The Logical Atheist

In this lecture, historian and divinity professor Alec Ryrie shows that in Elizabethan England it was commonly thought, both by theologians and everyday people, that faith and doubt, rather than being opposed, were in fact two sides of the same coin. He quotes William Perkins, whom he calls Elizabethan England's "greatest theology," saying, "True faith, being imperfect, is always accompanied by doubting." Ryrie noted that a common maxim was that if one did not have doubts about the existence of God, then one did not really have faith.

In this lecture, Alec Ryrie points out that in the 1500s, while the stereotype atheist was a depraved amoralist, "real unbelievers" and those portrayed on stage were far from that stereotype. He refers to the "dangerous possibility ... that unbelief might discover ethics of its own." Closing line: "The preachers wanted the atheist to stick to his role as the villain in Christendom's moral economy. They should have known that the problem with an atheist is that he doesn't do as he's told."

[The notions of heaven and hell] are devised fables, to keep poor fools in fear.... These things are nothing so: No God nor devil is biding, no Heaven nor Hell I know. All things are wrought by Nature, the earth, the air, the sky: There is no joy nor sorrow after that man doth die. Therefore let me have pleasure, while here I do remain: I fear not God's displeasure, nor Hell's tormenting pain. The Wonderfull Example of God Shewed upon Jasper Coningham , a ballad ca. 1600           

Here's another lecture from the historian and theologian Alec Ryrie. Ryrie apparently is not an atheist, but his lectures have much to teach.

Historian of Christianity Alec Ryrie of Durham University, UK, presents a series of lectures on unbelief before the philosophers and scientists debunked theology. This lecture is titled "How to Be a Medieval Atheist." He begins noting that action often precedes theory, a principle that applies to many areas of life. In other words, people behave like atheists before they think like atheists. Ryrie quotes John Gray: "Someone with no use for the idea of God ... [is] in truth an atheist." For those who prefer text, see this . Ryrie is the author of Unbelievers: An Emotional History of Doubt .