Agnostics and the Mersey Tunnel

When someone tells me that they are agnostic I always wonder what they actually mean by this. The word 'agnostic'  itself is just Greek for the absence of knowledge and that seems to be all that some people are saying when they use the label. They are simply expressing a lack of certainty about spiritual matters. Others seem to be saying not so much that they don't know as they don't care - 'apathetic' rather than agnostic. But there is another group who are what I call 'militantly agnostic'. They are saying, in effect, 'I don't know, I'm never going to know and it is not possible for anyone to know. So don't you dare to try to tell me you know.'

I think it was this last group who Stephen Gaukroger had in mind when he said that 'agnosticism was like the Mersey Tunnel - alright to travel through, but a nightmare to live in!' In other words, agnosticism is alright as a point on a journey but making it your life's position is a bad idea.

When people first begin to think seriously about the meaning of life, describing themselves as 'agnostic' may be an honest articulation of the fact that they are no longer closed to the possibility of the existence of God but are still trying to work things out. There are many people, thank God, who moved from atheism to agnosticism and then to wholehearted belief in Jesus Christ. Agnosticism was a point on their journey from unbelief to belief.

But nothing is sadder than those who have got 'stuck' in agnosticism. Militant agnosticism leads nowhere. To continue the travel metaphor, it sits down and refuses to even look at the map. It refuses to consider the possibility that there might be any way out of the tunnel or that there could be anything better out there. It watches other travellers hopefully passing him by, believing they have found a route out. Yes, there is the possibility that they may be wrong but there is also the possibility they might be right. But the one who sits and refuses to even try any of the exits is certain of only one thing - remaining stuck in that tunnel! Agnosticism offers no light to live by, no moral framework, no greater purpose in anything. The only thing it promises is a life of perpetual uncertainty.

Don't live the rest of your life in a gloomy tunnel! At least look into the claims of Christianity. Get a Bible and find out for yourself what it says and consider the serious implications for you if its message is true. Say to God, "If you are there, reveal yourself to me." But don't waste your life in perpetual indecision and uncertainty.