Opinion of Christian Atheists

[cannibal52]

Hello. I am a Christian Atheist (as said by my information). I'd like to know the opinion of many Christians (of any denomination) on Christian Atheism. If you don't know what Christian Atheism is, it is basically Atheism with a focus on biblical values and Jesus' teachings, etc. I didn't bother asking atheists since most atheists can recognize that atheism is not organized, thus we all have different ideas and what not. Looking forward to some responses.

Cheers.

[Nodens]

As neither a Christian nor an Atheist, my interest is largely academic, but as no one else is rising to the occasion, I'll kick it off.


5 G. Eliot. — They are rid of the Christian God and now believe all the more firmly that they must cling to Christian morality. That is an English consistency; we do not wish to hold it against little moralistic females à la Eliot. In England one must rehabilitate oneself after every little emancipation from theology by showing in a veritably awe-inspiring manner what a moral fanatic one is. That is the penance they pay there.

We others hold otherwise. When one gives up the Christian faith, one pulls the right to Christian morality out from under one's feet. This morality is by no means self-evident: this point has to be exhibited again and again, despite the English flatheads. Christianity is a system, a whole view of things thought out together. By breaking one main concept out of it, the faith in God, one breaks the whole: nothing necessary remains in one's hands. Christianity presupposes that man does not know, cannot know, what is good for him, what evil: he believes in God, who alone knows it. Christian morality is a command; its origin is transcendent; it is beyond all criticism, all right to criticism; it has truth only if God is the truth — it stands and falls with faith in God.

When the English actually believe that they know "intuitively" what is good and evil, when they therefore suppose that they no longer require Christianity as the guarantee of morality, we merely witness the effects of the dominion of the Christian value judgment and an expression of the strength and depth of this dominion: such that the origin of English morality has been forgotten, such that the very conditional character of its right to existence is no longer felt. For the English, morality is not yet a problem.

-F.W. Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

[Psychonaut]

Christian Atheism is...basically Atheism with a focus on biblical values and Jesus' teachings, etc.

Why, if you don't believe in the religious truth of the Bible, do you single out Jesus to the degree that you insert 'Christian' into the name?

[Debaser11]

I sympathize with those who are Christian and admire thinkers like C.S. Lewis and Thomas Aquinas. But I agree with the Noden's citation for the most part. I think in order to be properly motivated, one must have a healthy set of values that have vigor behind them which is lost when faith in God (or Christ) is lost. I don't mean to imply that your integrity is lacking. But such a paradoxical view is likely to lead to inconsistencies which one would be best avoiding. Just think in terms of Kant's categorical imperative. Look around you. Tons of people no doubt say the same (as in "I like the stuff Jesus says, but...") and now the society I live in as a result does not look very Christian to me. Maybe pseudo-Christian in which Jesus is internalized as a permissive, materialistic, nonjudgmental hippy. But that's not the same faith. It's often called "secular humanism." Those people might as well be worshipping a golden idle.

I don't mean to imply anything negative about as a person. I'm actually in the process of trying to resolve this personal issue I have with my private beliefs, myself.

[Herder]

Sounds like an oxymoron at first. Good to have morals but really if you don't believe in God then maybe you think you can get away with bad things and end up burning in hell. Better than devil worshipers anyway.

[Wyn]

Sounds like an oxymoron at first.

It is an oxymoron. Christianos = 'follower of Christ'. To believe in the concept of the Christ (Messiah), you have to believe in God. Hence 'Christian atheist' is a contradictory self-definition.

[Murphy]

Atheism is not organised? What about the Church of Dawkins? The Church of Tatchell and Fry? What of the Church of Hitchens? And let us not forget the countless student congregations. My friend, atheism is a very organised religion.

Now as to Christian atheism.. no, just no.

[Austin]

The values are all that matter to me. It is true though that the values are hard to achieve in a person if they know it is a lie. Once you know something isn't real you can never really fool yourself again, at least not internally.

If you are default moral though you can choose which of the values you deem worthy and live by those which is I think what many do.

If I have children I'm going to try to instill a balanced moralistic+cold secularism in them so that they do not fall prey to the freed-mouse-from-a-cage wildness of the religiously indoctrinated nor the depraved scummery of the leftist degenerates. It's the educated/secular/moralistic girls that stay virgins not the super religious ones out to be corrupted and not the super secular ones. They are plucked first usually by choice.

[Grey]

You choose to adopt a moral code based upon servitude to otherworldly beings whom you do not believe in? Christian morality doesn't even have a practical basis; without Christ, it cannot exist.

[antonio]

Hello. I am a Christian Atheist (as said by my information). I'd like to know the opinion of many Christians (of any denomination) on Christian Atheism. If you don't know what Christian Atheism is, it is basically Atheism with a focus on biblical values and Jesus' teachings, etc. I didn't bother asking atheists since most atheists can recognize that atheism is not organized, thus we all have different ideas and what not. Looking forward to some responses.

Cheers.

Why not Christian-Agnostic? For me Atheism goes far away (even far away) from having a degree of believe of absolute zero, while Agnosticism can even mean a kind of fuzziness Christianity.

[Monolith]

You choose to adopt a moral code based upon servitude to otherworldly beings whom you do not believe in?
Servitude? lol wut?


Christian morality doesn't even have a practical basis; without Christ, it cannot exist.
What's a practical basis, then? The survival of progressive subracial types maybe?

[Psychonaut]

Servitude? lol wut?

Sounds to me like he's referring to the fact that Biblical ethical theory is rooted in the divine command (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_command_ethics).

[Monolith]

Sounds to me like he's referring to the fact that Biblical ethical theory is rooted in the divine command (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divine_command_ethics).
It crossed my mind, though I was in turn referring to the fact that we are given freedom to decide whether we will follow Christ or not. Anyway, acknowledging an authority is not servitude.

[Psychonaut]

It crossed my mind, though I was in turn referring to the fact that we are given freedom to decide whether we will follow Christ or not. Anyway, acknowledging an authority is not servitude.

Yes, but under this kind of divine command system, that's the only fundamental decision you can make unless you want to end up on the path to damnation. You can choose to submit yourself to Christ's law and behave accordingly, or you can choose to do otherwise. Legal codes with penalties attached for violations of that code all require you to submit your will to the code. The thing with divine command schemes like the Judaism/Christianity/Islam family shares involve a conflation of the political and ethical, which results in a kind of moral legalism.