Christian atheists?

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I’m guessing the term really means “cultural Christian atheist”. A good percentage of the people in the West are cultural Chrisian atheists, more or less. That is, they subscribe (more or less) to the culture and morality that arose from Christian Europe, while rejecting Christianity (and God).

It’s really just a form of living off your stored fat. Works OK for a while, and then you run out, start digesting muscle and finally starve. I think the West is well into the muscle digestion stage by now.
 
Science Fiction and Fantasy writer SM (Steven Michael) Stirling (Draka Novels, Island in Eternity novels) said he was both an Anglican and an Atheist. Which just reminds us of the old joke about the Anglican Church being the sort of church where an atheist can feel comfortable.

The late Steven Jay Gould, (almost as publicaly atheist as Richard Dawkins) sang in an Episcopalian choir.

And Speaking of the Episcopalians…let us not forget Bishop (retired) John Shelby Spong…
 
Lion_of_Narnia said:
Science Fiction and Fantasy writer SM (Steven Michael) Stirling (Draka Novels, Island in Eternity novels) said he was both an Anglican and an Atheist. Which just reminds us of the old joke about the Anglican Church being the sort of church where an atheist can feel comfortable.

The late Steven Jay Gould, (almost as publicaly atheist as Richard Dawkins) sang in an Episcopalian choir.

And Speaking of the Episcopalians…let us not forget Bishop (retired) John Shelby Spong…
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I meant the question of whether it is possible for one to simultaneously be Christian and an atheist like Lubos Motl claims to be.
 
I actually like Spong. And I like a Church that allows a range of viewpoints. The old joke is that wherever you find 4 Episcopalians, you’ll find 5 lines of reasoning.
 
ribozyme said:
I meant the question of whether it is possible for one to simultaneously be Christian and an atheist like Lubos Motl claims to be.
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In my opinion a person cannot be a Christian and an atheist because by definition an atheist does not believe in God.
 
There are plenty of Christian Atheists around. Many Christians really do not believe in God as many Atheist’s really do not, not believe in God.

They just feel comfortable living that lifestyle. Many people live their lives as how other people want them to or a lifestyle of self worship.

If I am a Christian who really doesn’t believe in God I will choose whatever suits me to make me feel good, even if it is a committed Christian community. It can pay me well and I have a sense of belonging, eventually the Atheist thing might pass. I am sure there are plenty of people in cushy Christian positions who have no belief in God, what is their reason to leave?

on the other side.

If I am a professed Atheist, I might internally believe in God, yet be scared to even check into it. It would mean I would have to change my lifestyle if God truly is a God who makes Himself known. I gain respectability in this culture especially around certain social groups to claim to be an atheist, as I don’t have the ability to defend my internal belief. It might be part of my identity which gives me a livelihood.

Honesty is difficult for most people.

In Christ
Scylla
 
a_cermak said:
I actually like Spong. And I like a Church that allows a range of viewpoints. The old joke is that wherever you find 4 Episcopalians, you’ll find 5 lines of reasoning.
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In his classic fantasy, The Great Divorce, CS Lewis portrayed the soul of an Anglican Bishop who was a dead-ringer for Spong–quite prophetic of “Jack” Lewis. The Bishop, a supposed guardian of the faith, was still arguing with other, saved souls, agaist “too-literal” interpretations of the Resurection, Incarnation, etc, all the while he was at the very entrnence to Heaven and all he had to do to enter was admit he (the Bishop) was wrong.

I’m utterly convinced if Jack had lived 20 more years, maybe less, he would have gritted his English, Ulster-raised teeth and come home to Rome
 
ribozyme said:
amazon.com/gp/cdp/member-reviews/A1ZDPQA6FLY8XM?ie=UTF8

In a review he called himself a “Christian atheist”. He also has a nice blog 🙂 … motls.blogspot.com/

Is it possible for him to a “Christian atheist”?
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There’s not really a simple answer to this question. Let’s say that a person has been baptized. Catholics would say that a person becomes a Christian at the moment of his baptism, and baptism can never be repeated, nor is there any need to repeat it. If a person is baptized Catholic, abandons the faith, and then later returns to it, then there would be no need for him to be “rebaptized,” no matter what he did during his time away from the church. So, a person who is baptized and later abandons his faith is still not in the same position as a person who has never been baptized.
However, Christianity is not the same as Judaism, where a child becomes a Jew as soon as 2/3 of his body have come out of his mother’s womb. Especially as a person reaches the age of reason, he must choose to obey God for himself, and being the child of Catholic parents does not make him a Catholic. A Catholic who no longer believes in God is certainly not a Catholic in good standing, and could not receive the Eucharist.
If the question your asking is “Is Christianity compatible with atheism?” then the answer would have to be no. At every Mass, Catholics recite the Nicene Creed, and the first line is, “We believe in one God.”
 
Lion_of_Narnia said:
In his classic fantasy, The Great Divorce, CS Lewis portrayed the soul of an Anglican Bishop who was a dead-ringer for Spong–quite prophetic of “Jack” Lewis. The Bishop, a supposed guardian of the faith, was still arguing with other, saved souls, agaist “too-literal” interpretations of the Resurection, Incarnation, etc, all the while he was at the very entrnence to Heaven and all he had to do to enter was admit he (the Bishop) was wrong.

I’m utterly convinced if Jack had lived 20 more years, maybe less, he would have gritted his English, Ulster-raised teeth and come home to Rome
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ctlibrary.com/bc/2004/novdec/12.30.html says he wouldn’t

More to the point, here is a website of Christian atheists (& others): sof.wellington.net.nz/about.htm
 
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