April 7, 2012, by Stephen Mumford
Spirit and Supernature
It’s the Easter vacation, which for Christians is one of the holiest times. I’ve never made a secret of the fact that I don’t have a religious bone in my body. But I cannot deny the deep feelings of spirituality that many others have. Countless educated and rational people believe in a God, spirits and an afterlife.
The impact of religion on human civilisation is incalculable and continues, showing little sign of abating as we progress through the 21st century. Many world leaders profess belief in a God. It may be politically impossible to govern some nations without an allegiance to a religion. On a recent visit to Jerusalem, I saw three brands of religious fervour as Jew, Muslim and Christian from around the world gathered to praise their Gods. I could see on some of their faces a lifetime’s dream being satisfied.
I’m not sure what exactly it is that I’m missing. I do feel that I’m a spiritual person in a very broad sense. I love friendship and thought. I like to think I am not a materialist. I certainly don’t worship wealth or possessions. People count the most, love and art. But I’ve never felt that any of this has to go alongside belief in a transcendent deity. And even if a God existed, I’ve not seen that it automatically follows I should worship it. I find worship of anything distasteful.
Metaphysics is my area. Those who are religious must share my interest. For there is a deeply metaphysical conviction at the basis of religion. What is special about God, spirit and the mystical is that it is all supposed to be above and beyond our mundane world. I take it the view is that the natural world of space and time is not the total of reality. There must also be something more – a supernatural realm – that is distinct from and not bound by our natural laws. On some views, these two realms can causally interact. The supernatural God can cause events to happen in the natural world; and our prayers can be heard by that same God. The causal interaction can go both ways. While there are many varieties of religion, this metaphysical picture would seem to apply to a lot of them.
I don’t find this metaphysics appealing. Evidently, many others do. I wish them all peace. And for those who are Christians, a Happy Easter.
[I discussed the causal interaction of the natural and supernatural worlds in my article “Miracles: Metaphysics and Modality”, Religious Studies 37 (2001)]
“On some views, these two realms can causally interact. The supernatural God can cause events to happen in the natural world; and our prayers can be heard by that same God. The causal interaction can go both ways. While the are many varieties of religion, this metaphysical picture would seem to apply to a lot of them.”
I find the view that two ontologically distinct paradigms can causally interact to be quite problematic. Those who claim that the physical realm is causally open must endeavor to describe the ways through which such interactions are possible. I think that there are always plausible physical causes to describe extraordinary physical events without needing to resort to a supernatural account.
I think sometimes both the non-religious and the “professionally religious” take metaphysics to be a bigger part of religious attitudes than it need be or often is. But setting that aside, a thought on “worship.” if we think of religious worship as a kind of fawning adulation that the believer sees as demanded by God, then we’re in the precincts of idolatory. A god who demanded worship or selectively rewarded it would not be worthy of being called God. The more fitting idea is of something that _by its nature_ calls forth reverence, awe and love. In particular, in Christianity the love of God is in response to God’s boundless love for us. Whatever one’s views on the reality of such a thing (and on that my comments offer no claim whatever), it’s what reflective Christians celebrating Easter are celebrating.
Allen, you are describing the Good, not the God that many Christians worship. 🙂 That God has it that you only get to go to heaven if you believe that Jesus was Him. I have a dear, dear friend who is this kind of Christian. I agree with you that many Christians doubt that this could be so, of the Christian God. But there seems to me no getting around the fact that it is precisely this part of the story that is in the foreground at Easter. It would be nice if there were a holiday just for the goodness part of the creed. Maybe Christmas is supposed to be that; I don’t know. Stephen, I love how you put it: “People matter the most, love and art.” Given the prevalence of the belief in deities in the US, I often find that it is hard for people to remember that there are religions that don’t have them. Or, if we want to say that by definition a religion must be deistic, then spiritual belief systems that don’t have them. Anyway, in the spirit of the season, here is a religious fragment that I like, for the non-deists:
At the center
is one
sweet pulse
swirls of sap
In the beginning was bliss
sun
yolk
mud
come, slide in
Agree: for many Xtians, the idolatrous version is at the center. But the Christians who don’t see it that way aren’t heretics, which is precisely the “getting around” the fact.
Bear in mind that standard Roman Catholic theology has long since embraced Rahner’s doctrine of the “anonymous Christian.” On that view, explicit belief in Jesus as Christ is not required for salvation. Theologically informed Catholics are by no means the only Christians who reject salvific exclusivism. (I’ve written about this. Let me know if you’re interested.)
I truly don’t mind whether people are believers or not, let alone Christian or not. But I’m not willing to reduce Christianity to its cruder versions; the same goes, of course, for other traditions as well.
Allen, yes I’d be v. interested. I always thought that you had to at least grant the people who believe in God that God is a deity. So “I believe in universal love,” say, seems to me to do a disservice to the people who really do believe in real, live deities. I always wanted to call those people out. Deity or not? But I never even *knew* about the “You only get to heaven if you believe in Jesus; God set up the whole plan because it was (I guess) the only way to bring about the outcome He wanted; etc., etc., etc.” story until my dear, dear friend explained it to me a few years ago. I still have no idea how to get it to add up to a loving God. In fact, I have come to think that the non-rational fusion of brutal violence (plus drinking blood, etc.) with claims to all-encompassing (yet seemingly fickle & highly conditioned) love is part of what accounts for the psychic hold on people of that kind of Christianity. The brazen incoherence of it. My friend’s kind requires you to be kind to people, so it’s not like the type where the appeal is that you get to spew venom. Still, it stopped me in my tracks. I never knew that smart people actually believed stuff like that. I consider myself to be kind of a mix of non-deistic Quaker and Taoist — or, you might say, a Platonist who likes the physical in its own right. 🙂 In general, I’m in favor of emphasizing the most sophisticated versions of the religions that have gods and official story lines and such; no investment in stressing the literal as rule. I’d be really interested to read things you’ve written on this.
I am not a religious person and I can see where you are coming from in your blog post! The thing I do not like about some religions is the way young people can be forced to believe certain things from a young age. Although I am atheist i believe that religion can be good for many things, a lot of religious people have very strong family values and this can only be a good thing. I respect the people that follow their religion if they are not ignorant to other peoples thoughts about life. In the US it seems religion is a money making business, and the people that use it for this lie, cheat and steal of their own followers! I do hope the UK does not follow in their footsteps. For me life is for living, and as long as you make a positive difference in other peoples lives who can say you have done wrong!
I think Einstein puts it beautifully-
“The most beautiful and deepest experience a man can have is the sense of the mysterious. It is the underlying principle of religion as well as all serious endeavour in art and science. He who never had this experience seems to me, if not dead, then at least blind. To sense that behind anything that can be experienced there is a something that our mind cannot grasp and whose beauty and sublimity reaches us only indirectly and as a feeble reflection, this is religiousness.
In this sense I am religious. To me it suffices to wonder at these secrets and to attempt humbly to grasp with my mind a mere image of the lofty structure of all that there is.”
I recently discovered religion. I explain my reasons here:
http://conscienceandconsciousness.com/2014/03/31/coming-out-as-a-liberal-christian/