Somewhere in God Delusion Dawkins says something about how if God existed and were moral he should be interested in what we do, not in what we happen to believe.
Something like that. I don't have the book and I can't find it online. Anyone know the quote?
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"But why, in any case, do we so readily accept the idea that the one thing you must do if you want to please God is believe in him? What's so special about believing? Isn't it just as likely that God would reward kindness, or generosity, or humility? Or sincerity?"
If that is what you were looking for, see here, pg 104.
Hey Missy, great to hear from you. And thanks for tracking this down. Not exactly the one I was thinking of, but it works even better! Preaching on Hebrews 11:6 on Sunday. Which is quite a neat answer to Dawkin's question!
Hope all is well with you!
All is well, Glenn - I have the same hope for you. :)
I've been reading some of Dawkins after writing a term paper on his meme theory. He doesn't really like us much, it seems. Can't say I blame him sometimes. ;)
I think I know the specific quote you were looking for, but I've already returned the book to the library, so I found this in Google Books instead. I'm not sure how Hebrews 11:6 answers WHY believing is so special, only that it is. I have to say I ask this question myself, feel like I grasp a tendril of an answer, then it flits away.
Well I think Dawkin's understanding of faith and of God is the problem.
In biblical terms faith is not on the same spectrum as "kindness, generosity, humility, sincerity." Those other things can be termed 'works'. But faith is *not* our contribution to the God-human collaboration. It's not one more way of making a human offering to God. Faith is the confession that God has done it all in Christ. Those other things make me the giver and God the Recipient. Faith says that Christ has made the offering and I am the recipient. Very different.
And that brings me onto his idea of God. There's a joke in Northern Ireland about a terrorist pulling a gun on a passer-by and saying "Protestant or Catholic??!" The man says "Atheist." The gunman says "Protestant atheist or Catholic atheist??" Dawkins seems to be quite a catholic atheist taking aim at a protestant God. The God he's trying to ridicule is one that privileges faith - which (if he'd understood faith) marks out his Target as a "sola fide" kind of God. But of course Dawkins is not really sold on the protestant gospel! (we all naturally privilege works) so it's no wonder he finds such a God ridiculous.
If you ever want a pick-me-up after reading Dawkins I recommend Terry Eagleton's review of the God Delusion in the London Review of Books. Hilarious!
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v28/n20/terry-eagleton/lunging-flailing-mispunching