This is a Q & A blog post by our Visiting Scholar in Philosophy, William Lane Craig.

Question

Why do you try to persuade nonbelievers that naturalism is unlivable and depressing when you argue that non-Christians will be eternally tormented for not believing in the right kind of god? I'm not asking you why it's just for nonbelievers to be tormented forever; I find your answers wrong for reasons that are beside the point here. I'm asking why you seem to think we should be more disturbed by the idea that our lives lack "objective, ultimate" meaning than by the idea that we and our loved ones would be tormented forever and ever. It communicates that you'd rather live in a world where I and my loved ones will be tormented forever than in a world that doesn't care about you, and I just can't see how that is supposed to be effective at reaching out to nonbelievers. Of course, if hell is real, we should all want to know that it is and what if anything can help us avoid it. We shouldn't conclude that hell isn't real just because that worldview is horrifying and unlivable. But if we agree on that, why do you use the exact same tactic against naturalism?

Robin

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William Lane Craig's Response

What an odd question, Robin! The short answer is that in explaining the meaninglessness of life given naturalism, one is showing the naturalist the logical consequences of his own view, not the logical consequences of a view he doesn鈥檛 hold (viz., the Christian view). The unbeliever won鈥檛 be concerned about the prospect of hell unless he comes to have some reason to think that Christianity is true. By contrast, he already holds to naturalism, and therefore showing him the horrible consequences and unlivability of his own view might well shake him, whereas he may just dismiss warnings of hell.

So I certainly do not think 鈥we should be more disturbed by the idea that our lives lack 鈥榦bjective, ultimate鈥 meaning than by the idea that we and our loved ones would be tormented forever and ever鈥! Far from it! But precisely to help the unbeliever avoid eternal torment, we present to him reasons that he will accept for calling into question his worldview.

Moreover, I am not using the tactic of arguing that naturalism is false 鈥because that worldview is horrifying and unlivable.鈥 I鈥檓 quite explicit about that. For example, in On Guard, I write:

So what do we do now? It seems to me that in light of the consequences of how we answer the question of God鈥檚 existence, it is imperative that we go back to square one and ask what reasons there are for believing in God鈥檚 existence or not. For maybe the atheist is wrong. Maybe God exists after all. I know, I know: none of what we鈥檝e said gives us grounds for thinking that God does exist.

But my aim in this chapter is more modest than that. I only hope to have gotten you to think about these issues, to realize that the question of God鈥檚 existence has profound consequences for our lives and that therefore we cannot afford to be indifferent about it. What I鈥檝e at least done is to clearly spell out the alternatives. If God does not exist, then life is futile. If God does exist, then life is meaningful. Only the second of these two alternatives enables us to live happily and consistently. Therefore, it makes a huge difference whether God exists, a difference we should care about.

Who cares? You should.

I trust that you鈥檒l agree, Robin, that there is no attempt here on my part to argue that because atheism is horrifying and unlivable, it is not true.

As for the charge that my argument 鈥communicates that you'd rather live in a world where I and my loved ones will be tormented forever than in a world that doesn't care about you,鈥 I鈥檓 sorry if anyone has so seriously misunderstood my argument. I can only present my argument as clearly as I can and try to correct such misunderstandings of it. Fortunately, I鈥檝e never before encountered anyone who thinks that the argument communicates what you allege. Rather what I鈥檝e found over the years 鈥to be effective at reaching out to nonbelievers鈥 is to show them that their own worldview is unlivable.

The only sense I can make of your question is to claim that inviting the unbeliever to believe in hell as the alternative to a meaningless life is like inviting him to jump out of the frying pan into the fire! But that鈥檚 not the choice the argument presents. The choice rather is between theism and non-theism. The argument invites him merely to reconsider the evidence that God exists. The question of one鈥檚 eternal desert doesn鈥檛 come up until much later down the line, once we鈥檝e considered arguments for God鈥檚 existence and the evidence for Jesus鈥 resurrection. At that juncture, we鈥檒l remind him, if necessary, of your point that 鈥We shouldn't conclude that hell isn't real just because that worldview is horrifying and unlivable.鈥

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