March 1, 2007

By Marilyn Stewart

NEW ORLEANS -- Atheist and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins’ latest book, The God Delusion, is an attempt to “shore up” the faith of atheists, contended evangelical Oxford theologian and renowned apologist, Alister McGrath.

McGrath, who serves as professor of historical theology and senior research fellow at Harris Manchester College, Oxford, made the comments Feb. 23 at the Evangelical Philosophical Society meeting at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The event was co-sponsored by the seminary’s theological and historical studies division, and was held in tandem with the Greer-Heard Point-Counterpoint Forum.

“I believe Dawkins’ book was really written to persuade atheists that their faith is still valid,” said McGrath.

Dawkins’ other well-known writings include The Selfish Gene and The Blind Watchmaker and promote an evolutionary view of nature that excludes any notion of God.  McGrath said Dawkins’ work has become “increasingly anti-religious” and “crusading” in its agenda.

Quoting from The God Delusion, McGrath read Dawkins’ statement that he hoped “religious readers who open it will be atheists when they put it down.”

“Dawkins’ assertion that science disproves God is not right – the evidence isn’t there and his argument is weak,” said McGrath, who holds doctorates in molecular biophysics and Christian theology.

A former atheist, McGrath has published extensively on the contributions of theology and science to each other and on atheism that is grounded in the natural sciences.  McGrath’s response to Dawkins, titled The Dawkins Delusion: Atheist Fundamentalism and the Denial of the Divine, will be released soon in the United States.

McGrath said Dawkins attempts a case built on five points; belief in God is irrational, science disproves God, faith can be explained away on scientific grounds, religion gives an impoverished view of the universe, and belief in God leads to violence.

Responding to Dawkins’ dismissal of belief in God as infantile, akin to believing in the tooth fairy, McGrath pointed out that people do not begin believing in the tooth fairy in adulthood, whereas many people have come to faith in God as adults.

Atheism and theism are both faiths and neither can prove their position with one hundred percent certainty through the natural sciences, McGrath said.  Science “does not necessitate atheism or theism” and the question of God’s existence must be resolved through other means.

McGrath posed the question, “Which worldview makes the most sense of what we observe in the world and in experience?”   

In answer, McGrath quoted C. S. Lewis, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the Sun has risen – not only because I see it, but because by it, I see everything else.”

McGrath pointed out that Dawkins’ claim that science proves there is no God is implausible in light of the significant number of Christian scientists.  McGrath offered Dawkins’ admission that even Darwinism is subject to revision as new facts come to light to show the provisional nature of scientific knowledge.

“If the sciences are inferential in their methodology, and hence provisional in their conclusions, how can Dawkins present atheism as the certain outcome of the scientific project?” McGrath questioned.

To Dawkins, belief in God is a projection of human longings, a type of wish-fulfillment, McGrath said, explaining that this argument works against atheism as well – an atheist wishes there is no God and therefore believes there is no God.

Dawkins concludes that belief in God is caused by “a virus of the mind,” McGrath said.  With no observational evidence for mind-viruses, McGrath countered that atheism could just also be attributed to a virus of the mind.

“Dawkins ends up making the totally subjective, unscientific argument that his own beliefs are not ‘viruses,’ but those he dislikes are,” McGrath said.

Rather than the puny, medieval universe Dawkins claims Christians embrace, McGrath said that Christians see a majestic creation pointing to a majestic creator. Christians can appreciate both the beauty of the earth and the mathematical models that describe it, McGrath said.

A native of Northern Ireland, McGrath acknowledged the violence carried out in God’s name, but also pointed to the crimes against humanity committed by the atheist Joseph Stalin. Violence is not a religious issue, but a human nature issue and shows the need for redemption and transformation, McGrath said. 

“As Christians, we can respond with confidence to The God Delusion that Dawkins’ arguments are weak, unsupported by evidence and tell us more about the condition of present-day atheism than about faith in God,” McGrath said.

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