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Christian Atheists
- Thread starter Fool
- Start date
Not these days.
For a while, I checked out the non-theist Quakers when I was trying to find some way to be religious. It didn't work for me, but there are a fair number of them out there.
The same can be said about anyone.
Could you try being more clear in what you are trying to ask? The second sentence in particular just, I think I get what you mean but it's a confusing way to state it. There was/is a group called "Christian atheists" but I don't know if that has any relationship to what you are talking about.
Depends what you consider "the teachings of Jesus" to be. There's a diverse spectrum of opinions on that question even within theistic Christianity.
following the law of reciprocity, or golden rule, is found in many systems
http://www.religioustolerance.org/reciproc2.htm
I don't know any myself but some famous people like Richard Dawkins and Philip Pullman have declared themselves to be "atheist Christians" or 'Christian atheists' of an Anglican variety, who don't believe in any supernatural claims or superstition but regard Christian ethics as one of the most important foundations for Western civilisation and personally identify with it. Dawkins is well-known for being an 'Atheist for Jesus'.
In his 2017 book Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist, Dawkins said the following:
See also:
Richard Dawkins: 'I am a secular Christian'
In terms of Pullman:
Philip Pullman: Atheists can learn from Jesus without believing he was the son of God - Religion News Service
Apparently, only 27% of Dutch Catholics can be regarded as theist, 55% as ietsist, deist or agnostic and 17% as atheist. The number is likely higher now given that the poll was taken a number of years back. So Christian Atheism is by no means a negligible phenomenon.
I certainly prefer it to those atheistic views which are explicitly hostile to Christian ethics and its contribution to liberal-social thought.
I've yet to come across comparable Islamic Atheism but there are a lot of atheist Jews as well.
In his 2017 book Science in the Soul: Selected Writings of a Passionate Rationalist, Dawkins said the following:
Of course Jesus was a theist, but that is the least interesting thing about him. He was a theist because, in his time, everybody was. Atheism was not an option [in Judea], even for so radical a thinker as Jesus. What was interesting and remarkable about Jesus was not the obvious fact that he believed in the God of his Jewish religion, but that he rebelled against many aspects of Yahweh’s vengeful nastiness.
At least in the teachings that are attributed to him, he publicly advocated niceness and was one of the first to do so. To those steeped in the Sharia-like cruelties of Leviticus and Deuteronomy; to those brought up to fear the vindictive, Ayatollah-like God of Abraham and Isaac, a charismatic young preacher who advocated generous forgiveness must have seemed radical to the point of subversion. No wonder they nailed him.
I think we owe Jesus the honour of separating his genuinely original and radical ethics from the supernatural nonsense that he inevitably espoused as a man of his time.
At least in the teachings that are attributed to him, he publicly advocated niceness and was one of the first to do so. To those steeped in the Sharia-like cruelties of Leviticus and Deuteronomy; to those brought up to fear the vindictive, Ayatollah-like God of Abraham and Isaac, a charismatic young preacher who advocated generous forgiveness must have seemed radical to the point of subversion. No wonder they nailed him.
I think we owe Jesus the honour of separating his genuinely original and radical ethics from the supernatural nonsense that he inevitably espoused as a man of his time.
See also:
Richard Dawkins: 'I am a secular Christian'
In terms of Pullman:
Philip Pullman: Atheists can learn from Jesus without believing he was the son of God - Religion News Service
The bestselling author of the His Dark Materials trilogy and The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ, atheist Philip Pullman has received a great deal of attention—and criticism—for the religious references in his work.
CS: What inspired The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ? What can nontheists learn from religious figures?
PP: One part of the inspiration for it came from my realization that in the Epistles of Paul, the writer uses the name ‘Jesus’ thirty times, but ‘Christ’ a hundred and fifty or so. Clearly he felt there was a difference, and the ‘Christ’ part was more important. It’s not impossible to believe that there was a man called Jesus, who preached and had followers and was crucified by the Romans for what were basically political reasons. To go by what we read in the Gospels, he was a man with immense gifts of narrative and imagery, and a moralist of considerable power.
CS: What inspired The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ? What can nontheists learn from religious figures?
PP: One part of the inspiration for it came from my realization that in the Epistles of Paul, the writer uses the name ‘Jesus’ thirty times, but ‘Christ’ a hundred and fifty or so. Clearly he felt there was a difference, and the ‘Christ’ part was more important. It’s not impossible to believe that there was a man called Jesus, who preached and had followers and was crucified by the Romans for what were basically political reasons. To go by what we read in the Gospels, he was a man with immense gifts of narrative and imagery, and a moralist of considerable power.
We can learn a lot from him without having to believe he was the son of God. It was the Christ part that always felt unbelievable. I wanted to dramatize the difference I felt there was between the man Jesus and the myth Christ.
Apparently, only 27% of Dutch Catholics can be regarded as theist, 55% as ietsist, deist or agnostic and 17% as atheist. The number is likely higher now given that the poll was taken a number of years back. So Christian Atheism is by no means a negligible phenomenon.
I certainly prefer it to those atheistic views which are explicitly hostile to Christian ethics and its contribution to liberal-social thought.
I've yet to come across comparable Islamic Atheism but there are a lot of atheist Jews as well.
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Every atheist is a unique human being who just happens to have no belief in god or gods.
The ones i know are decent and moral human beings. I guess many christians would say these are purely christian values
Does that count.
Augustus
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Secular Humanists are basically post-Christian atheists.
unfortunately that is how hate is usually engendered, by claiming exclusivity to moral behavior under the guise of some authority of self-aggrandizing, tribalism, familialism.
Yes, i get it all the time on other forums, not so much on RF but it has happened. "You are atheist so you are not moral". It doesn't usually go down well.
Sleeppy
Fatalist. Christian. Pacifist.
Are you actually atheist? Or agnostic?
"Post-Christian" meaning "not Christian?"
I've always took "Christian" to mean "follower of Christ," not necessarily "emulator of Christ." In fact, I'm sure that many Christians would consider the idea of seeking "to be like Christ" to be blasphemous.
In any case, whichever definition you choose, what it means to either follow Christ or seek to be like Christ depends a lot on what the person's idea of Christ is, as well as what people think his most important teachings were.
And really, who's more "Christ-like": an evangelical who believes deeply in God but ignores Jesus's teachings on social issues, or a non-theistic Quaker who takes to heart all of Jesus's teachings about social issues and eschewing wealth? I'd say a case could be made for the Quaker.
Axe Elf
Prophet
Fine, go with that. A follower of Christ would also believe in God, like Christ did.
I try to stay out of the business of judging who is more of a Christian than someone else. For me, it's a digital question; 1 = yes, you're a Christian, 0 = no, you're not (and God assigns the quantum state).
Augustus
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Meaning "no longer Christian, but an offshoot of Christianity"