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Disbelieve it or not, ancient history suggeststhat atheism is as natural to humans asreligion

People in the ancient world did not always believe in the gods, a new studysuggests – casting doubt on the idea that religious belief is a “default setting” forhumans.

Early societies were far more capable than many since of containing atheism withinthe spectrum of what they considered normal

Tim hitmarsh

Despite being written out of large parts of history, atheists thrived in thepolytheistic societies of the ancient world – raising considerable doubts aboutwhether humans really are “wired” for religion – a new study suggests.

The claim is the central proposition of a new boo! by Tim hitmarsh, Professor of"ree! #ulture and a $ellow of %t &ohn's #ollege, (niversity of #ambridge. )n it, hesuggests that atheism – which is typically seen as a modern phenomenon – was not

*ust common in ancient "reece and pre+#hristian ome, but probably -ourished

more in those societies than in most civilisations since.s a result, the study challenges two assumptions that prop up current debates

between atheists and believers/ $irstly, the idea that atheism is a modern point ofview, and second, the idea of “religious universalism” – that humans are naturallypredisposed, or “wired”, to believe in gods.

The boo!, entitled 0attling The "ods , is being launched in #ambridge on Tuesday1$ebruary 234.

http://www.faber.co.uk/shop/general-non-fiction/religion-philosophy/9780571279302-battling-the-gods.htmlhttp://www.faber.co.uk/shop/general-non-fiction/religion-philosophy/9780571279302-battling-the-gods.html

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“ e tend to see atheism as an idea that has only recently emerged in secularestern societies,” hitmarsh said. “The rhetoric used to describe it is hyper+

modern. )n fact, early societies were far more capable than many since ofcontaining atheism within the spectrum of what they considered normal.”

“ ather than ma!ing *udgements based on scienti5c reason, these early atheistswere ma!ing what seem to be universal ob*ections about the parado6ical nature ofreligion – the fact that it as!s you to accept things that aren't intuitively there inyour world. The fact that this was happening thousands of years ago suggests thatforms of disbelief can e6ist in all cultures, and probably always have.”

The boo! argues that disbelief is actually “as old as the hills”. Early e6amples, suchas the atheistic writings of 7enophanes of #olophon 1c.89:+;98 0#E4 arecontemporary with %econd Temple+era &udaism, and signi5cantly predate#hristianity and )slam. Even Plato, writing in the ;th #entury 0#E, said thatcontemporary non+believers were “not the 5rst to have had this view about thegods.”

0ecause atheism's ancient history has largely gone unwritten, however, hitmarshsuggests that it is also absent from both sides of the current monotheist

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legislated against, such as in thens during the 8th #entury 0#E, when %ocrateswas e6ecuted for “not recognising the gods of the city.”

hile atheism came in various shapes and si es, hitmarsh also argues that therewere strong continuities across the generations. ncient atheists struggled withfundamentals that many people still >uestion today – such as how to deal with theproblem of evil, and how to e6plain aspects of religion which seem implausible.

These themes e6tend from the wor! of early thin!ers – li!e na6imander andna6imenes, who tried to e6plain why phenomena such as thunder and

earth>ua!es actually had nothing to do with the gods – through to famous writersli!e Euripides, whose plays openly criticised divine causality. Perhaps the mostfamous group of atheists in the ancient world, the Epicureans, argued that therewas no such thing as predestination and re*ected the idea that the gods had anycontrol over human life.

The age of ancient atheism ended, hitmarsh suggests, because the polytheisticsocieties that generally tolerated it were replaced by monotheistic imperial forcesthat demanded an acceptance of one, “true” "od. ome's adoption of #hristianity inthe ;th #entury #E was, he says, “seismic”, because it used religious absolutism tohold the Empire together.

ost of the later oman Empire's ideological energy was e6pended 5ghtingsupposedly heretical beliefs – often other forms of #hristianity. )n a decree of @F:,Emperor Theodosius ) even drew a distinction between #atholics, and everyone else– whom he classed as dementes vesanos>ue 1“demented lunatics”4. %uch rulingsleft no room for disbelief.

hitmarsh stresses that his study is not designed to prove, or disprove, the truth ofatheism itself. Cn the boo!'s 5rst page, however, he adds/ “) do, however, have astrong conviction – that has hardened in the course of researching and writing thisboo! – that cultural and religious pluralism, and free debate, are indispensable tothe good life.”

0attling The "ods is published by $aber and $aber. Tim hitmarsh is " GeventisProfessor of "ree! #ulture and a $ellow of %t &ohn's #ollege, (niversity of#ambridge.

+ %ee more at/ http/