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Albert Camus: The challenge of the unbeliever

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 June 2011

Vivienne Blackburn
Vivienne Blackburn*
Affiliation:
Burley in Wharfedale, Ilkley, West Yorkshire, LS29 7HJ, UKvivienne.blackburn@btinternet.com
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Abstract

Albert Camus (1913–60), novelist, essayist, journalist and member of the French Resistance, reflected in his work the turbulent period through which he lived. His powerful portrayal of a world dominated by violence and suffering resonates with us today. An atheist, Camus had been, as a young man, drawn to the Christian faith: his postgraduate thesis was on the development of early Christianity. The thesis reveals the nature of the attraction which the faith held for Camus, and the unresolved problems which prevented him from embracing it. In maturity, Camus sought rather to convince fellow human beings of the need to work together to reduce suffering, without relying on belief in a transcendent being. He respected Christians, however, and welcomed dialogue with them. This article examines the possible basis for such dialogue revealed by the thesis. It goes on to consider the possibilities opened up by contemporary theology for dialogue between Christians and those unbelievers who share the perspective, the doubts and concerns of Albert Camus.

Type
Research Article
Information
Scottish Journal of Theology , Volume 64 , Issue 3 , August 2011 , pp. 313 - 326
Copyright
Copyright © Scottish Journal of Theology Ltd 2011

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References

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2 L'étranger (1st publ. Paris: Gallimard, 1942); trans. Stuart Gilbert (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1946).

3 La peste (1st publ. Paris: Gallimard, 1947); trans. Stuart Gilbert (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1948; Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1948, 1968).

4 Camus’ complete works were publ. in 2 vols by Gallimard in the Pléiade edn in 1955. Vols 1 and 2 of a new 4-vol. edn appeared in 2006. My references are to this edn.

5 Camus at Combat: Writing 1944–1947, ed. Jacqueline Lévi-Valensi (Princeton, NJ, and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2006).

6 L'homme révolté (1st publ. Paris: Gallimard, 1951); trans. Stuart Gilbert (London: Knopf, 1958).

7 Todd, Olivier, Camus, une vie (Paris: Gallimard, 1996), p. 761Google Scholar.

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14 Œuvres complètes, vol. 1, p. 999.

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16 Œuvres complètes, vol. 1, p. 1042.

17 Camus, Œuvres complètes, vol. 1, p. 1041; Pascal, Œuvres complètes, p. 1221.

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19 Ibid., p. 1046.

20 Ibid., p. 1063.

21 Ibid., p. 1064.

22 Ibid., p. 1062.

23 Ibid., p. 1067.

24 Ibid., p. 1073.

25 Ibid., p. 1076.

26 Ibid., p. 1077.

27 Camus, une vie, p. 105, ‘l'artiste de sa destinée, spirituelle et terrestre’.

28 Camus at Combat, 27 March 1945, pp. 181–2.

29 Ibid., 8 Sept. 1944, p. 32.

30 Ibid., 22 March 1947, p. 285.

31 Ibid., 19 Nov. 1946, pp. 257–9.

32 In Lash, Theology for Pilgrims, p. 32.

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41 Ibid., p. 10.

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43 Bruno Forte, Archbishop of Chieto-Vasto, ‘Religion and Freedom: The Value of Earthly Reality is Not Understood by the Holy’, unpubl. lecture given to bishops’ conference in Leeds on 14 Nov. 2007.