God as a purely mental construct

Over the years I have gradually lost any religious belief I once had, a process for which I am extremely grateful. I have found the acceptance of Atheism to be a profoundly uplifting experience and one that has allowed me to think clearly without any encumbrances of religious dogma.

It has, for example, allowed me to wonder about what people mean by “God”, and I offer the following thoughts not as any sort of “preaching” but as a way of placing on record (for my own benefit if no-one else’s) what I suspect might be the answer to that question.

In here or out there?

It seems clear enough that most believers in God have a dual view of what he (or she) is. God is both a personal deity who helps one to get through life and also an external power who may or may not be in general control of the Universe.

There are all sorts of ideas about what God does and has done, from the creator of all things to being the prime mover in events great and small. He is held to blame for earthquakes, floods, plagues and much more besides – usually as a form of punishment for general wickedness – and for rescuing people from life-threatening situations and diseases, at both general and personal levels.

However, he is also regarded as being “in here” as a personal presence who comforts one at moments of distress or provides extra help to get through difficult situations. Most believers do not see anything untoward in holding both concepts of God – in here and out there.

An overall deity?

However, the evidence for an “out there” God does seem to be decidedly tenuous. All cultures in ancient times seemed to need gods to provide answers to questions, such as why the Sun rose, crops grew or terrible events took place, but those questions have long since been given rational answers and thus the need for an external intelligence that makes everything happen has declined to virtually zero.

Although there are still some very odd people around who think that the Book of Genesis is a description of reality rather than a typical example of primitive mythology, the need for God as creator has dwindled to the question of “who lit the fuse for the Big Bang?”. The “God of the gaps” now has only one gap left to fill, if any – there are many people who are satisfied that theories such as quantum mechanics offers perfectly satisfactory explanations for absolutely everything.

A personal God

So if there is no need for an external God, how does one explain the firm conviction that millions of people have that God is a reality with which they are in regular contact, and without which their lives would be impossible? They are utterly convinced not only that their prayers are being addressed to something that exists but that they receive direct answers.

There are many examples throughout history of people who have been absolutely certain that God has spoken directly to them, either as a voice or via some messenger such as an angel. The Bible is crammed full of such events, and Joan of Arc was far from being the only saint who believed that they had received instructions directly from Heaven to do what they did.

Indeed, many Christians will say that they have been “born again” as a result of receiving a “call” that was every bit as strong as a direct voice speaking to them, even if this fell short of an angelic visitation.

So do these examples not prove that God is a real being that speaks directly to individuals?

Voices in the head

I think not. We have long known that there is a phenomenon known as “auditory hallucination”, in which the sufferer is convinced that they are being spoken to by somebody who is not present or communicating with them by normal means. Apart from being a regular symptom of psychotic illness, there is a very wide range of mental conditions that can include auditory hallucination to a greater or lesser extent.

At its extreme, this phenomenon can lead people to commit terrible acts, including mass murder, because they were convinced that the “voices” were telling them to do so. Although most people who hear voices recognise that they are not real, there are unfortunately some who are unable to tell the difference and act on what they believe they have been told to do.

Auditory hallucinations are so common – and not necessarily connected with mental illness – that it would not be at all surprising to learn that the vast majority of “born again” episodes were the result of such events. This would be especially true in cases where the person was already associating with others who were religiously inclined and were therefore half expecting such a “call” to come their way.

I therefore take the view that one’s “personal God” is highly likely to be a product of brain function that is slightly out of alignment.

But what about prayer?

Many Christians will no doubt object that the fact of prayer disproves this thesis. They will say, in all sincerity, that they pray to God and that God answers their prayers. How could he do so if he neither existed externally nor was anything other than a mental blip?

Traditionally, “request” prayers have been of two types, aiming either to see some change in the outside world – to improve the health of another person, for example – or to be given some extra help in solving a personal problem. One has to ask how effective prayers of these types tend to be.

There have been many cases in which it is claimed that an external event has taken place as a result of prayer. These can, for example, take the form of an unexpected cure for a life-threatening illness, and such cases are sometimes termed “miracles”.

Indeed, in the Roman Catholic Church holy dead people can only become saints if miracles can be shown to have happened as a result of the prayers of the faithful aimed in their direction.

However, what is never disclosed is the number of prayers that have failed to achieve their objective. It would be interesting to know what proportion of prayers “succeed” and how many desirable events would have taken place had nobody prayed for them at all. This is probably impossible to determine, but there is nothing other than anecdote to set against coincidence when it comes to proving the power of “external” prayer.

But what about “internal” prayers, namely those that ask for personal strength to cope with a particular situation? The number of success stories here is legion, according to Christians. Indeed, were they not so it is unlikely that most believers would continue with the practice. Surely this is proof that prayer works, and it can only do so if there is some agency at work, to whit God, that is making them work?

I think you need to set the practice of prayer against that of meditation, which can be done in a purely non-religious context. Just as there are millions of people across the world who engage in regular prayer, so are there millions of non-believers who engage in some form of meditation and are convinced that they obtain just as much benefit from it as those who pray do from their prayers.

The practice of training the mind to clear itself of extraneous thoughts and obtain a state of purity is undoubtedly beneficial and can be used to great effect as a means of solving personal problems and giving oneself extra mental energy.

If the same results can be obtained from meditation as from prayer, then what is so special about the latter?

A figment of the mind

I am therefore convinced that God is a purely personal construct that has no reality outside the minds of believers.

Despite the efforts of philosophers to prove the existence of God, no such proofs are convincing and all have been shown to be fallacious. There is no need for God to exist in terms of providing explanations for the natural world or as a driver of world events.

Likewise, all cases of “personal messages” can be shown to be the result of mental processes, and claims to receive benefits from prayer can be matched by claims of benefits from mental exercises that do not involve prayer.

However, it cannot be doubted that many people gain a great deal from their practice of religion, and I would not want them to stop believing whatever they want to, providing that they do not try to force their beliefs on to others.

What the world can really do without is the conviction by some religious people that they have the only answers and that everyone else must follow their lead. If this is your attitude, I for one do not share it.

© John Welford