Taking Atheism Seriously: A Challenge for Theology in the 21st Century

In his paper, Frederiek Depoortere (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) subscribes to Godzieba’s conclusion (put forward in the previous chapter) that we indeed need an argument for the existence of God, but he takes another road to the same outcome. Depoortere starts from the view of the early Schillebeeckx on the character of religion and faith, showing that in this view true religion and true faith are not possible without God’s existence. He subsequently argues that the way in which some theologians try to resolve the conflict between science and religion results in a plea for a faith in a non-existent God, a faith which thus collapses into atheism. If such a collapse is to be avoided, we are therefore in need of a natural basis for faith and this need for a natural basis of faith is precisely what the early Schillebeeckx has defended. Thus, remarkably, Depoortere argues on the basis of the early Schillebeeckx for the position which Godzieba is defending against the later Schillebeeckx. This of course suggests that, at least concerning the need for an argument for the existence of God, there has been an important shift in the thought of Schillebeeckx and that therefore, at least with regard to this issue, the earlier Schillebeeckx is more promising than the later Schillebeeckx.status: publishe