The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World

The Twilight of Atheism: The Rise and Fall of Disbelief in the Modern World by Alister McGrath† is reviewed by Gordon Peckham

McGrath gives a scholarly and even sympathetic account of the rise of atheism over the years following the French revolution – the modern age. He claims that since about 1980, in a post-modern‡ age, atheism has been in decline and is being replaced by a resurgence of belief in God. "Post-modern culture seems fed up with the rather boring platitudes of scientific progress and longs for something more interesting and exciting." Christianity is not the only beneficiary of this longing, or "yearning for the transcendent", from which a plethora of new-age beliefs have ensued such as astrology, feng shui or ley lines. Just because an idea is interesting and exciting, or satisfies a yearning, does not make it true, although some post-modern philosophers may argue otherwise. Francis Wheen describes this present 'age of credulity' in his book How Mumbo-Jumbo Conquered the World.

McGrath claims to be sympathetic to science and accepts such scientific ideas as the evolution of life. His 'scientific theology' "[draws] upon the working assumptions and methods of the natural sciences … encouraging a direct and positive engagement with a scientific culture" (A Scientific Theology by Alister McGrath). He claims that there is no conflict between science and a belief in God. However McGrath's type of evangelical Christianity is usually associated with a whole bundle of beliefs, many of which are very difficult to reconcile with science; McGrath glosses over such detail, emphasising an undefined 'spirituality', but Christianity has no unique claim to this concept. The advance of science has pushed back 'God of the gaps' to the role of initiator of the universe and deviser of the rules by which it operates. Although there is no direct contradiction with belief in such a God (but this is probably not McGrath's God), why should we not simply admit that the answers to some questions are unknown? Science is used to living with uncertainties, but not McGrath; his science is constrained to "seeing nature as God's creation".

He takes atheism to be anti-theism rather than indifference to theism and damns it as responsible for the atrocities of fascism and communism. He sees the fall of the Berlin Wall as symbolising "a growing recognition of the uninhabitability of such a place [a godless world]". McGrath completely ignores the current spate of atrocities driven by religious fundamentalism. As Popper emphasised (The Open Society and its Enemies), intolerance often leading to cruelty is common to any dogmatic authority, religious or secular. Later in the book McGrath seems to agree: "Yet this humanity has been responsible for a number of moral, political and social catastrophes, some inspired by a belief in God, others by a belief that God must be eliminated, by all means and at all costs. The common denominator here is humanity, not divinity."

Surprisingly, McGrath does not discuss morality in recent times, but leaves us with Nietzsche's lament "How much must collapse now that this faith [in God] has been undermined, because it was once built upon this faith, propped up by it, and grown into it – for example, the totality of European morality." But morality has developed with society and is not a prerogative of religion. Teaching that morality is based on religion is dangerous – what happens when belief in God is lost?

For McGrath religion appeals to the imagination not the intellect so that he emphasises the social and mystical aspects of belief and its popularity; arguments about truth are irrelevant. This is consistent with his post-modern philosophy with its hostility to any objective truth. Maybe rationalism is in retreat but almost anything may be believed in this new age of credulity. Christianity has no special place here.

For more reviews see here and here.

† Professor of Historical Theology at the University of Oxford, recently also appointed as Director of the Oxford Centre for Evangelism and Apologetics.

‡ McGrath defines post-modernism as "a cultural mood that celebrates diversity and seeks to undermine those who offer a rigid, restrictive, and oppressive view of the world." The concept originated with Lyotard's La Condition Postmoderne published in 1979, and is characterised by the rejection of 'grand narratives': the major systems of religious, cultural or political ideas.