WilliamB

"There is something holier about the atheism of a Shelley than about the theism of a Paley. That is the lesson of the book of Job. No explanation of the problem of unjust suffering is there given: that is not the point of the poem. The point is that the man who accepts our ordinary standard of good and by it hotly criticizes divine justice receives the divine approval: the orthodox, pious people who palter with that standard in the attempt to justify God are condemned."

C.S. Lewis, from De Futilitate



I thought of this passage while reading Angyson's thread on the "Kennedy curse", and I thought it might make for an interesting thread in itself, rather than simply as a reply in that one.

I think of myself as a weak atheist: an extraordinarily weak atheist, when I'm completely honest with myself. What I mean is that I don't rule out the possibility of a divine being at all, and at times I am strangely compelled by the idea that such a being may actually exist. If this were the case I certainly wouldn't want to alienate myself from such a magnificent entity; but venting my anger at certain Christians and their beliefs is a risk I am completely willing to take, and a risk which I feel it's impossible for me not to take.

If the biblical definition and characterization of this supreme being is for the most part accurate, then there is no hope for me. I'm doomed; and yet I will continue to "hotly criticize" this being anyway, even if my anger and indignation win me nothing but a trip to Hell, or annihilation. What I really believe is that the biblical god, in it's all-too-human wrath, vengeance, destruction, and threats, is a reflection of everything weak and petty in human nature: in fact, everything which a divine being would almost certainly NOT be. I realize that I could be wrong, but I sincerely doubt it. And I'll go on doubting it, whatever the outcome.

Any thoughts on the Lewis quote? Odd that the words of one of the most famous Christian apologists would inspire me to keep right on pissing God off, if in fact that's what I'm doing.


WAB

IamMoose

Hi there,

I don't have thoughts on the Lewis quote per se, but you sound extraordinarily like me . I tend to call myself 'agnostic' but your term, 'weak atheist' probably fits me much better! I generally believe that there is NOT a God, but like you, I can't discount the possibility totally. And yet, there is so much of Christianity that I see that I really dislike that I can't keep from criticising it too...