Read part 2: Anglican theologian John Milbank's forthright response to Stephen Law.
Read part 3: Law argues that Milbank's defence of religion is little more than pseudo-profundity.
Read part 4: Milbank argues that, when it comes to metaphysics, paradox is inevitable.


Hegel said: “God does not offer himself up for observation”. Many of us seem to think that claims about gods, and other supernatural phenomena, are claims about what lies behind a sort of cosmic curtain or veil. On this side of the veil lies the empirically observable realm, the realm, we are told, that is the proper province of the empirical sciences. But there is a further realm beyond the veil – a realm of non-natural or supernatural beings and forces. This realm, many suppose, is off limits to science. Science cannot adjudicate on what, if anything, lies behind this cosmic divide. Scientists should show some humility, and acknowledge there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamed of in their naturalist philosophies. They should certainly cease claiming, as Richard Dawkins does, that science constitutes a significant threat to reasonable belief in God.

So how can we establish what if anything is behind the veil? Some suppose some of us have the ability to see through the veil, if only dimly, and catch glimpses of what lies beyond. TV's Psychic Sally believes she can sense the presence of and communicate with your dead loved ones who have “passed over” to the other side. Many gurus and religious folk also claim to be able to discern this mysterious reality and provide us with tantalising glimpses of the beyond.

Of course, quite how some of us are able to know what “lies beyond” is somewhat mysterious. George Bush famously thought his “gut” functioned as a sort of sensus divinitatis or god-sense. And it was by means of his gut that he knew God wanted him to invade Iraq, which he did, despite the protestations of experts who warned him it would be a grave mistake. Others think their sense of the supernatural resides in their heart, and say, when asked how reason might support their belief, that, as Pascal put it, “the heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing”.