H/T to https://communio.blog/2018/03/07/atheisms-evolutionary-reduction-of-religion-moralism/
Here is a very interesting post. What I hope it illustrates is just how much Christianity is based upon reason, not just the desire to believe what we want to believe.
The author is a Catholic, but I doubt many will find his arguments contrary to those other Christians would use.
Anyway, the argument is patient, careful, and methodical. So please take your time. The reward is worth the effort.
There is an ongoing trend amongst atheists to frame religion in a historical context in order to assert that it was at a time “useful” but is no longer relevant. This way of framing religion is asserted by taking up one of the principles of Evolution which suggests man’s quest for survival is written deeply in his psychology and anthropology. Taking this principle and suggesting that the most obvious way for mankind to survive is through creating a civilization that is governed by some type of morality is the principle theory applied to religion. It is argued that with this instinct to survive, deeply rooted in man’s psychology, man generated religion as a means to foster a type of morality. Placing a moral structure upon a civilization had to be done with a sense of stability, and thus to place such moral ordering into the constant flux of human-opinion…
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Great writeup, thanks for sharing that link Citizen Tom.
I copied and saved the following quote a while back but cannot recall the source now.
I think it was something transcribed from Chesterton:
”I have met an inordinate number of atheists who criticize the Church for devoting itself to the invisible and the eternal, instead of to the practical and hard-headed work of helping the poor on Earth. They list all of the great signs of Church wealth – the grand cathedrals, the priestly vestments – and ask whether all of that might not better be spent on poorhouses, or dormitories for the homeless. In vain do I remind them that the only place in London where a poor man may be assured of a meal is the church kitchens, and that if he needs a bed the first person he will ask is the parish priest. In vain do I mention the saintly men who organize Christian hospitals in East Africa. The atheist accepts all of it, and says it is not enough. Then I ask him if he himself has ever given the poor a shilling, and he tells me that is beside the point.
“Why are those most fixated on something vast and far away so often the only ones to spare a thought for the poor right beside them? Why did St. Francis minister to the lepers, while the princes of his day, seemingly undistracted by the burdens of faith, nevertheless found themselves otherwise engaged? It is simply this – that charity is the fruit of humility, and humility requires something before which to humble one’s self.
(snip) And it is that contact which Mr. Ceglowski most fears. For he thinks that “if everybody contemplates the infinite instead of fixing the drains, many of us will die of cholera.” I wonder if he has ever treated a cholera patient. This is not a rhetorical question; the same pamphlet-forging doctor of my acquaintance went on a medical mission to Haiti during the cholera epidemic there. It seems rather odd that someone who has never fought cholera, should be warning someone who has, that his philosophy prevents him from fighting cholera.”
Just one more note on “survival”:
I think it’s easy for us in our current relative safety to forget that much of the world isn’t safe for Christians. The foundation for the faith is to be Ambassadors to kingdom not of this world. And even though we are all imperfect and forget that and do sinful things, God reminds us and facilitates spreading His word. The Romans used to crucify Christians, feed others to wild animals, and use others as human torches to light the streets. And yet they couldn’t stop Christ’s Kingdom from taking over their empire in just over 200 years. Today there are Christians all over the world who are behaving “counter-to-(Earthly) survival” by practicing their faith.
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The source for that quote from G. K. Chesterton is here => http://slatestarcodex.com/2017/04/01/g-k-chesterton-on-ai-risk/.
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Hey! There it is. Bookmarked.
Thanks Citizen Tom. 🙂
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Keep in mind, that Chesterton likely wrote this in 2017. 😉
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Heh, it was transcribed from a manuscript relayed by “a reader working at an Oxford library”,
Writing is definitely Chestertonesque….if he isn’t the author, I’d like to know who is! I’d like to read a lot more of his stuff! 🙂
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Just looking further and I think you are right…wow, spot-on writing style.
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“What it does prove is that man was made for God, and if he doesn’t believe in God, his existence is arbitrary.”
King Solomon recognized this same conclusion in Ecclesiastes with his phrase “under the sun”
If a man seeks only joy and pleasure during his time “under the sun,” while he may gather earthly treasure for a short lifespan, he will become bored and seek more pleasure, over and over, he will never be satisfied. All he will obtain is travail. (Ecclesiastes 2: 24,25,26 KJV)
Whereas a man who lives “morally” lives and labors with his works to seek Gods reasons for giving him life. To live a moral life that leads his soul to live “above the sun” after his death.
There is no doubt this belief is intrinsic in man, in my opinion. If atheists want to believe it is arbitrary, the evidence of their “travail” is their continuous vanity of trying to dissuade Christians to listen to their arbitrary morality.
Great post in my opinion.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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It’s an excellent post, Tom! Thank you!
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Interesting, Tom. Thanks for linking to it.
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