Can There Be Meaning in a World without God?

Episode Outline:
0:00 How can life have meaning without belief in God?
1:07 Bart and Megan on end-of-semester stress, Christmas shopping, and homemade gifts
5:15 How people in the ancient world found meaning and purpose
8:07 Why philosophy, not religion, usually handled questions of purpose in antiquity
10:25 How early Christianity shifted meaning toward the afterlife
11:48 Were ethics and morals in the ancient world mainly philosophical rather than religious?
15:11 How Bart thought about meaning when he was a committed Christian
16:35 How his born-again experience changed his sense of purpose
18:41 What he feared he would lose if he left the faith
22:16 What actually happened after deconversion
26:30 How ethics can still matter without God or fear of hell
29:27 Is belief in God necessary for a fulfilling and moral life?
34:26 Weekly Update: why Bart’s blog still has endless topics after more than a decade
39:49 Listener Q&A: resurrection traditions, Paul’s persecution, extra-biblical Christians, Jesus’ name, and which biblical author Bart would interview
50:24 Final summary: why Bart finds more meaning now, not less, without belief in God

Episode Description
Many people of faith think, and strongly believe, that without an almighty sovereign being over this world life would (and can!) have no meaning: it's just a matter of chance and circumstance with no ultimate end, no goal, nor purpose, no meaning. Bart had that view for years, and feared that leaving the faith would lead to a purposeless, meaningless, chaotic, anarchic existence. As it turns out, that didn't happen. But why? In this episode we explore the possibilities of meaning in a world without God.

Also watch these episodes:
Telling God What He Can Do
Telling God What He Can Do

The Omnipresent Fear of Death
The Omnipresent Fear of Death

Does the Book of James Attack the Teachings of Paul?
Does the Book of James Attack the Teachings of Paul?

Megan asks:

-How did people in ancient cultures derive meaning from life? Was it similar to modern Christian views that the purpose of life was to do what god wants you to?

-Who were the writers who discussed the meaning and purpose of life in the Greek and Roman worlds?

-Do we see these views being passed down to Christians, and do they turn up in scripture?

-What about morals and ethics? Were these derived from religious beliefs?

-How did your born-again experience change how you thought about the world?

-Did your religious faith give your life a different purpose and direction, and did your conversion substantially change your behaviour as well as your outlook?

-Did you worry that you’d lose that when you moved away from faith?

-What about now? Without religious belief, do you feel like you’ve lost that purpose?

-Without a god to tell you what’s right and wrong, or that you should treat others well in order to avoid hell, how do you know what is ethical, and why do you even worry about the morality of your actions?

-Is belief in god necessary to life a fulfilling, ethical life?