Holy Smoke: Why militant atheists don’t understand religion, a conversation with Alister McGrath
Best of the Spectator
The Spectator
4.4 • 785 Ratings
🗓️ 17 February 2025
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Prof McGrath, emeritus Andreas Idreos Professor of Science and Religion at Oxford University, has had a unique journey to religion. A former Marxist atheist with a doctorate in molecular biology, he’s now a world-renowned theologian and Anglican priest.
In this lively discussion with Damian Thompson he talks about the boundary between science and religion, something poorly understood by aggressive atheists such as Richard Dawkins and the late Christopher Hitchens. He suggests that, while we all look for meaning, the safety of science doesn’t provide the sense of belonging that we all crave.
Produced by Patrick Gibbons.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you enjoyed the Spectator's podcasts, why not subscribe to the magazine as well? |
| 0:04.2 | You can get 12 weeks of The Spectator for just £12, plus a free £20 £10,000 or weight trade voucher |
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| 0:14.7 | This is a podcast-only deal, and we hope you take us up on it. |
| 0:28.5 | Welcome to Holy Smoke, the Spectator's Religion podcast. |
| 0:30.8 | I'm Damien Thompson. |
| 0:40.3 | In today's science-driven, rational world, belief is dismissed as an artifact of a bygone era, |
| 0:43.8 | something absurd at best, harmful at worst. |
| 0:49.1 | The prevailing narratives paint belief as primitive, weird, even dangerous. |
| 0:54.6 | But as life grows ever more confusing and our society's more atomized, contemplating something bigger than ourselves has never been more vital. |
| 1:00.1 | That is the message of Professor Alistair McGraw in his new book, |
| 1:06.7 | Why We Believe, Finding Meaning in Uncertain Times. |
| 1:15.6 | Anister, who I was delighted was able to join us before Christmas to talk about C.S. Lewis is Emeritus, Andreas Idris Professor of Science and Religion, |
| 1:22.6 | and Director of the Anne Ramsey Centre for Science and Religion at the University of Oxford. His book's been |
| 1:28.7 | translated into 27 languages. He is one of the world's leading authorities on the interaction |
| 1:34.6 | of science and religion, negotiating their boundaries, exploring the impact of religion on science |
| 1:42.1 | and vice versa. Therefore, this is one of those episodes in which |
| 1:45.6 | Damien is basically out of his depth, but very grateful to you, Alistair, for joining me. |
| 1:51.1 | I've read your book with huge enjoyment and admiration because you touch on subjects that I think |
| 1:57.1 | desperately need to be addressed. |
| 2:05.6 | And if we could start by talking about the subject of your book, which is belief, |
| 2:07.1 | it's not religion. |
... |
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