God. Who knows?

by Dansk 5 Replies latest jw friends

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  Dansk

  I found the following interesting - and thought you might, too!

  Ian

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  Last Updated: Monday, 4 December 2006, 11:21 GMT E-mail this to a friend Printable version God. Who knows? With religion increasingly polarised, is there any benefit in not knowing if there is a higher power? Mark Vernon - an ex-vicar - explains why agnosticism is his creed. We are in a period of intense debate about religion. It seems there are believers, secularists and atheists - in their manifold varieties - arguing over their various concerns. Veils. Intelligent design v evolution. Ordaining gays and women. Contraception and Aids. But there is one voice that is squeezed out, partly because it can equivocate, partly because it tires of the tit-for-tat that the debate is so often reduced to. That is the agnostic. AGNOSTICISM Philosophical view that truth of claims like the existence of gods is unknown or unknowable Word from Greek a, meaning without, and gnosis, meaning knowledge Noted agnostics include Francis Crick, Sir David Attenborough, Carl Sagan and Warren Buffet It is a position that interests me because I used to be a priest in the Church of England. Then, to cut a long story short, I left - and I left a confirmed atheist. After a while, I found unbelief as dissatisfying as full-blown Christianity. It seems to entail a kind of puritanism, as if certain areas of human experience must be put off-limits, for fear that they smack of religion. So I became an agnostic. Now, many atheists and believers alike think agnosticism weak. Atheists would bundle us in with them; liberal believers likewise. But this does us a disservice. In fact, I have become really quite evangelical about the need for a passionate, committed agnosticism. Why? How else to deal with something that lies at the heart of the human condition: uncertainty. Thus, a corresponding "lust for certainty" characterises many of the debates currently doing the rounds. In religion, fundamentalism is the obvious case in point. New Jersey women who sued for the right to marry - and won A similar lust for certainty also increasingly characterises mainstream religion, such as the crisis about homosexuality in the Church of England. For conservative evangelicals, what you think about gay love-making is a test of what you think about the truth of the Bible. To be for one is to be against the other. When it comes to the scientific worldview, a lust for certainty is manifest in different ways. Think of the way that some atheists go on at great length about the need to throw off superstitious belief and don the freedom and reason of the Enlightenment. What they will not accept is what the inventor of the word "agnostic" sought to highlight. TH Huxley meant his neologism as a rebuke to all who peddle their opinions as facts - notably their opinion, scientific or religious, about God. For whether or not God exists is neither proven nor, he thought, provable. God just isn't that kind of concept. Einstein, another agnostic, looked at the universe and saw the workings of a "spirit" beyond our understanding, an intuition the atheist would stumble over. Fear of unknown The lust for certainty spills over into other walks of modern life too. Take the so-called politics of fear - the constant reference to risks, from hoodies on the street corner to international terrorism. Scared yet? Whatever the truth of these risks and the best ways of dealing with them, the politics of fear plays on an assumption that people cannot bear the uncertainties associated with them. Politics then becomes a question of who can better deliver an illusion of control. Being agnostic can amount to little more than a shrug of the shoulders. But can it be a weighty way of life? It can, because it has great traditions to draw on - no lesser traditions than those of philosophy, religion and science. At their richest, all three are riven through and through with an agnostic spirit. Take philosophy. Socrates was a genius because he realised that the key to wisdom is not how much you know, but how well you understand how little you know. That is why he irritated so many powerful people in ancient Athens; his philosophy burst the bubble of their misplaced confidence. Similarly, Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430) said that to be human is to be "between beasts and angels". He meant that we are not ignorant like the animals. But we are also far from wise. Faith for Augustine was about deepening the capacity to enter this cloud of unknowing, rather than opting for the shallow certainties that religion can deliver. Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man Albert Einstein Finally, in science, the best sort - in the sense of the most humanly enriching - is that which answers questions by opening up more questions, and in particular links to questions that are beyond science alone answer. This is the spirit that you see in cosmology. On one level, cosmologists understand an extraordinary amount about the universe. But simultaneously, this only deepens the sense of the universe's tremendousness. The science keeps pointing to the big question of why we here at all. The revival of a committed, passionate agnosticism in philosophy, religion and science is vital for our age. Without it religion will become more extreme; science will become more triumphalist; and our politics increasingly based on fear. Mark Vernon is the author of Science, Religion and the Meaning of Life, published by Palgrave Macmillan. </form> God. Who knows? Ex-vicar turned atheist on why he's now agnostic - and passionate about it Got my number? We test free directory inquiries A Point of View Breaking up (UK) is hard to do... All-night Ashes Going nocturnal for the cricket MAGAZINE REGULARS Daily Mini-Quiz How many people are now paying to use directory inquiries? The Magazine Monitor VISIT THE MAGAZINE INDEX RELATED BBC LINKS Religion and Ethics RELATED INTERNET LINKS Mark Vernon's blog The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites MOST POPULAR STORIES NOW MOST E-MAILED MOST READ God. Who knows? Ski resorts sweat in warm weather Goat guarded from festive vandals Obese should exercise not 'diet' Rainforest gets protected status Most popular now, in detail MOST E-MAILED MOST READ Washington's UN envoy quits post Blaze photographer killed in fire Jail term for underage sex woman God. 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  tetrapod.sapien

  hmmm, interesting.

  it seems to me anyways, that it's the abrahamic folk who are most concerned about their God existing, and ex-abrahamic folk with him not existing. whereas hindus, for example, even have a sect of hinduism for atheists. alright! no sweat! it's only an issue if one makes it into an issue! :)

  edit: oh, and albert einstein was a pantheist, in the tradition of spinoza. not an agnostic. though, everyone is agnostic about some things, and everyone is atheist about some gods. this, i believe, is self-evident.

  peace,

  tetra
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  JWdaughter

  Thoughtful article, thanks.

  Missed you BTW, or have i just not been paying enough attention? Nice to see you!

  Shelly
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  Narkissos

  Thank you Ian, and nice to see you

  Seems like there was much more wisdom to the Athenians' idea of the "unknown god" (agnôstos theos) than to the so-called "revelation" which the "Paul" of Acts 17:22ff covers it with.

  An idea which is also very present in the negative or apophatic theology of the middle ages. The only "God" which cannot be denied is that about which nothing can be said.

  Theism would not be so bad if its "God" were recognised as a metaphor, helpful perhaps but no "truer" than any other metaphor.

  Unfortunately agnosticism is overwhelmingly, as Josh suggests, interpreted as doubt as to whether the God of theism exists or not. Which is too narrow a definition to feed any positive "agnostic spirituality" I'm afraid.
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  jaguarbass

  Interesting article. I am agnostic. I admit I dont know and am very leary of anyone who does know.

  God save me from your followers.
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  heathen

  Yah I watched a show the other night about cosmology and the belief that invisible forces such as dark matter and energy comprise 96% of the universe with 4% being atoms .Now if there are these forces controling the universe that nobody can really explain or prove then why not an invisible God ?