McGrath Responds to Dawkins
Alister McGrath, who holds a PhD in molecular biophysics, is professor of historical theology at Oxford University, the same university where one finds Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion. A few days ago he gave a brief critique of Dawkins and his book here. Dawkins accuses Christians of being immune to argument, yet McGrath asserts it is Dawkins who is guilty of coming across as a “dogmatic aggressive propagandist.” I found McGrath’s description of how he arrived at the conclusion that the Christian faith is true and the most reasonable conclusion to be an example of McGrath’s reasonable approach to his faith. Here is his description:
Of course, back in the Sixties, everyone who mattered was telling us that religion was dead. I was an atheist then. Growing up as a Protestant in Northern Ireland, I had come to believe religion was the cause of the Province’s problems. While I loved studying the sciences at school, they were important for another reason: science disproved God. Believing in God was only for sad, mad and bad people who had yet to be enlightened by science.
I went up to Oxford to study the sciences in 1971, expecting my atheism to be consolidated. In the event, my world was turned upside down. I gave up one belief, atheism, and embraced another, Christianity. Why? There were many factors. For a start, I was alarmed by some atheist writings, which seemed more preoccupied with rubbishing religion than seeking the truth.
Above all, I encountered something at Oxford that I had failed to meet in Northern Ireland - articulate Christians who were able to challenge my atheism. I soon discovered two life-changing things.
First, Christianity made a lot of sense. It gave me a new way of seeing and understanding the world, above all, the natural sciences. Second, I discovered Christianity actually worked: it brought purpose and dignity to life.