For the latest event in the Uncertain Minds series, I talked with the Marxist critic Terry Eagleton, author of Reason, Faith, and Revolution: Reflections on the God Debate. We were sitting beneath the stone arches of the Wren suite, in the crypt of St Paul's Cathedral. And as we conversed, I had a very odd experience. It was as if I could hear him reciting a Christian creed – sotto voce – adding in his distinctive gloss on several of the key phrases. Here's something close to what I imagined he said.
I believe in God. Obviously, if I were a Christian, I wouldn't believe in God in the way that an alarming proportion of Americans believe in alien abduction. After all, Satan believes in God in that sense. He knows God exists. But he doesn't trust in God and isn't committed to God's ways. Quite the opposite. Alain Badiou, probably the greatest philosopher alive today, writes about having a commitment to a revelatory event. That must be more like what a Christian believes.
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