Evening Lecture am 19.11.2024 mit Professor Nash, Oxford Jesus College, UK, 18 Uhr s.t.
"Ways to become Atheist in 19th century Britain. Listening to the Voices of the Unbelievers".
When: 19. November 2024 from 06:00 to 08:00 PM
A historical perspective upon the coming of Atheism and Secularism allows us to see that such identities were initially formed in rebellion against the experience of being religious, and living in a society with its extremely pervasive influence. By the end of the nineteenth century Atheists considered that orthodox Christianity was in retreat and the ideological world was theirs for the taking. But they debated what would happen to their campaigning identity which focussed upon removing religious identity. Would a secular society simply continue to deny religion or would a more a more progressive philosophy of the rational create new non-religious identities. Throughout this transformation Atheists wondered at Christianity’s willingness to retreat and surrender doctrinal and explanatory positions to preserve the essence of religious identity.
Using an extensive database of testimonies from those who cease to believe between 1846 and 1902 this lecture investigates the surprising width and breadth of reasons offered for individuals declaring themselves to be atheist. It elaborates on core and outlying reasons and explores their language, imagery and variety. It also speculates on what this evidence offers to beleaguered versions of the secularisation thesis as well as different paradigms of how European thought evolved including such narratives as ‘The Secularisation of the European Mind’, ‘The Crisis of Faith’, ‘God’s Funeral’ and most latterly ‘The Secular Age.
Kooperation zwischen GCSC & Akzentbereich „Theologie(n), Diversität, Gesellschaft“ (FB04)
Professor David S. Nash is Senior Research Fellow at Jesus College, Oxford University. He is a world renowned authority on the history of blasphemy and Atheism, having written extensively about these two topics for 35 years in monographs, chapters, articles and media pieces. His books on these topics include Blasphemy in Britain 1789 to the Present (1999, Recently re-issued by Routledge) and Blasphemy in the Christian World (OUP, 2007). He has also given advice on blasphemy laws to the UK, Australian and Irish governments as well as the European Parliament and the European Commission. David has also written on the history of crime, the criminality of women (Beyond Deviant Damsels, OUP 2023) and the history of shame (books for Oxford University Press, Palgrave, Bloomsbury and Routledge publishing). He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society and the Royal Society of Arts.