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A Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Approach to Religious Diversity and New Atheism

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Durham E-Theses A Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Approach to Religious Diversity and New Atheism DEVAN, BENJAMIN,BRADFORD How to cite: DEVAN, BENJAMIN,BRADFORD (2016) A Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Approach to Religious Diversity and New Atheism, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/11464/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk 2 A WESLEYAN OPEN INCLUSIVIST APPROACH TO RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY AND NEW ATHEISM By: Benjamin Bradford DeVan Abstract Probing the “New Atheism” reveals not an isolated phenomenon, but a contemporary expression of a longer tradition of atheist advocacy and antagonism toward religion, beliefs about the Divine, and associated practices. Although not all critics of religion are atheists, and atheists display diversity among themselves, A Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Approach to Religious Diversity and New Atheism argues that New Atheists are sufficiently similar to religious people to be fruitfully approached utilizing conceptual tools that pertain to religious diversity, interaction, and dialogue. Specifically, it proposes that an optimistic Open Inclusivist attitude from the philosophy of religion, grounded by and employing methodological, biblical, historical, and ethical resources supplied and integrated by the Wesleyan tradition, is productive for approaching religious diversity issues that incorporate atheism and New Atheists. A Wesleyan variety of Open Inclusivism lessens or eliminates difficulties that competing paradigms from philosophy of religion exhibit, and eschews complications implicit or explicit to select Reformed, Catholic, and Universalist theologies. It coherently urges genuinely significant, reciprocal learning among religious believers and atheists and a hopeful urgency about salvation. Insisting that every person possesses sacred worth or inherent dignity, it undergirds ir/religious liberty and constructive attempts to persuade. It prods collaboration around common priorities, empowers prudent opposition where necessary, and operates in what John Wesley called the more excellent way of love. As one exemplar of ecumenical, Creedal, and evangelical Christianity; A Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Approach to Religious Diversity and New Atheism aims to interpret the Bible faithfully and to critically utilize historical precedents, reason, logic, and the sciences listening to existential and practical experience. Honoring each voice in conference, it effectively mediates ongoing dialogue on topics vital to atheism and religion, including the relationships of religion and science, problems of evil and suffering, and optimal ethical flourishing for physical as well as spiritual realities. A Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Approach to Religious Diversity and New Atheism By: Benjamin Bradford DeVan Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Durham Department of Theology and Religion 2015 ii Table of Contents Abstract i Table of Contents iii Statement of Copyright vi Acknowledgements vii Dedication ix Introduction 1 1. The First Decade of “New Atheists” and their Critics 4 1.1. Beginnings 4 1.1.1 Sam Harris 4 1.1.2 Daniel Dennett 6 1.1.3 Richard Dawkins 7 1.1.4 Christopher Hitchens 9 1.1.5 Other Riders with the “Four Horsemen” 11 1.1.6 Interlocutors and Critics 17 1.2 Preliminary Analysis 23 1.2.1 Antecedents and Trajectories 24 1.2.2 Gaps in the Literature 31 2. Approaching Religious Diversity and New Atheism 36 2.1 Is Atheism akin to a “Religious” Position? Can Atheists Be Religious? 36 2.1.1 Sample Wesleyans on Atheism and (other) Religions 36 2.1.2 Is Religion Definable? 38 2.1.3 Is (New) Atheism Religion? 39 2.2 Three Distinct, Yet Mutually Influencing Inter-religious Concerns 45 2.3 The Exclusivist-Inclusivist-Pluralist Continuum and Its Variants 49 2.3.1 Exclusivism, Restrictivism, Ecclesiocentrism, and Particularism 50 2.3.2 Pluralism, Universalism, Relativism, and Religious Antipathy 56 2.3.3 Inclusivists and their Conceptual Kin 62 3. “Honoring Conference”: Wesleyan Foundations for Engagement and Dialogue 71 3.1 What Constitutes Wesleyan Theology? 71 3.2 Locating the Present Thesis 73 iii 3.3 Quadrilateral or Honoring Conference? 76 3.4 Conferring with the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and Hermeneutical Helps 77 3.5 Conferring with the Community of Saints 79 3.6 Conferring with Reason and Logic 81 3.7 Conferring with Personal and Corporate Experience 83 3.8 Conferring with the “Book of Nature” (the Sciences) 85 3.9 Conferring with the “Analogy” of Faith (Apostle’s Creed) 87 3.10 God’s Universal Holy Love and Pardoning Transforming Grace 89 3.11 Conferring Together 90 3.12 Speaking Ecumenically, Evangelically, and Holistically 91 4. The Bible: Wesleyan Inclusivist Pillars, Part 1 94 4.1 Open Inclusivist Themes in Hebrew and Christian Scripture 95 4.1.1 Gentile Exemplars in the Hebrew Bible and 95 Pre-Christians in the Gospels and Acts 4.1.2 God’s Care for the Nations 101 4.1.3 False Religion, Hypocrisy, and Idolatry 107 4.2 Dissenting Readings 110 4.2.1 Of Melchizedek, Abimelech, and Jethro 107 4.2.2 Of Pertinent New Testament Passages 112 4.3 Are Inclusivist Readings of the Bible Relevant to New Atheists? 115 4.3.1 Hearing the Hebrew Bible 115 4.3.2 Considering the New Testament 120 5. History, Reason, and other Honoring Conference Voices: 124 Wesleyan Inclusivist Pillars, Part 2 5.1 Proto-Inclusivist Themes in Christian Tradition 124 5.1.1 Truth Inclusivism 126 5.1.2 Hope for Salvation 133 5.2 Listening to Reason and other Honoring Conference Voices 147 5.2.1 The Apostle’s Creed 147 5.2.2 Science and Experience 149 5.2.3 Come, Let Us Reason Together 153 iv 6. Applying Wesleyan Reflection to Interaction and Relationships 159 6.1 New Atheists Possess “Sacred Worth” 159 6.2 Ir/Religious Liberty 162 6.3 A Bustling Marketplace of Ideas 166 6.4 Reciprocal Critique 170 6.5 Collaborating in Shared Concerns 174 6.6 Disciplined Opposition 177 6.7 The More (or Most) Excellent Way of Love 180 7. Dialogue Hard? With New Atheists at the “Religious Roundtable” 186 7.1 Dialoguing about “Science and Religion” 186 7.1.1 Wesleyan Open Inclusivist Attitudinal Advantages 187 7.1.2 “Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?” 192 Issues in Discussion and Debate 7.2 The “Problem of Evil” and Suffering 196 7.2.1 The “No God” Solution 197 7.2.2 Is God Helpless, Absent, Evil, Amoral, Semi-benevolent, 199 Ignorant, and/or Foolish? 7.2.3 Suffering as Punishment, Karma, or Divine Judgment 203 7.2.4 Adversity as a Transforming Means of Grace 204 7.2.5 Free Will 206 7.2.6 Meta-Defenses / Meta-Theodicies 209 7.3 Considering Life after Death 211 7.3.1 Qualified Concord 213 7.3.2 Temporal and Enduring Joy 214 7.3.3 Hell? 215 7.3.4 The Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting 218 7.4 Ethics and Eternity 224 7.4.1 Once More to Attitudinal and Operational Advantages 225 7.4.2 Proleptic Epektasis 228 Conclusion 234 Bibliography 238 v Statement of Copyright The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without the author's prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. vi Acknowledgements Although it is impossible to properly acknowledge everyone who has contributed to my doctoral study, I extend special gratitude to the following. First, to my wife Kartini who persevered through joy, prayer, and sometimes intense struggle in what seemed to be my endless research, writing, and revision. I am eternally thankful for her love. I am grateful to my supervisors David A. Wilkinson and Robert J. Song for their detailed critique, wisdom, and rapport, especially in the final year as we labored through substantial rewrites to bring this thesis to its final form. I am a better scholar because of them. Thanks also to Durham University and the Department of Theology and Religion for their flexibility in supporting my inter-institutional initiatives, to Christopher J. Insole for chairing my examination (Viva Voce), to my internal examiner Mike Higton and external examiner Randy L. Maddox for their graciously incisive feedback and critique. While I was a visiting doctoral student at Duke University, Randy L. Maddox as one of my instructors directed me to multiple resources, and Laceye Warner commented on the first draft of what is now chapter 6. Miriam Cooke, Charles Kurzman, and Bruce Lawrence graciously included me in their Duke / UNC-Chapel Hill Middle East Studies seminar. Other staff and students whose friendship, conversation, or assistance I appreciate include Jonathan Anderson, Abdullah Antepli, Jeff Coles, William English, W. Stephen Gunter, Jennifer Hawk, Nathan Hays, Morgan Hendrix, Andy Keck, Mike Lehman, Brooks Lindsey, Todd Maberry, Justin Noia, Steven Porter, McKennon Shea, William Turner, Sam Wells, Phil White, Joyce Wu, and in particular Steve Hinkle. Paul Chaffee, Courtney Choi, John and Aysegul Frame, Ari Gordon, Steve Hayner, Michael S. Jones, Todd Ream, Thomas Thangaraj, Jerry L. Walls, Tout Wang, and Ben Witherington were also among those who were encouraging to me at various stages.
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