Quote:
Originally Posted by mbovenka
I assume you mean Richard Dawkins. I don't think he claims to be an expert on theology. He just claims that there is no reason to assume that something like God exists, and that that means that theology is as much a science as, say, astrology is: internally consistent, perhaps, but without any use or meaning in the real world.
That seems a logical stance to me, assuming that one agrees with his basic idea, which a theologian probably wouldn't  |
He wrote
The God Delusion
Quote:
|
Eastern Orthodox theologian David Bentley Hart says that Dawkins "devoted several pages of The God Delusion to a discussion of the 'Five Ways' of Thomas Aquinas but never thought to avail himself of the services of some scholar of ancient and mediaeval thought who might have explained them to him ... As a result, he not only mistook the Five Ways for Thomas's comprehensive statement on why we should believe in God, which they most definitely are not, but ended up completely misrepresenting the logic of every single one of them, and at the most basic levels."
|
It's a badly researched attack on mainstream religion, not an honest argument for Atheism.
It's acceptable to ignore philosophy or to be an atheist. Or to write a book explaining why you think god is a delusion. But if you are making arguments against Christianity in particular rather than against a belief in god(s) you ought to research the differences between Hinduism, Christianity etc. and not publish an entire book full of childish errors about what people actually believe.
Science has little to say about Philosophy. It's a different field. Faith systems and Religions may overlap Philosophy. Atheism is a Philosophy. Humanism is a kind of religion where faith is in humans rather than god. Neither can be proven by science.
Being an expert biologist doesn't make someone an expert on theology or philosophy. Neither theologians or philosophers (especially) need to believe (have faith in) what they write. There have been plenty of CofE Bishops & Ministers that have been (and are) atheists. Also theologians. No shortage of philosophers that are atheists.