James P Carse, The Religious Case Against Belief, The Penguin Press, Hardcover, 2008, 240 pp, $24.95

A Review by G. Richard Wheatcroft

Recently, a number of books have been published making the atheist case against religious belief. Now, here is a book making a religious case against belief. The title of the book is provocative. A common understanding is that the core of religion is belief. But the author's understanding is that the core of religion is not belief and moreover the identification of belief with religion has corrupted religion and spawned violence all over the world. James P. Carse is Professor Emeritus of Religion at New York University where, for thirty years, he directed the Religious Studies Program.

He uses the stories of Galileo, Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln, and Jesus Christ to make his case that in any discussion of religion we must begin by dealing with the factor of "unknowability" which he describes as three types of ignorance. There is "ordinary ignorance" which everyone experiences daily in many dimensions of life, like we do not know who will win the next election. Then, there is "willful ignorance." which is an intentional avoidance or denial of accessible knowledge, like Biblical literalists who deny evolution. Finally, there is "higher ignorance," which is a learned understanding that rejects "willful ignorance." He writes that by learning a "higher ignorance" we can see the "unknown everywhere, especially at the heart of our most emphatic certainties."

Willful ignorance and higher ignorance are keys to the religious case against belief. Acknowledging that the word belief "has as many uses and varied meanings as ignorance," he explains that when he uses the word, he is referring to "belief systems." He describes a belief system as a set of beliefs which form "comprehensive networks of tenets that reach into every area of thought and action." He explains that belief systems normally have "distinctive historical narratives, an extensive mythology, a pronounced sense of community, a pantheon of heroes and martyrs, an array of symbols, scripted rituals, sacred geographical sites and monuments. On top of all this is an absolute certainty in the truth of their beliefs." When a person makes "an avowed commitment" to a belief system, a "willful ignorance" of any other truth claims becomes operational. The author writes, "Belief systems thrive in circumstances of collusion. They are energized by their opposites. For every believer there is a nonbeliever on whom the believer is focused, whose resistance is carefully delineated." Thus belief systems are a source of conflict and violence. Indeed, the author identifies the twenty-first century's "most forbidding villain" as belief.

Having made the religious case against belief the author turns our attention to his concept of religion. Recognizing that an inclusive definition of religion is out of reach, he states that all the major religions of the world seem to develop an awareness of the unknown. And he suggests that, as religious people, "we may begin to acquire 'the art of seeing the unknown everywhere', especially at the heart of our most emphatic certainties" We can do this by using our "higher ignorance" to understand that our knowledge always falls short of truth and any certainty of belief.

He then stresses that nothing can justify our calling anything a religion except "its longevity as a unified people." He writes, "As I see it, each of the existing religions, regardless of its worth or its credibility, has a genius at sustaining itself in the face of at least hostile and often horrifying opposition." He then states that every religion is a communitas, which he describes as "a spontaneous gathering of persons who identify themselves and one another as members of a unified body." The community "evolves spontaneously out of the desire of the participants to get to the bottom of the mystery that brings them together." And they engage in "active conversation about how it is to understand itself, and how it is to present itself to the world." If a communitas (religion) understands itself as a belief system, beliefs become absolutes, knowledge is denied and the conversation ends. He writes, "The great danger of belief systems is that the opposing sides are sure they do understand each other. When Christians fault the Muslim idea of God, calling Islam a false deity or a satanic creation, they have done more than reveal their flawed understanding of Islam, they have severed themselves from their own faith, They are no longer Christians, but willfully ignorant ideologues."

The author writes that "to counterpoise religion and belief is to make possible deeper insight it to both . . .In the process, however, we must take care not to pitch knowledge against religion, as though one is the violation of the other, for in truth they are in essential harmony. The challenge is not to make religion intelligible but to use knowledge religiously. Aristotle wrote that knowledge begins in wonder. This scholarly book is written in an engaging style which concentrates the mind on a critical issue with personal and global dimensions.

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The Revd G Richard Wheatcroft is rector emeritus of St Francis Church, Houston, TX. He is a board member of TJC and lives and writes in Irving, TX.

[The Covenant Journal, Number 29, October 2008]