spirit to do the rest.
As William Lane Craig consistently says, even just ‘listing’ your reasons is often enough to make someone at least take you seriously and perhaps at best reconsider their initial biases. For the most part, people haven’t formally philosophised like the enlightenment philosophical atheists as to why they don’t believe in God, they have in fact just ‘picked-up’ caricatures and misconceptions in the culture and assume them to be true. Your simple ‘list of reasons to believe’ may just be the first time they have ever encountered a true, authentic explanation for God.
Next week’s column is taking a look at conversations we have about Mass. How can we explain its meaning and contest claims that is boring or irrelevant?
Read Part 1 in the series here – Talking about faith in a sometimes hostile modern Ireland
Read Part 2 in the series here – ‘Religious Conversations’: What’s going on with religion in Ireland?