The Price of Well-being

Last Sunday evening we took time to consider eternity. We thought of the great verse of Ecclesiastes “He (God) has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end (3:11)”.

Taking time out to consider how little you are in the presence of something great is one of the comforts of religion advocated by the atheist Alain de Botton. Unlike Richard Dawkins, he wishes to gain the benefits of religion without compromising his disbelief in its claims. He argues that religion has some strong undeniable utilitarian benefits and should be accessed by all people including atheists. Like Augustus Comte, the 19th century father of sociology, de Botton wants to have a religious temple and ceremonies without the theistic beliefs. Here are some of his beliefs.... Keep reading