Templeton Foundation: "Does Science Make Belief in God Obsolete?"

My personal answer, of course, is "no!"

The Templeton Foundation has posted a web page, which I have not yet fully explored, with the title indicated above. There are statements from a variety of people, giving different answers. I expect that this will be an important resource on questions of faith and science.

I found the essay by philosopher Mary Midgley to be especially insightful. (The essays all seem to be brief.)

Thanks for reading.

"The Golden Compass:" more on Pullman

The Golden Compass is a film scheduled to open in theaters on December 7th. There are Christians who are up in arms about Pullman's militant atheism. I'm not for atheism, either, but there are some dangers in campaigns like this.

I have previously posted on this topic, arguing that there are influences from the media that are considerably more insidious, hence more dangerous, than blatant atheism. I stand by that conclusion. I would also point out that campaigns of this type sometimes backfire. There is a possibility that people will see The Golden Compass just to see what the fuss is about, who might not have seen it otherwise. Since the first of the books is considerably less blatant than the next two, there is also the danger of looking ridiculous.

I'd like to provide two links that indicate Pullman's anti-Christian attitude. It's real.

The first link is to an article written by Pullman, about the Narnia books. The article is more anti-C. S. Lewis than anti-Christian, to be sure, and, as much as I admire the writing of the late Lewis, I must admit that Pullman presents some valid and pertinent criticisms, most of which have previously been made by Christian critics. However, his militant atheism comes through loud and clear, when he says that the revelation, to the main human characters in The Last Battle, that they have died, and that they are now in an infinitely better world, is "propaganda in the service of a life-hating ideology." That ideology is Christianity.

The second link is an interview with Pullman, about his beliefs, and where they came from. He expresses his anti-Christianity quite clearly.

I originally had a second part, indicating that Pullman has undercut his own anti-Christian case or, perhaps better put, the cases of some other atheists. However, on December 4, 2007, I decided to remove that portion of the post, and change the title accordingly, based on comments by George (see those comments below) who says that the evidence I presented did not support the claim that I had originally made. That being the case, I removed the claim. This will have the effect of removing any links anyone might have made to the original post.

More on The Golden Compass

I recently posted about The Golden Compass, an upcoming movie based on a book by Philip Pullman. It's not out yet, but there's some buzz about it.

A post at Speculative Faith, a blog on Christianity and fantastic literature, by Rebecca Luella Miller, explores the possible impact of this movie further, and suggests that the impact might be good, on balance. Although Miller doesn't seem to have read the book, I believe her essay is on target.

Thanks for reading.

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

The Golden Compass is an upcoming movie, based on a book by Philip Pullman.

There is apparently an e-mail campaign, aimed at telling Christians not to see this movie. I have received such e-mails a couple of times, and will probably receive them again.

Here's my response:
Thanks for sending this on to me. I haven't seen the movie, but I know something about fantastic literature, and this author is, indeed, an outspoken atheist, and the movie (or movies -- it's a series of books) may be militantly atheistic. The book, although interesting and well-written, is anti-God, and anti-church.

There is a bigger problem. Most of the time, our modern media act as if God didn't exist (except for the so frequent "Oh, my God!" expressions). News programs and newspapers tell us about terrible disasters, seldom saying a word about praying for the victims. The accomplishments of athletes are praised, but the source of their God-given abilities is seldom mentioned. (No doubt people more knowledgeable than I could say something about popular music of many kinds right about here, but I won't.) Dramatic TV programs and movies tell us about what's important in fictional people's lives, and it's very seldom even close to a genuine belief in God. My wife and I saw a movie last week, which we found hilarious and enjoyable, and it was so inoffensive that it is rated PG-13. Christianity Today said that it was a family-oriented movie, and it is. But I don't remember a character who said a word about religious belief of any kind, Christian or otherwise, or about going to church.

It seems to me that this pervasive ignoring of the things of God is much more dangerous than occasional blatant atheism. We usually see blatant atheism, recognize it, and react to it, whereas, if we aren't careful, we absorb the attitude that God is non-existent or irrelevant from the world around us, including, of course, the media. We become practicing atheists.

Thanks for reading.

* * * * *

See here for another post on this topic.

See here for yet another such post, linking to material by Pullman, showing that he is, indeed, a militant atheist, and also showing that Pullman has actually undercut mainstream atheism, and that his sort of belief was predicted by C. S. Lewis, over sixty years ago.

Does God Exist? Tests of this hypothesis

I have recently read Does God Exist: The Debate between Theists and Atheists, by J. P. Moreland (a theist) Kai Neilsen (an atheist) and others. (Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books, 1993) The book is a record of such a debate, between these two, at the University of Mississippi, with various remarks by others. Although the book is not for the faint-hearted, as it delves into philosophy quite a bit, it is not written for philosophers, but, as the debate, was conducted so that intelligent persons (some university students and professors qualify) can follow the arguments.

Neither Neilsen nor Moreland claimed to have won decisively. My personal belief is that this is a matter for faith, although a believer can certainly find evidence for the existence of God. (I suppose that an atheist would find evidence for His non-existence, too.)

One part of the book is a brief chapter "The Choice of a Lifetime," (pp. 287-291) by Peter Kreeft.

Kreeft challenges readers to test the question of God's existence. He offers these four tests:
1) Test the lives of other people. "Find out what difference atheism or theism makes to people's lives, especially converts to both positions." (288)

2) Try to be an atheist for a day (or a Christian for a day), that is, if you are a Christian, try to be an atheist, or vice versa. Kreeft makes some suggestions on that. At first, I was mystified by this, but know that sometimes I am certainly tempted to doubt.

3) Think about Pascal's wager.

4) Pray. Kreeft suggests that an atheist ask God for help in seeking the truth of this most important question.

Interesting. Kreeft sounds like he has already made up his mind, and is a Christian, but others haven't.

Thanks for reading.