Bart Ehrman - Are you agnostic, atheist, or materialist? (BE-5)

Praxis Circle is a community building worldviews to renew free society. We do this primarily through thought-provoking interviews of our many Contributors and other online resources.

In this clip of his interview with us, Dr. Bart Ehrman explains the definition of atheist, materialist, and agnostic and where he now lies within those worldviews.

Dr. Bart Ehrman is the James A. Gray Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Dr. Ehrman is an expert on the New Testament and the history of Early Christianity. Praxis Circle interviewed Dr. Ehrman because of his global reputation as a scholar of Christianity, having followed him closely since first publishing.

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[GalapagosPete]

I’m an agnostic atheist; I don’t know whether there is a God, or even whether one is possible, but I don’t believe that there is because I’ve seen no evidence to support the existence of such a being. When I look at the world, I see exactly what I would expect to see in an unguided, natural world.

[gerardo]

Wow, I didn’t realize the Bible was the only scripture on the planet, thanks for letting me know.

[thepraxiscircle]

Love that comment. It is along the lines of an ontological proof of god. I used to dismiss it but do not anymore. What would you say if I defined God as a supernatural being Who exists outside of human minds before time and space began? You have often heard the trope that unicorns exist in human minds but not in reality? Remember: I am a stone cold theist who believes in God is a supernatural who goes in and out of the supernatural and natural. After all, God can do whatever God wants. Bart admits the Resurrection is possible and his main problem is only Christians reported it. Well, what would you expect when one can be crucified for reporting it? Bottle on the head. 😊

[mugsofmirth]

To claim one can be both is to not understand the meaning of the words

[personalaccount]

As osho once said, philosophers are philosofools. Clearly existence itself is enough to tell you there is something bigger going on. Everything is conscious. Hint hint.

[TruthSpeaks]

Not one word he just said, or the meanings of those words, was "material". If he's a materialist then he thinks he said nothing.

[Timehasfallenasleep]

Bart Ehrman is an excellent scholar but a poor teacher.

Carl Jung notes:

Anybody who calls himself an atheist is a negative theist; naturally he would not deny a thing if he did not think it was there to be denied. He would not add the a. It is an admission of God when you call yourself an atheist, because whether you assert a thing or deny it, you confirm that it is: you cannot deny a thing without giving it a certain existence. It does exist somewhere even if you assume that it exists only in the minds of other people; that it exists in the minds of other people means that it does exist.”

 and again

“An atheist is: simply a man who is outside, instead of inside the church walls. Instead of saying, yes, I believe that you exist, he stands outside of the house and says, no, I don’t believe that you are God. That is the only difference: an atheist is just as Catholic as those within the walls. So they cannot understand of what modern psychology is talking, because this whole world of problems, the symbols we are dealing with, is for them still within the walls of the church, safely walled in.”

Bart Ehrman’s works are great at deconstructing the literalism of the Bible and Christian fundamentalism but he fails to recognise that religious facts are psychological facts and that therefore God is not outside us but inside each of us - on the other side of the unconscious.

By all means read Bart Ehrman’s books and watch his podcasts but when he’s stripped you of all your preconceived ideas about Christianity - go and read Carl Jung or the Jungian scholar David Tacey, they will build up your belief in God again but this time on a more solid foundation.