Can Atheists Live a Moral Life?

Dr. Craig discusses atheistic grounds for morality and The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky.

INTERVIEWER: One of the quotes from the author Dostoyevsky was that if there is no immortality – in other words, I guess another way of saying that “if there is no God”, “if there is no supernatural realm” – then all things are permitted. I want to know, what did he mean by that? And also I want to make sure that we're all hearing you right. Because you're not necessarily saying that atheists and agnostics are incapable of morality.

DR. CRAIG: No, not at all.

INTERVIEWER: But there's something to be said there. So, what are you suggesting?

DR. CRAIG: This is extremely important. The claim is not that in order to live a moral life you have to believe in God. That's evidently false. Rather, the claim is that if there is no God then there is no absolute standard for moral values or moral duties, and that therefore it's all relative. So what is needed for an objective moral life is not the belief in God. It's God, himself, as a foundation for these. That was what Dostoyevsky saw. In the novel The Brothers Karamazov, this saying expresses the worldview of Ivan Karamazov, the atheistic of the brothers. Dostoyevsky's point in that magnificent novel is to show the unlivability of this point of view. One of the brothers murders their father. When Ivan protests, his brother said, “But you're the one who said that there is no God and therefore nothing matters. Therefore, how can you condemn me for patricide? It's your own worldview that leads to this!” And Ivan is unable to live with the logical consequences of his own view and suffers a mental collapse. So Dostoyevsky just so brilliantly portrays the unlivability of this atheistic naturalistic worldview, and then contrasts it with the life of the Christian brother, Alyosha (who is a Russian Orthodox priest), who experiences suffering, a firm suffering, and finds deep meaning in a relationship with God and with Jesus Christ.