ArticleConvinced atheists might be surprised to know that the God in whom they do not believe is one Christians also do not accept.
That is because, Christians think, atheists do not understand what faith actually involves.
Agnostic Australian philosopher Rai Gaita has written of the inadequacy of a god who “consists of attributes A to N and knows my phone number”, calling it the “philosopher’s god”, not the God of faith.
The philosopher’s god is a construct of theoretical attributes such as all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present and infinite, and atheists are often ironically angry at him for not existing. (I am distinguishing here the certainty of atheists from the more intellectually credible position of agnostics who concede they cannot know.)
Christians believe God certainly possesses those attributes but faith is not merely sterile intellectual assent to a set of propositions. Such a faith would never have triumphed across time and space such that it has now persuaded nearly a third of the world’s people.
Christianity is based on encountering a person – on a relationship. It has been said it is a way of life rather than a system of thought, as much a rhythm of life-giving practices as a collection of beliefs; as much a way of relating to others and the created world as a prescription for understanding it.
Christians won over the Roman Empire precisely because they gave to the poor; cared for the sick; established communities without regard to class, social status, privilege or gender; overturned contemporary ideas on the value of women, children and slaves; shared their resources; practised hospitality to strangers; and sought and extended forgiveness. Just as we all act from our deepest convictions, the early church did all this because they knew Jesus, and in gratitude for what he accomplished for them.
For me, an adult convert to Christianity, it was gratitude that drove me to God and I still see it as utterly central to true religion. When I understood the gospel, the good news in the Bible – the “euangelion” in New Testament Greek, from which we get “evangelism” – I was overwhelmed by its beauty, goodness and truth.
I well understand how such a claim can irritate atheists because I was one, but the difference now is that I encountered God as a person. There is a chasm between God being real in someone’s life and being a set of theoretical ideas.
American theologian Dan DeWitt says the gospel gives an explanation for our existence, clarity for our confusion, grace for our guilt, meaning for our mortality, and answers for our adversaries. That is so much more than a set of metaphysical propositions, and it is what we need.
Barney Zwartz is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Public Christianity. This article was first published in The Age.