One of the points Greg Epstein makes early on in his book Good Without God is that it really doesn't matter whether a person says they believe in God. That's because when you come right down to it, he says, the God they say they believe in has nothing to do with their lives. What does matter, then, is what they believe about God.
Epstein, as you probably have surmised, is an atheist. And though he is respectful of people who have faith in a Supernatural Being, his deep hope that the world will move beyond such faith cannot be missed.
His point, then, in writing that what really matters is what people believe about God is that for all practical purposes, they are atheists. They might as well admit that and get on with life accordingly. To do so would be far more honest and have far more integrity.
I think Epstein hits the nail right on the head. For instance, a lot of people believe in God but don't go to church (or any other worship service). They say they can worship God in nature or on a golf course or wherever. But if you press them on that a bit more, they truth is they aren't worshiping at all. They are thinking about golf or fishing or the beauty around them, but that is a very different thing than taking time to praise a Supernatural being for his magnificence and glory. And if we are not talking about a Supernatural Being, but the glory of nature itself, why bring God into it? We are talking about what a great material world we live in--which is Epstein's point exactly.
Even those who do take the time to go to church (or other worship services) don't always believe in a God that has much of anything to do with their actual lives. Oh, they say they do. But the reality is that their is very little connection between that one hour on Sunday morning and the rest of their lives, where they just do what they want. There is no real intentional sense of looking at a day and with great diligence and effort and sacrifice, offering it to God to be used strictly for his purpose and pleasure. In what meaningful sense is their life any different from the good person who does not believe in God?
Please do not read this as being judgmental or condemning. That is not my purpose here. I am not in this post saying the above is good or bad. I am simply saying that I think Epstein is dead on, and that I think his point in this matter is something well worth considering.
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