Is Christianity a Rational Worldview?
I can imagine a certain segment of the population suggestion that Christian belief is completely irrational. Not just that Christianity is not true but that it does not deserve a seat at the table.
Is Christianity a rational worldview?
Richard Dawkins, in his best selling book, The God Delusion, argues that it is not. Belief in God is considered, by him anyway, as a delusion.
It is true that if you have determined beforehand that there is no such thing as the supernatural and every event follows explainable laws that we can observe and understand, Christianity with its focus on Jesus and the resurrection would seem irrational.
While the majority of people in the western world do not identify as practicing Christians, that does not mean that most people fully embrace a naturalistic worldview. Even the growing group of the ‘Nones’ do not necessarily reject the supernatural, even if they do not identify with a specific faith group.
While science has disproven many ancient beliefs, science has not disproven the existence of God. Philosophers continue to debate the evidence for God and the potential attributes of God, if such an entity exists.
Extremely intelligent individuals from all backgrounds and academic fields embrace the Christian faith and see Christianity as a rational option.
One might respond that there are just as brilliant people who identify as atheists. And you would be correct!
In this post, I am not arguing that Christianity is true (although I do believe it is). Rather, I am arguing that it is rational to believe in God, that this God was revealed in Jesus, that Jesus died and rose again. One may not believe those things, but believing them is rational.
I would also say, and some of my fellow apologists would disagree with me, that atheism is also a rational worldview. I believe the same about other religions as well.
That does not mean that my identity as a Christian is simply taste as a preference of chocolate over vanilla. I believe the evidence for the truth of Christianity is compelling.
So is Christianity rational? Yes, it is rational. This does not prove that it is true but Christianity deserves to be considered.
