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“One of the best books I have read in my entire life.” So said Ulrich Lehner, professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame and himself the author of twelve books. He was talking about Peter Harrison’s new book, Some New World: Myths of Supernatural Belief in a Secular Age.
Harrison served as Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, and his book is a thorough debunking of many false narratives about science, religion, and naturalism.
What is “naturalism”? Harrison describes naturalism by means of a quotation from Sean Carroll: “There is only one world, the natural world, exhibiting patterns of what we call the ‘law of nature’, and which is discoverable by the methods of the sciences and empirical investigations. There is no separable realm of the supernatural, spiritual, or divine; nor is there any teleology or transcendent purpose inherent in the nature of the universe or in human life.” Naturalism, argues Harrison, has its own foundational fairy tales, dubious historical narratives created in the nineteenth century. According to these narratives, atheistic naturalism has a long, distinguished history going back to the ancient Greek philosophers.
But, Harrison points out, Plato and Aristotle were not atheists but rather deeply religious. Stoics like Marcus Aurelius were materialists, but the Stoics nevertheless believed in a Divine Logos pervading the entire universe and guiding each human being. Ancient Greek Epicureans denied divine providence, but they did not deny the existence of the divine. For example, the Epicurean Lucretius wrote, “The nature of divinity must necessarily enjoy immortal life along with the greatest peace, far removed and separated from our affairs; for without any pain, without any danger, itself mighty by its own resources, needing us in nothing, it is neither moved by benefactions nor touched by anger.” This metaphysical claim from Lucretius sounds not like the atheism of Thomas Nagel but like the theism of Thomas Aquinas.
Continued below.
www.wordonfire.org
Harrison served as Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at the University of Oxford, and his book is a thorough debunking of many false narratives about science, religion, and naturalism.
What is “naturalism”? Harrison describes naturalism by means of a quotation from Sean Carroll: “There is only one world, the natural world, exhibiting patterns of what we call the ‘law of nature’, and which is discoverable by the methods of the sciences and empirical investigations. There is no separable realm of the supernatural, spiritual, or divine; nor is there any teleology or transcendent purpose inherent in the nature of the universe or in human life.” Naturalism, argues Harrison, has its own foundational fairy tales, dubious historical narratives created in the nineteenth century. According to these narratives, atheistic naturalism has a long, distinguished history going back to the ancient Greek philosophers.
But, Harrison points out, Plato and Aristotle were not atheists but rather deeply religious. Stoics like Marcus Aurelius were materialists, but the Stoics nevertheless believed in a Divine Logos pervading the entire universe and guiding each human being. Ancient Greek Epicureans denied divine providence, but they did not deny the existence of the divine. For example, the Epicurean Lucretius wrote, “The nature of divinity must necessarily enjoy immortal life along with the greatest peace, far removed and separated from our affairs; for without any pain, without any danger, itself mighty by its own resources, needing us in nothing, it is neither moved by benefactions nor touched by anger.” This metaphysical claim from Lucretius sounds not like the atheism of Thomas Nagel but like the theism of Thomas Aquinas.
Continued below.
Myths about Naturalism, Science, and Religion - Word on Fire
Peter Harrison’s book "Some New World" debunks myths of modernity about the origins of science and its incompatibility with religious belief.
www.wordonfire.org
