Bill Vallicella On Reason, Faith, And Doubt

This entry is part 6 of 8 in the series Pilgrim's Progress.

Readers who have been coming around here for a while will know that in recent years I have felt the need to re-examine all that I once believed about scientism, philosophical materialism, and the existence of God. It began as a grudging acceptance, even as an unbeliever myself, that atheism and secularism might have a corrosive influence on the stability and flourishing of human societies (see this post from 2009), but over time — as I engaged more and more deeply with the writings of sophisticated theists ancient and modern, and faced up more squarely to the shortcomings, limitations, hand-waving, and promissory notes of scientific materialism — my own unbelief began to crumble, leaving me, as Gurdjieff once said about people in a similar situation, “between two chairs”. I cannot yet call myself, quite, a believer, but at this point I must say, at least, that I can no longer see a compelling reason not to be, and that if I look into my heart, I find that I wish I were. I have written about this in a linked series of posts, starting here (to which, I suppose, I’ll add this one.)

Bill Vallicella, whose uncommon clarity on these difficult questions has been a steady influence on my own evolution, has just written a wee jewel of a post on the role of doubt in the life of the rational theist. In its closing paragraph, Bill considers the underpinnings of his Christian belief, and what his faith commits him to:

My acceptance takes the form, not of an acceptance of a ready-made proposition or set of propositions, but the acceptance of a task to be pursued in all seriousness, the task of investigating the matter in all its ramifications via reasoning, prayer, meditation, examination of conscience, study of all relevant literary sources, including scripture, commentaries thereon, the works of the great and not-so-great philosophers of all times and places, with no slighting of Athens, or Jerusalem, or Benares, or Alexandria, and seeking out the few living who may have been vouchsafed a higher degree of insight than that which I find in myself.

Yes! This is it exactly, as I have only lately come fully to understand: “a task to be pursued in all seriousness.” The stakes, after all, are infinite.

Read the rest here.

3 Comments

  1. Dave P says

    Malcolm – As you pursue this task it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on doing the work from opposite ends of the spectrum. You as a lifelong unbeliever, and Dr. Vallicella as a deeply invested Christian.

    Posted February 7, 2022 at 11:42 am | Permalink
  2. Malcolm says

    Dave,

    Yes, I do hope to continue to discuss all of this with Bill going forward.

    The reason, however that he was so influential on my own progression was that he actually wrote a great deal about theism from the end of the rational and philosophical “end of the spectrum” I was already on. That was exactly the entry-point that I needed, and he (and others, e.g. Chesterton, Lewis, Feser, Francis Sheed) provided it.

    Posted February 7, 2022 at 12:02 pm | Permalink
  3. Dave says

    Mark 10:15, King James Version:

    Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein.

    Posted March 24, 2022 at 12:20 pm | Permalink

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