(as opposed to genuine) religion and has spurred medical and scientific discovery. The question is, which
of these two faiths is the more reasonable?
Brutality. Both Christians and naturalist-materialists are responsible for atrocities-e.g., pogroms
perpetrated by Christians in the late Middle Ages, the gutlessness of the majority of Christians in Nazi
Germany, the death squads of France's anti-Christian revolutionaries, and the mass murder of the twentieth
century's officially atheistic regimes. The question is, which of these faiths is least likely to lend support
to brutality?
The terror of 1936-8 [in the Soviet Union] was an almost uniquely devastating blow inflicted by a
government on its own population, and the charges against the millions of victims were almost
without exception entirely false. Stalin personally ordered, inspired and organized the operation.Robert Conquest, historian and political writer (1991)Faith. Both Christian theists and materialistic naturalists exercise faith. Theists have faith in a God they
cannot see directly, though they can speak to him, and they perceive that they can gain guidance from him;
they sense his presence; they can see his work in their lives; and they can love him and be angry at him.
Among thoughtful theists at least, this faith isn't "blind"; it's based on a relationship, albeit one not
precisely paralleled by any other. It is based on an experiential knowledge that, in good cases, is in
accord with Christian intellectual tradition. It's true that, unfortunately, many Christians have little insight
into Christian tradition; their "experiences" are rooted in emotion-songs sung at camp, the hype of a
talented preacher and so on.
Materialists put their faith in the idea that the vast majority of people who have lived, and who live
now, are fundamentally mistaken about some of life's most basic questions. Against the vast majority of
people, materialists believe that no ultimate meaning exists in a nonmaterialistic world, because there is
no nonmaterialistic world. Also against the vast majority of people, materialists believe that there is no
use in looking for solutions, or partial solutions, to the human condition in spiritual sources. (The
philosopher John Kekes warns readers against falling for the "metaphysical temptation.")
Positively, materialists believe that naturalistic causes for the most complex and seemingly mysterious
phenomena will (or can) be found, given enough time and resources. Since the future is unknowable, and
since mystery continues to pervade human life despite naturalism's achievements heretofore, this belief is
precisely that-a belief nurtured by the faith of a relatively small sect known especially to gather in science
departments at universities, mainly in Europe and in other Western or Westernized societies. (Heretics in
these departments often have a tough time.)
Reality is a multi-layered unity. I can perceive another person as an aggregation of atoms, an open
biochemical system in interaction with the environment, a specimen of homo sapiens, an object of
beauty, someone whose needs deserve my respect and compassion, a brother for whom Christ died.
All are true and all mysteriously coinhere in that one person.John Polkinghorne, physicist and theologian (1986)Christian faith has no problem absorbing the discoveries of naturalists. As some Christians put it, "It's
God's world," so whatever seems to be true about the world, as borne out by science, is welcomed, or
should be, because it tells us about God's world.