As I’ve said before, I’m simultaneously fascinated and unconvinced by Alain de Botton’s Religion for Atheists. Brian Rosner recently interviewed de Botton for the Centre for Public Christianity:
In [the interview], Rosner canvasses a range of topics, asking de Botton about his own journey to atheism, and how he accounts for our human longing to believe in something greater than ourselves, and whether the fruits of religion can survive if they are, so to speak, cut off from the tree.
de Botton, in turn, responds that while he is moved by aspects of the Christian story, he doesn’t believe that we need to be ‘true believers’ to enjoy its benefits, and he remains firmly convinced that we can train our hearts and minds to our individual and social benefit without an appeal to the divine.
