Alister McGrath is currently Andreas Idreos professor of science and religion at Oxford University. He earned three doctorates from Oxford University. A Ph.D. for his research in molecular biophysics, a D.D. in historical and systematic theology and a D.Litt. for research into science and religion and natural religion. Formerly an atheist he discovered that Christianity was more intellectually robust than he imagined and was ordained into the Anglican ministry. In his latest book, BORN TO WONDER: Exploring our deepest questions – why are we here & why does it matter, he reflects on what it means to be a human being and why the world is in such a mess.
He cites, philosopher Iris Murdoch who described us as anxiety-ridden animals who try to deny the unbearable truth about our failings and delusions and spin stories of our meaning that isolate us from disturbing insights about our motives and failings. He quotes Albert Camus who suggested that we human beings are creatures who spend our lives trying to convince ourselves that our existence is not absurd. Raymond Tallis is an atheist who rejects the view of fellow atheists who reduce our significance to atoms and molecules. He claims that the great unexamined orthodoxy of our day is that a purely scientific account of human nature and identity is possible which is the only valid explanation and account of everything including the deepest questions about human nature.
McGrath sees us as a complex reality which requires us to understand ourselves from multiple perspectives. It is simplistic to take the view of biologist Francis Crick who defined human being in purely neurological terms, that our joys and sorrows, memories and ambitions, our sense of personal identity and free will are in fact no more than the behavior of a vast assembly of nerve cells and their associated molecules, that we are nothing but a pack of neurons. The same is true of Richard Dawkins’ view that we are essentially machines which are controlled and determined by our DNA.
St. Augustine wrote that “People travel so that they can wonder at the heights of the mountains, the huge waves of the sea, the broad flow of the rivers, the vastness of the ocean, the orbits of the stars – and yet fail to wonder at themselves.” Who are we? What are we? What do we mean? McGrath point out “The limits placed on the human intellect are such that we can only know partial truths, being able to grasp and understand only a small part of our universe.”
Humanity has both a propensity and a love for self-deception. We cannot be objective about ourselves. We have a delusional view of reality. We attempt to see things objectively yet we are so immersed in the business of living our lives, interacting with others and processing our emotions and reactions that we cannot see the wood for the trees. Christian faith is about active engagement in life, not passive observation from a distance. The detached objectivity of science is to be welcomed, yet it restricts the capacity of science to engage with the deepest existential questions of life, including those of meaning and value.
Meaning in life can be defined as the extent to which people comprehend, make sense of, or see significance in their lives, accompanied by the degree to which they perceive themselves to have a purpose, mission, or overarching aim in life. We need to feel that we can make a difference to things and to take control of our lives; we need a sense of identity and purpose if we are cope with traumatic experiences in life and our awareness of our own mortality. We need more than science can provide us if we are to lead meaningful lives. Even if all possible scientific questions are answered, the problems of life will still not be touched at all. Science can only offer limited guidance as we reflect on the issues of meaning and value. Science cannot tell us what is good and evil. Facts are not enough. They need to be interpreted and understood. Wittgenstein declared, “To believe in a God means to understand the question about the meaning of life. To believe in a God means to see that the facts of the world are not the end of the matter.”
McGrath concludes with three points.
- Humility: Reality is a lot bigger than we are. We now only see in a mirror dimly (1 Cor.13:12).
- Generosity: We will have to learn to live with unresolved questions. All scientific theories are provisional. We all need faith to believe our preferred answers.
- Wonder: A willingness to expand our vision. Mystery is something that ultimately triumphs over the human instinct to reduce and simplify. In Christianity this is evident in the creative tension between theology and worship which paradoxically celebrates both the fact that so much of God can be grasped, however inadequately by the human mind, while at the same time so much remains beyond the human capacity to understand and hence leads to worship, in the sense of acknowledging that the greatness and majesty of God eludes verbal analysis and is best expressed in praise and adoration.
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