A Sketch on Religious Non-Realism

Religious non-realism is a view according to which that which can be called God or ultimate truth, such as to give meaning to our lives, does not exist outside or beyond human beings; rather, we ourselves give meaning to our lives. This group, in fact, holds a radical skepticism toward the metaphysical conception of God and speaks of the end of "metaphysics." According to this approach, although God does not exist externally, the use of the word God remains meaningful, but it possesses a subjective meaning. God, in this sense, is a word that refers to pure feelings and intentions, human insights, and transcendent ideals, and nothing else. According to this view, theology is reduced to psychology and anthropology, and there is no need for ontology to know God.

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Excerpts from the article "A Sketch on Religious Non-Realism":

Religious non-realism is a view according to which that which can be called God or ultimate truth, such as to give meaning to our lives, does not exist outside or beyond human beings; rather, we ourselves give meaning to our lives.

This group, in fact, holds a radical skepticism toward the metaphysical conception of God and speaks of the end of "metaphysics." According to this approach, although God does not exist externally, the use of the word God remains meaningful, but it possesses a subjective meaning. God, in this sense, is a word that refers to pure feelings and intentions, human insights, and transcendent ideals, and nothing else. According to this view, theology is reduced to psychology and anthropology, and there is no need for ontology to know God.

... According to religious non-realists, theistic literature remains useful, but only if we bear in mind that this literature speaks of subjective reality. In this group's view, religious worship is also useful and fruitful because it has the potential to assist us in realizing lofty human goals. In fact, in this conception, the "useful" aspect of religious worship is emphasized, rather than saying that religious worship is an act of reverence before an external truth called God.

... One of the consequences of the religious non-realists' view is that believers must constantly subject the images they construct of God and the attributes they ascribe to Him to revision and critical scrutiny, and refrain from considering human endeavors as actual images of God.

... Religious non-realists do not merely offer a non-realist interpretation of "God," but strive to interpret the "entire religious literature" in this way. For example, they try to show that the meaning of the afterlife and resurrection is not the continuation of human life in another world (a realist interpretation of the resurrection), but rather the quality and depth of life in this very world. One who lives ethically has lived eternally, and the meaning of paradise is this very mode of living. Similarly, the meaning of hell is a life whose possessor, due to distance from moral truth, has a narrow and dark interior.

... In other words, the language of religion is the language of the "creation" of reality, not the language of the "disclosure" of reality... In theology, we do not speak of a discovered reality; rather, we create a reality.

According to Cupitt, religious non-realism does not conflict with Christianity, and he tries, by appealing to the tradition of negative theology, to show that this tradition also seeks to reject a realist interpretation of religion. In Cupitt's view, it is not "belief" that shapes the Christian religion, but the realm of practice that does so. The task of the religious person is not to seek to prove that the word God refers to a matter of fact, but to see what role belief in God plays in their life.

... Wittgenstein believes that religion does not need something non-religious and independent of religion to explain itself. Religion is self-sufficient because it is a language game, and a language game does not derive its justification from anywhere; it is something fundamental.

... Wittgenstein did not value proofs for the existence of God and was fundamentally averse to rationalizing religion. In his view, religion is more a way of living and acting than a theory, and it is something that derives the justification for its beliefs from this very way of living, not from reasoning independent of it...

Norman Malcolm believes that "faith in God" is meaningful without the belief that "God exists." While it seems that believing that God exists is prior to faith in God.

On this basis, Wittgensteinian fideism can be considered a form of religious non-realism. According to this view, religious beliefs say nothing about an objective matter, and, for example, praying to God does not entail belief in God but is merely a kind of religious act, while it seems that at least the religious themselves do not have such a conception of their beliefs.

Such a conception of religious faith may perhaps only be applicable to some modern religions, but it seems unlikely that it can be easily applied to ancient religions, especially the Abrahamic faiths.

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PDF file of "A Sketch on Religious Non-Realism"

Author: Yaser Mirdamadi

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