Atheism

The ancient Greek adjective ἄθεος in a manuscript of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. Papyrus 46, Eph 2:12)

Atheism (from the ancient Greek: ἄθεος átheos "without God", "godless") refers in a narrow sense to the conviction that there is no God or gods. Atheism in the broader sense also includes other distinctions from belief in God, for example views according to which one cannot know anything about the existence of God or gods (agnosticism).

„Now one can ask in terms of spiritual science - since within spiritual science there can be no doubt about the divine, which, if we may say so, dwells in the supersensible -: What leads man to deny the divine in general, that which in the Trinity is called the Father-God? - Spiritual science shows us that in every such case where man denies the Father-God, that is, a Divine in the world in general, that Divine which, for example, is also recognised in the Israelite religion, a real, genuine physical defect, a physical illness, a physical deficiency takes place in the human body. For the spiritual scientist, to be an atheist is to be ill in some respect. Of course, it is a disease that doctors do not cure; they themselves are very often suffering from this disease, a disease that is not even recognised as such by contemporary medicine. But it is a disease which spiritual science finds in man when he denies that which he must now feel not through his soul constitution but through his body constitution. If he denies that which gives him a healthy feeling of his body, that a divine pervades the world, then he is ill, physically ill, according to spiritual-scientific terms.

There are then many people who deny the Christ. Spiritual science must regard the denial of the Christ as something that is really a question of destiny and concerns the life of the human soul. Denial of the Christ must be called a misfortune by spiritual science; denial of God a disease, denial of the Christ a misfortune. To be able to find the Christ is to a certain extent a matter of fate, is to a certain extent something that must play into man's karma. It is a misfortune not to have a relationship with the Christ. To deny the Spirit or the Holy Spirit is to dull one's spirit.“ (Lit.:GA 182, p. 181ff)

Today humanity has the impulse to turn away more and more from the living, which gives rise to an inclination towards atheism.

„Atheism will spread through the organisation of human beings, and if the spiritual counterbalance, through the development of a purely spiritual impulse, which proceeds independently of the body, is not created, atheism will spread, because man can no longer experience himself as a full human being in health; he is deprived of something of the co-experience of the growing, flourishing, thriving life. One can really only be an atheist if one does not feel in full health the connection of the soul-spiritual with the bodily-physical in the whole ascending life. Atheism is actually a disease for spiritual science - of course the concept of disease meant in the most comprehensive sense. A misfortune of destiny is the denial or misrecognition of the Christ. A soul-blindness is the denial or misjudgment of the spirit.“ (Lit.:GA 176, p. 33)

Literature

• Martin Kriele: Gott und die Vernunft. Kann ein vernünftiger Mensch ungläubig sein?, Christiana Vlg., Stein am Rhein (Schweiz) 2008
• Richard Dawkins: Der Gotteswahn, Ullstein TB, Berlin 2008
• Rudolf Steiner: Der Tod als Lebenswandlung, GA 182, Dornach 1996 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Menschliche und menschheitliche Entwicklungswahrheiten. Das Karma des Materialismus, GA 176, Dornach 1982 English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.