An interview with Richard Grigg
Fortress Press: Given all your work on the God question, including your book with us—Beyond the God Delusion—what do you think of the recent phenomenon of atheist-based and science-based critiques of Christian belief?
Richard Grigg: The usual theistic response is to assert that the “new atheism” never takes on the most sophisticated theological perspectives. It seems to me that this response is a bit too easy, however. The problem is at least two-fold. First, the atheistic critiques offered by writers such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris often come down to complaints about the ethical results of belief in God, and such results may attach to sophisticated philosophical theisms as well as to simplistic ones. Second, there are some atheist writers—Victor Stenger is perhaps the best example—who certainly do attempt to grapple with sophisticated theological claims.
Of course, this is potentially an exciting time for Christian theism in that the new atheism is a very public and intellectually potent challenge to Christianity and other religions. Thus, it offers religious thinkers an opportunity to engage in a more public debate and to expose a wider audience to the latest theological thinking than theologians have had for some time.
FP: You are critical of scientists and their misunderstandings of religion, but you’re also critical of theologians. What should theologians be doing to address the God question more honestly?
RG: I believe that there are theologians who do in fact address science straightforwardly and honestly, even if I do not necessarily agree with their theologies. Nancey Murphy and John Haught come to mind as examples. In general, though, theologians need to be honest about and develop ways to deal with some of the more subtle ways that science and religion get into conflict. For example, only biblically literalist theologians see a conflict between Darwin and Christianity based on the creation stories in Genesis. But not enough theologians address the more difficult issues, such as the fact that approximately 99% of all species that have existed on the face of the earth have gone extinct. This presents a genuine challenge to the notion of life as the work of an intelligent, not to mention efficient, God.
FP: Where do you think the cultural question about God is headed?
RG: There are many possible fascinating roads that the question might take, but allow me to highlight one: It seems likely that, as time goes on, more and more Americans will imbibe the attitude (most clearly exemplified in New Age spirituality) that religion is something that we can fashion according to our individual idiosyncratic needs. The central question that arises, then, is “What is the role of theology in upholding the notion that truth claims, including claims about God, are somehow beholden to rules of logic and to rational debate?”
Richard Grigg is the author of Beyond the God Delusion: How Radical Theology Harmonizes Science and Religion. Click here to connect with Richard on Fortress Forum!
Richard Grigg: The usual theistic response is to assert that the “new atheism” never takes on the most sophisticated theological perspectives. It seems to me that this response is a bit too easy, however. The problem is at least two-fold. First, the atheistic critiques offered by writers such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, and Sam Harris often come down to complaints about the ethical results of belief in God, and such results may attach to sophisticated philosophical theisms as well as to simplistic ones. Second, there are some atheist writers—Victor Stenger is perhaps the best example—who certainly do attempt to grapple with sophisticated theological claims.
Of course, this is potentially an exciting time for Christian theism in that the new atheism is a very public and intellectually potent challenge to Christianity and other religions. Thus, it offers religious thinkers an opportunity to engage in a more public debate and to expose a wider audience to the latest theological thinking than theologians have had for some time.
FP: You are critical of scientists and their misunderstandings of religion, but you’re also critical of theologians. What should theologians be doing to address the God question more honestly?
RG: I believe that there are theologians who do in fact address science straightforwardly and honestly, even if I do not necessarily agree with their theologies. Nancey Murphy and John Haught come to mind as examples. In general, though, theologians need to be honest about and develop ways to deal with some of the more subtle ways that science and religion get into conflict. For example, only biblically literalist theologians see a conflict between Darwin and Christianity based on the creation stories in Genesis. But not enough theologians address the more difficult issues, such as the fact that approximately 99% of all species that have existed on the face of the earth have gone extinct. This presents a genuine challenge to the notion of life as the work of an intelligent, not to mention efficient, God.
FP: Where do you think the cultural question about God is headed?
RG: There are many possible fascinating roads that the question might take, but allow me to highlight one: It seems likely that, as time goes on, more and more Americans will imbibe the attitude (most clearly exemplified in New Age spirituality) that religion is something that we can fashion according to our individual idiosyncratic needs. The central question that arises, then, is “What is the role of theology in upholding the notion that truth claims, including claims about God, are somehow beholden to rules of logic and to rational debate?”
Richard Grigg is the author of Beyond the God Delusion: How Radical Theology Harmonizes Science and Religion. Click here to connect with Richard on Fortress Forum!
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