McGrath has devoted much of his adult life to studying and teaching the Christian faith. So how has he become not just a well-known Christian thinker, but well-respected even by secular thinkers?
How Did Alister McGrath Become a Christian?
McGrath grew up attending church with his family in Northern Ireland but did not have a personal relationship with God. In high school, he became an atheist. But during his first semester of undergraduate studies at Oxford, McGrath met Christians who articulated the faith clearly, that it was real, personal, and transforming. He realized Christianity had a much greater depth than he previously recognized. As a result, he rethought Christianity and, in 1971, abandoned atheism for the Christian faith.
What Makes Alister McGrath a Great Christian Apologist?
As a student, he has three doctorates from Oxford in molecular biophysics, theology, and intellectual history. Since the 1980s, he has been a faculty member and lecturer in Christian doctrine and theology at various schools, including Oxford, Cambridge, and Regent College in Vancouver.
In addition to his teaching, McGrath has written prolifically to defend the Christian faith— everything from textbooks to biographies to spiritual meditations. He writes in an accessible way for both the non-Christian, the new Christian, and the seasoned Christian.
His writing synthesizes Christian theology’s deeper, more intellectual material with clear doctrine for everyday readers.
Most importantly, in books like The Passionate Intellectual, he stresses the importance of applying Christian thought into action in practical devotion to God and through engaging with non-Christian culture.
Also, as a former atheist, he can draw from his own life and previous thinking to more easily address the ant-religious arguments of thinkers such as Richard Dawkins, Christian Hitchens, and Sam Harris, including the argument religion is inadequate, foolish, or evil.
How Has Alister McGrath Shown Christians Can Support Science?
McGrath is a founding member of the International Society of Science and Religion. This international organization is committed to the interdisciplinary learning and research of science and religion across various faiths. He has written about and spoken frequently on how Christian theology and the natural sciences mutually interact and can be pursued in tandem— complementing and supporting over contradicting one another.
McGrath is clear that scientific studies do not exclude God naturally, but only chooses not to bring God into consideration. He believes in evolution and defends that it is appropriate for a Christian to do so. He cites that Darwin believed evolution could be reconciled with the Bible. Regardless of whether God initiated the Big Bang, McGrath argues that God still intentionally brought the world and universe into being. More importantly, the idea of theistic evolution gives the world purpose and helps answer questions like ‘Why are we here?”
Additionally, he has debated atheistic scholars on topics like new atheism, faith as rational, biological models applying to Christian doctrine, the problems of Darwin, and the belief in God to help understand the universe’s origins.
10 Great Quotes by Alister McGrath
1. “What would Jesus do? He would forgive, and that’s what we are going to do as well. This is a reminder that religion can go right.” — regarding how Christians should respond to the 2006 Amish school shooting, “Is Religion Evil? Is it the Cause of Terrorist Attacks?”
2. “A mystery, in the proper sense of the term, refers not to something that is irrational but to something that cannot be fully comprehended by reason, exceeding its capacity to discern and describe. The sheer vastness of God causes the images of words that humans craft to falter, if not break down completely, as they try to depict God fully and faithfully.” — Narrative Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith
3. “Heresy sounds okay but then when you start thinking about it, it is actually compromising faith. I thought it was protecting but is actually subverting and destroying.” — “Why Should Christians Study Heresy?”
4. “To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul.” — Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith
5. “A god that can be reduced to what reason can cope with is not a God that can be worshiped.” — If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis: Exploring the Ideas of C.S. Lewis on the Meaning of Life
6. “Anyone who thinks about the great questions of Christian theology soon finds out that a lot of them have already been addressed. It is virtually impossible to do theology as if it had never been done before. There is always an element of looking back over one’s shoulder to see how things were done in the past, and what answers were then given.” — Christian Theology: An Introduction
7. “For Christian writers, religious faith is not a rebellion against reason, but a revolt against the imprisonment of humanity within the cold walls of a rationalist dogmatism.” — Mere Apologetics
8. “New ideas can be supremely bad ideas, and by the time people realize how bad they are, it is sometimes difficult to get rid of them.” — If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis
9. “Christianity, rather than being one myth alongside many others, is thus the fulfillment of all previous mythological religions. Christianity tells a true story about humanity, which makes sense of all the stories that humanity tells about itself.” — C. S. Lewis: A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet
10. “Lewis created a new kind of marriage between theological reflection and poetic imagination.” — If I Had Lunch with C.S. Lewis
10 Great Books by Alister McGrath
1. Narrative Apologetics: Sharing the Relevance, Joy, and Wonder of the Christian Faith. McGrath emphasizes that the Bible was written in narrative form telling the stories and describing the nature of God and humanity - which appeal to the imagination much more so than crafting arguments. In this book, he also looks at the stories of C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, St. Augustine, and Chuck Colson.
2. J.I. Packer: His Life and Thought. McGrath first looks at Packer’s theological writings focusing on both his homeland of England and the rest of the world. He describes Packer’s influence, both globally and as a personal friend, his main ideas and offerings to Christianity during his lifetime, and the scholars that influenced Packer.
3. Christian Theology: An Introduction. One of the most well-regarded textbooks on Christian theology, McGrath provides a clear, historical foundation of Christian beliefs, themes, and arguments. It is written for readers with no knowledge of Christianity and those with a mature faith.
4. Theology: The Basics. This global bestseller is a great intro to those just starting in Christian theology. With concision and clarity, McGrath educates the reader on the key discussions, doctrines, and beliefs of the Christian faith and the principal thinkers of Christianity.
5. Mere Apologetics: How to Help Seekers and Skeptics Find Faith. McGrath addresses issues challenging Christianity today, like scientific atheism, by providing a method of defending the faith that appeals to both the heart and the mind. He regularly references the wisdom of previous apologists like Augustine, Jonathan Edwards, and Francis Schaeffer and engages the reader in an easy-to-read yet intelligent articulation of the faith.
6. What’s the Point of Theology?: Wisdom, Wellbeing, and Wonder. McGrath delves into theology’s great benefit for Christians—a richer faith, a greater appreciation of creation, and a deeper intimacy with God. The book has an accessible writing style, making it a good read for the new, the mature Christian, the curious, and the perplexed.
7. C.S. Lewis - A Life: Eccentric Genius, Reluctant Prophet. The ECPA 2014 Christian Book Award Winner for Non-Fiction, McGrath vividly describes the influence of Lewis—inspiring millions through his writings on theology, popular fiction, and testimony of converting from atheism to Christianity.
8. Knowing Christ. McGrath writes a meditation on keeping Christ central in the life of Christians. Written for all Christians, regardless of tradition, McGrath appeals to both the heart and mind with texts, themes, and stories from Scripture and the art and literature of Christian history and reflection.
9. “I Believe”: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed. McGrath addresses the basic elements and core doctrines of the Christian creeds. These truths have been supported by the church for thousands of years. This is a great tool for both individual and small group study with discussion questions included.
10. Natural Philosophy: On Retrieving a Lost Disciplinary Imaginary. Studying how humanity interacts with the natural world, Natural Philosophy is a discipline not often explored. McGrath argues for the revival of the tradition to increase people’s awareness and reverence for and creative response to God’s Creation.
Photo Credit: Lubbock Christian University/Flickr
Nate Van Noord is from Detroit, MI, a graduate of Calvin University, and has taught high school history for many years. He loves to bike, run, and play pickleball, has been to about 30 countries, and is a three time winner of NPR's Moth Detroit StorySlam competitions.
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