John Tavener Quotes

Intellectually, now, I believe that it is a complete vanity to say positively there is no God.

What are the chances there is a God, really?

If you can define what God is, I can tell you whether I believe in it.

If God is incomprehensible to man, it would seem rational never to think of Him at all …. whether there exists a God or not ... men's moral duties will always be the same so long as they possess their own nature

When I hear theists and atheists pontificating on how they know God does or does not exist, I can only smile at the irrationality and, yes, vanity of the notion.

As to gods, I have no way of knowing either that they exist or do not exist, or what they are like.

I, for one, can't be sure at all there is a God.

As a scientist, I don't believe science will ever discover whether God exists. Nor do I believe religion will ever prove it.

I always had a background belief in God. In other words, instinctually I've never doubted that we are not alone.

I consider myself a religious person, but when it comes to God and faith, I don't know. I guess that means I'm agnostic.

An atheist, like a Christian, holds that we can know whether or not there is a God. The Christian holds that we can know there is a God; the atheist, that we can know there is not. The Agnostic suspends judgment, saying that there are not sufficient grounds either for affirmation or for denial. At the same time, an Agnostic may hold that the existence of God, though not impossible, is very improbable; he may even hold it so improbable that it is not worth considering in practice. In that case, he is not far removed from atheism.

God's only excuse is that he does not exist.

Our English language really says if you're not a theist, the only alternative is to be an atheist. What I'm trying to do is develop a language that will enable us to talk about God beyond the, what I think, are sterile categories of theism and atheism.

God is best known in not knowing him.

Either God is alive, in which case he'll deal with us as he sees fit. Or he is dead, in which case he was never alive, it being unlikely that he died of old age.

The most compelling evidence for God's existence is Christ. If God does not exist, then Christ was the biggest fool who ever lived.

A little philosophy inclineth man's mind to atheism, but depth in philosophy bringeth men's minds about to religion.

I believe that the question of the existence of God is an impenetrable mystery and beyond human comprehension.

I have to recognize that I am agnostic.

Small amounts of philosophy lead to atheism, but larger amounts bring us back to God.

So I see that Christianity in believing in a Creator pulls together more facts, data, inner experience and ability than any mechanistic view could hold for me.

Scientific views end in awe and mystery, lost at the edge in uncertainty, but they appear to be so deep and so impressive that the theory that it is all arranged as a stage for God to watch man's struggle for good and evil seems inadequate.

My view is that science only has something to say about a very particular notion of God, which goes by the name of 'god of the gaps'.

It is incomprehensible that God should exist, and it is incomprehensible that he should not exist.

Believing that there is no God does not mean that there isn't one.