Louisville Process Theology Network

An Atheist with a Soul

It appears likely that author and philosopher Rebecca Goldstein is herself “the atheist with a soul” who is the main character of her 2010 novel “36 Arguments for the Existence of God.” Folks from all corners of modern civilization’s ongoing faith v. reason argument populate this story. Other characters include “a goddess of game theory”, a Hassidic math genius, a disciple of a messianic cult, and an anthropologist seeking biochemical immortality. Relatives and friends of Goldstein, perhaps?

The novel tells a story about the world’s best-selling atheist author, a fictional character named Cass Seltzer. We’re told that Seltzer is a famous psychologist who has studied religious experience his entire career. Many of his books “edging out cookbooks and memoirs written by household pets.” As the novel begins, Seltzer is surprised by the success of his most recent book, however. It’s not his best effort and he recognizes that it is really nothing new.

It turns out the book’s appendix is what everyone wants to read; not so much the book itself. There Seltzer has added a list of 36 arguments for the existence of God, each logically analyzed and demolished. We don’t need these arguments to feel the “qualities of religious experience”, Seltzer claims. Our sense of spirituality can continue and grow without them.

Contemplating his good fortune on a cold night later in the novel, Seltzer even feels “moved by powers beyond himself.” How can he deny, he asks himself, “the sense that the universe is personal, that there is something personal that grounds existence and order and value and purpose and meaning?” So, he knows that moments of transcendent happiness are real. But, he believes that he has always found reliable explanations for these experiences in his psychological research.

Seltzer’s list is also attached as the appendix to Goldstein’s novel. Here you find the many familiar arguments for the existence of God; Cosmological, Ontological, and the Teleological. Others are based on prayer, moral truth, altruism, fee will, and personal purpose. Finally, there is the Argument from the Abundance of Arguments. It’s said, in this instance, that the sheer number of reasons makes a plausible case.

Goldstein, the author, is a committed atheist, the sister of an orthodox rabbi, and the spouse of another committed atheist, author and psychologist Stephen Pinker. Yet, she does not seem to be interested in reproving the faithful for their supposed emotional insecurities; like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens. Her writing is soulful. She comes across thoughtful and compassionate.

Maybe this novel would make a good discussion guide for those stout-hearted enough to examine all of sides of these arguments. It seems like Goldstein had precisely this in mind.