Alister McGrath

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Alister McGrath (2008)

Alister Edgar McGrath (born January 23, 1953 in Belfast , Northern Ireland ) is the Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion in the Faculty of Theology and Religion at Oxford University. He was previously Professor of Theology at King's College London and Director of the College's Center for Theology, Religion and Culture. Before that, he held a chair in historical theology at the Oxford Center of Christian Apologetics , which he also served as president.

Life

McGrath studied mathematics , physics and chemistry at Methodist College in Belfast . After graduating in 1975, he worked for three years at Oxford University in research on molecular biophysics while studying theology. In 1977 he became Dr. phil. nat., In 1978 he completed his degree in theology. In 1981 he became an Anglican priest . After a few years as a pastor, he returned to Oxford in 1983 as a lecturer in dogmatics and ethics .

In 1990 he was visiting professor of historical theology at Drew University and from 1993 to 1997 professor of theology in Vancouver. In 1999 he became a full professor of historical theology at Oxford. From September 2008 to March 2014 he held a chair in theology at the University of London and then returned to Oxford.

His special areas of expertise are dogmatics, church history , the relationship between faith and science and evangelical spirituality.

Positions

McGrath describes himself as a former atheist. According to his own admission, when he first dealt with scientific topics as a teenager, he adopted an uncritical atheism from authors like Bertrand Russell . In addition to intensive reading of scientific literature in preparation for studying at Oxford, he also dealt with literature on the history and philosophy of science and began to question his previous naturalistic worldview. He stated that atheism was not a factual statement about reality, but a belief system and its justification was much less valid than he had previously assumed. At the same time he undertook a reassessment of the Christian faith, with which he had previously only dealt with superficially, and found it to be more sustainable and at the same time to be “intellectually stimulating and enriching.” With his turn to Christianity, he also revised the view that faith with rivaled scientific thinking. He no longer perceived this relationship as a conflict, but as a constructive synergy. According to his own admission, this knowledge prompted him to become a theologian, striving to relate scientific thinking and faith to one another.

In his three-volume main work, A Scientific Theology , he explains how Christian theology could benefit from the intellectual rigor of the sciences. In his view, "the natural sciences must play a key role as a catalyst in the development of Christian theology." McGrath sees the Christian faith as a framework with which one can derive meaning from everyday things and especially scientific explanations and furthermore emphasizes its empirical adequacy , i.e. consistency the Christian view of reality with actual observation. In his view, natural theology does not seek evidence of God's existence in nature, but rather sees the events and things within nature as in harmony with the existence of God. He supports his argument with the assessment that the observation of anthropic phenomena , such as the fine-tuning of the universe, is in harmony with the core Christian themes.

McGrath accepts Darwin's theory of evolution . His books have been translated into 24 languages.

Criticism of Dawkins

With his book Der Atheismus-Wahn McGrath answers the book Der Gotteswahn by his then university colleague Richard Dawkins . McGrath sees in this book by Dawkins, in contrast to his earlier books, hardly any scientific analyzes, but pseudoscientific speculations, peppered with general criticism of religion , most of which are borrowed from older atheist literature. McGrath regrets that a "so gifted and generally understandable scientist" like Dawkins in this book aggressively advocates fundamentalist atheism without his otherwise objective consideration and conscientious research .

“The real problem is this: Since the scientific method obviously does not necessarily lead to atheism, those who rely on science to defend atheism must incorporate a number of unfounded metaphysical assumptions into their description of science, and they hope so that nobody notices this intellectual sleight of hand. Dawkins is a master of this art. "

- Alister McGrath

Response from Dawkins

Dawkins responded to the criticism in McGrath's work Dawkins' God: Genes, Memes, and the Meaning of Life , which accused him of being ignorant of Christian theology by wondering how McGrath would respond to criticism from a "fae scientist" who would accuse him of ignorance of his beliefs. The one in The Dawkins Delusion? McGrath's allegation that he was dogmatic, Dawkins replied that scientists were humble enough to admit they didn't know.

“McGrath himself submitted to the Nicaea Creed . The universe was created by a supernatural being who is three in one . Not four, not two, but three. Christian doctrine is remarkably specific: not just about the great questions of the universe and life. [...] And yet McGrath has the almighty audacity to accuse me of naively believing that science has all the answers. [...] Is McGrath an “ideological fanatic” because he doesn't believe in Thor's hammer? Of course not. Then why does he claim that I am one just because I see no reason to believe in that particular God whose existence he defends with a lack of humility and evidence? "

- Richard Dawkins

documentary

Alister McGrath was also for the documentary The Root of All Evil? interviewed by Richard Dawkins but cut from the film. McGrath claimed Dawkins was uncomfortable with the interview. He accused Dawkins of journalistic dubiousness. Dawkins wanted to convey a very specific direction and therefore McGrath's lecture was removed. The McGrath interview later appeared in full on the DVD of The Root of All Evil? in the bonus program.

Publications

German

English

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.ox.ac.uk/news-and-events/find-an-expert/professor-alister-mcgrath
  2. ↑ a b c Alister McGrath's homepage ( Memento from February 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ↑ Nigel Bovey: Alister McGrath talks of God, science and Richard Dawkins . Christian Evidence Society . Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  4. ↑ Interview on CBC: The Hour May 18, 2007
  5. ↑ Barbara Drossel (ed.): Scientists speak of God , Brunnen Verlag, Gießen 2016, p. 27.
  6. ↑ Nigel Bovey: Alister McGrath talks of God, science and Richard Dawkins . Christian Evidence Society . Retrieved November 13, 2010.
  7. ^ General Readership. In: weebly.com. Alister E. McGrath, accessed November 16, 2017 .
  8. ↑ Kath.net : Atheismus-Wahn as an answer to Gotteswahn , October 20, 2007
  9. ↑ The Daily Mail : God Splits , December 1, 2007
  10. ↑ Barbara Drossel (ed.): Scientists speak of God , Brunnen Verlag, Gießen 2016, p. 17.
  11. ^ Richard Dawkins: My critics are wrong to call me dogmatic, says Dawkins. In: The Times . February 12, 2007, accessed February 18, 2007 .
  12. ↑ Media Culture: The Dawkins Delusion , Alister McGrath, AlterNet January 25, 2007
  13. ↑ Open Forum ( Memento from January 17, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
  14. ↑ Root of All Evil? The Uncut Interviews ( Memento from December 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME McGrath, Alister
ALTERNATIVE NAMES McGrath, Alister Edgar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Northern Irish mathematician, physicist, chemist, theologian, Anglican priest and professor at the University of London
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1953
PLACE OF BIRTH Belfast