Category - atheism

The battle for truth?

Jordan Tchilingirian — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 01:05:48 +0100

Start: 07/10/2008 - 18:30

End: 07/10/2008 - 20:00

Does science lead inexorably to atheism?

Moral practice and non-belief

Giles Fraser — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:59:17 +0100

Atheists are often criticising the ethics of religious belief, says Giles Fraser. But do they base their own moral practice too much on what they are against?

Religion and Society research programme

Simon Barrow — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 13:50:53 +0000

A major five year research programme on faith and society is underway, and has a valuable new website.

God is beyond metaphysics

Giles Fraser — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:03:57 +0000

Christianity has suffered as a result of trying to subject an ineffable and transcendent God to the inevitable limitations of speculative philosophy, says Giles Fraser. But divine reality impinges upon us much more immediately in the Gospel.

Williams questions Dawkins' critical thinking about religion

staff writers — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 09:32:03 +0100

Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has said that Richard Dawkins and other apostles of anti-religious sentiment are oversimplifying complex issues and often missing the point. His comments came in a lecture at the University of Swansea.

Why Christians should take Richard Dawkins seriously

Richard Skinner — Wed, 19 Sep 2007 01:35:02 +0100

Though the god Richard Dawkins seeks to demolish is a caricature and often based on ill-informed analysis, says Richard Skinner, it is uncomfortably close to the idol some Christians have chosen to worship.

The slow dawn of reason?

Simon Barrow — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:24:07 +0100

Both Richard Dawkins and Polly Toynbee, who spend a good deal of time fulminating against caricatures of 'religion' were on the BBC today. And guess what, they abandoned vituperation for once.

We need a more intelligent religion debate

Theo Hobson — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 23:33:21 +0100

Current media debates about religion are often ill-informed as well as partisan, says Theo Hobson. Atheists as well as believers need challenging on their outlook.

Rethinking Christianity - by Keith Ward

Simon Barrow — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 22:55:14 +0100

In an era where a basic understanding of what Christianity is about cannot be taken for granted, Simon Barrow welcomes a new book by philosopher and theologian Keith Ward which clears some ground and opens up issues.

What difference does God make today?

Simon Barrow — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 17:34:58 +0100

In a society which is publicly sceptical of Christianity and which often assumes that all 'God talk' is superstituous or merely subjective, this paper suggests how the basic grammar of Christian belief can make sense today, and how it can be mapped in relation to key issues like globalisation, responding to human suffering, and the crisis of communication within mixed-conviction societies. Unlike many of Ekklesia's research papers, it is not directly tackling public policy issues, but instead is an extended essay exploring (especially through the work of Nicholas Lash, and others) some fundamental questions about how Christian convictions are shaped and articulated in the public realm. This is important, because much of our work and commentary employs explicitly theological language - although usually at a more popular level. The paper seeks to show that the meaning of 'God' is widely misunderstood, both by believers and sceptics, and that Christian theology offers some distinctive and robust resources for coming to terms with the demands of daily life, politics, culture, economics and society - but not in the easy, prescriptive way that is usually supposed. It includes a brief historical look at how and why talk of God became meaningless for so many in Western culture - before moving on to show how Christian thought becomes intelligible and effective once more when it is embodied in relationships, passionate conversation, shared living and action for change, rather than in abstract metaphysical categories. The essay does not presuppose wide theological reading, but it is a fairly dense exploration of some foundational issues. [Updated July 2007]

Simon Barrow