Infinite possibilities (serious posting)

Some stray thoughts about religion and similar topics…

I used to be a materialist for decades, but realized around 2005 that metaphysical materialism, especially in a reductionist form, simply doesn´t make any sense. I think I “broke” with materialism (as in “rage quit” – just kidding!) for three reasons.

First, I came to the conclusion that I never *really* been a materialist in the first place, my purported materialism really being a species of evolutionary and teleological pantheism. I was never a Hegelian (I mean, who is?) but Hegel is actually the best comparison I can come up with. I tried for a brief period to be a real hardened materialism, but it mostly made me feel depressed!

Second, I realized that science haven´t solved the mind-body problem, indeed it seems impossible to solve even in principle if materialism is assumed. The books that influenced me most were “The Mysterious Flame” by Colin McGinn and “The Mystery of Consciousness” by John Searle. Ironically, both authors are materialists. I also studied Alfred North Whitehead´s philosophy through the prism of David Ray Griffin. Postulating dualism, panpsychism or a combination of both seems to have more explanatory power than trying to reduce everything to brute matter.

Third, I believed very strongly at the time in an objective morality. The only way to explain and justify such moral principles seemed to be to assume that they were eternal. But how can a non-material “thing” be eternal? The only explanation is that it´s really a Platonic form. Perhaps a Platonic form in the mind of God…? I think I may have been subconsciously influenced by C S Lewis here. This led me to a kind of Deism or perhaps Theism-in-General, although I can´t say I was particularly “religious”. In fact, I wasn´t religious at all (still am not), rather, my Deism-Theism was a kind of philosophical position.

During a period, I was relatively sympathetic to Christianity. It must have shown, since I was sometimes mistaken for a Christian on Amazon! The reasons for my pro-Christian sympathies were complex, and only a few will be mentioned here. First, I had developed a strong aversion to pantheism and the idea of an impersonal god. I think the reason is that pantheism (and panpsychism) strikes me as too close to materialism, the “faith” I had abandoned. Christianity, by contrast, has a personal god. Indeed, he is so personal that he has incarnated as a human! Second, I had also developed an aversion to the idea that evil is either an illusion or in some sense “good”. Interestingly, pantheists often make either or both of these claims. Christianity isn´t entirely consistent in its view of evil, but at least it doesn´t deny its existence. Third, I reacted against the claim that the physical world is necessarily imperfect. This sounds absurd – surely a perfect god should be able to create a perfect world? If he can´t, he´s not perfect, and if he doesn´t although he can, *he* is the creator of evil. Why worship such a god? In Christianity, the world and/or humanity and/or human souls are seen as fallen from a previously perfect state. Pantheists simply worship the fallen world…

However, there are also problems with Christianity. I´m almost tempted to say that the biggest problem with it is the Bible! And I don´t mean Cain´s wife - the good book actually *does* explain where she came from. (Yes, really.) What I perceived as the biggest “Bible difficulty” has varied over the years, but currently, it´s the cock sure predictions that Jesus would return during the lifetime of the apostles. Which he obviously didn´t. Paul believed this, the authors of Mark and Matthew believed it, too. The author of Luke and Acts didn´t, rewriting the Olivet Discourse in the process. If we accept the usual date of Revelation, another bout of imminent apocalypticism shook the Church under the reign of Emperor Domitian. 

None of this makes sense if you tentatively accept the Christian position on things. Jesus supposedly remained on Earth for 40 days after his resurrection, teaching the apostles. Why did they misunderstand his teaching about the Second Coming? Then, he sent the Holy Ghost to lead the apostles. Once again, why didn´t the Spirit tell them that “one thousand years is like one day to the Lord” until generations later? Was Christianity a failed apocalyptic sect? Or did the disciples completely misunderstand the message of the Christ? Perhaps they did, but if so, the veracity of the New Testament can be questioned, these scriptures simply being the work of humans, although perhaps highly spiritual ones.

At the moment, I´m not sure where I stand on these issues. Except that I´m not a materialist, and probably not a pantheist sensu stricto. But then, in a way this opens up infinite possibilities…