Friday Night Theology

Why God? Why?

1 June 2007

"We know that everyone is praying for us, and that helps us tremendously".
If the atheists are right, then it is remarkable that Gerry McCann said these words on his visit to the Pope this week. For, according to those atheists, the presence of suffering disproves the existence of God. Therefore, the rational response for anyone who experiences suffering is to give up their faith. Yet the McCanns, who are experiencing a level of suffering way beyond anything I could imagine, have stubbornly and publicly refused to do just that. Their regular trips to the local church have become a hallmark of the media coverage in Praia da Luz. And they clearly continue to believe in the power of prayer. Their faith in God, then, has not diminished at all despite the terrible tragedy that they are going through.

Why is this? Why are the McCanns a walking refutation of the atheist argument that suffering disproves the existence of God?

Well, no doubt, the atheist would say that the McCanns are going through a terrific emotional torment, that they're not acting rationally, and that they're just clinging on to whatever empty hope they can. Therefore, we cannot take their professions of faith seriously.

But does this argument stand up to scrutiny? Not at all. For one, both Gerry and Kate McCann are doctors and therefore presumably know a little about the nature of rational thinking. And there is simply no evidence that they have lost their rational capacities in the presence of the very real suffering that they're experiencing. If the McCanns were going to make things up just because it gave them emotional comfort (the atheist's argument), then presumably they would create some fantasy about how Madeleine is in fact safe and well. That would be a comfort - but the McCanns have done nothing of the sort. In fact, the way in which they have deliberately kept Madeleine's profile high in the media is a supreme example of very rational - not emotional - behaviour.

This argument, then, that their belief in God is merely an emotional cry for help in the midst of suffering simply holds no ground. The reality is that the McCanns' ongoing faith in God exists for the very same reason they have always had faith - the overwhelming evidence for the reality of God. I have no doubt that at present they frequently cry out to God, or blame God, or even get angry with God - and in doing so follow a long line of poets and prophets who've gone before them (see Psalm 88; Habakkuk 1:2) - but to disbelieve in God, that would be the real fantasy.

Justin Thacker, Head of Theology