The Strange Return of Belief in God

Summary

Public intellectuals are increasingly expressing belief in God, marking a shift from the previous synonymity of science with atheism and suggesting a reevaluation of the role of religion in contemporary society.

Abstract

The article discusses a notable trend among public intellectuals who are openly expressing belief in God, a departure from the previous decade where such admissions were rare and atheism was more prevalent in intellectual circles. Figures like neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, activist Ayaan Hirsi Ali, historian Tom Holland, and psychiatrist Dr. Iain McGilchrist have all publicly shared their beliefs or connections to Christianity. This shift is attributed to various factors, including the decline of traditional media, the rise of individualism, and disillusionment with the promises of secular society in the face of global challenges. Despite the persistence of atheism in the West, there is an ongoing discussion about the cultural and psychological significance of religious beliefs, with some intellectuals even engaging in religious practices and studies. The article suggests that this trend reflects a broader search for meaning and values beyond the scope of science and liberal secularism.

Opinions

Andrew Huberman's public admission of belief in God, daily prayers, and reading the Bible signifies a personal and professional shift towards embracing spirituality.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali's conversion to Christianity and attendance at church services reflect her recognition of Christianity's importance to Western culture and her belief in a transcendent reality.
Tom Holland's article acknowledges the Christian roots of his values and identifies the story of Christ's cross as a "true myth," indicating a profound influence of Christian narrative on his worldview.
Dr. Iain McGilchrist's inclusion of a chapter on the sacred and an appendix on the benefits of religion in his work suggests a reconciliation of scientific inquiry with spiritual belief, specifically pan-en-theism.
Jordan Peterson's Bible study series and its popularity online demonstrate a significant interest in religious texts and their interpretations among a secular audience.
The article posits that the trend of public intellectuals embracing religion may not necessarily indicate a widespread resurgence of Christianity but rather a diversification of thought beyond the constraints of institutional narratives.
The persistence of religious belief, despite the decline of organized religion in the West, points to a deeper human need for meaning that transcends the material and the political.
The author expresses hope that the current openness to discussing belief and values will lead to healthier dialogues, moving away from polarizing debates and towards a more nuanced understanding of faith and its place in modern society.

Why public intellectuals are more openly expressing belief in God

Andrew Huberman on the Keep Hammering podcast with Cameron Hanes

In a recent podcast appearance Stanford neuroscientist and now well known podcaster Andrew Huberman said that he believes in God, that he prays daily, and that he has recently started reading the bible.

As little as a decade or so ago such an admission would have been impossible for a credible public intellectual. Science and atheism for a time became synonymous, and even before the new atheists turned this into an aggressive polemic the general sense that Darwinism and the big bang had expelled the need for more transcendent explanations of what it means to exist still very much prevailed.

Yet today that scene seems to be subtly changing. Besides Huberman there are others who have made the same admission, activist and former politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali recently wrote that she now identifies as a Christian because of the importance of Christianity to the West, as well as a belief in a transcendent reality, and said that she is attending church. Historian Tom Holland wrote a 2016 article called : “Why I was wrong about Christianity” in which he described coming to realise that all of his values were essentially Christian, and later would call the cross of Christ a “true myth”.

In another example psychiatrist and scholar Dr Iain McGilchrist ended his magnum opus The Matter With Things with a lengthy chapter called The Sense of the Sacred in which he describes his own belief in God, a belief that he categorises as pan-en-theism, and includes a substantial appendix collecting research on the societal and individual benefits of religion.

Other examples abound. From actual professed belief in a personal God such as Huberman’s to a resurgence of the recognition of the cultural or psychological truth of Christianity, rumours of the end of the age of atheism seem to be everywhere. Controversial psychologist Jordan Peterson is literally uploading bible studies to his YouTube channel in which a group of academics discuss the Old Testament, and whatever you think of his unhinged, angry engagement with political and culture wars, they get hundreds of thousands to millions of views. All of Peterson’s 2017 lectures on the book of Genesis have well over a million views.

It’s difficult to draw conclusions about what exactly this means. Part of what has happened in the age of the rule of internet, the dying of legacy media and the decline in trust in institutions is that public intellectuals in our time have moved away from establishment representation towards more popular forms of engagement, meaning a natural change in tide from establishment narratives. Andrew Huberman is conducting podcasts as a representation of himself rather than Stanford, or even “science” as a whole. People are increasingly free to admit to uncertainties or inclinations than in a time when dominant expectations about what constituted solid intellectualism actually meant.

However it is not clear more widely that Christianity in the West is growing, rather the opposite, a continuation of a trend that has been going on for some time. Census data in the UK indicates less than ever now identify as Christian, and in spite of a seeming increase of more fundamentalist and politically right-wing adjacent Christianity in America, the decline seems to be continuing just as rapidly there too.

Clearly what is happening is not a tidal change, it seems the triumph of individualism will for some time make collective organised religion unlikely on a broad scale, but in some arenas the sands of prevailing public narratives seem to be showing signs of shifting.

Part of this stems from the breaking down of narratives that scaffolded the prevalence of atheism that were obviously wrong. One of these might be the belief in the superiority of science to tell us all there is to know and answer all human questions, another the belief that the values of the modern West are self created enlightenment ideas as opposed to beliefs extremely contingent on prevailing religious systems. As these have proven self-evidently false, broader discussions have re-entered the public space.

It also perhaps represents increasing dissatisfaction with the promises of liberal, largely atheistic or at least secular societies. Belief in endless progress, economic flourishing and tolerant pluralism has been somewhat shaken by lockdowns, climate issues, wars around the world and their consequent economic and political turmoil, as well as the continuing raging of divisive culture wars. “Progress”, a narrative that underpinned many believers faith in secular enlightenment values, has turned out to be to say the least, complicated. With this comes wider questions about meaning, purpose, what it is we really value and where those values come from.

One would hope for all of us that this openness, rather than returning to any polemics or religion verses atheists diatribes, might lead to more healthier discussions about value and meaning. Certainly the work of intellectuals such as Holland or McGilchrist has enriched the public world, but as ever the danger in the modern tribal, polarised cultural market is the immediate appropriation, the “he’s with us!” response that drives away nuance and discussion. Serious intellectuals professing belief is good, the Candace Owens of the world using it as a culture war weapon is not. One can only hope that the former might provide the open discussion that will chase out the latter.