Convinced atheists might be surprised to know that the God in whom they do not believe is one Christians also do not accept. That is because, Christians think, atheists do not understand what faith actually involves.

Agnostic Australian philosopher Rai Gaita has written of the inadequacy of a god who “consists of attributes A to N and knows my phone number”, calling it the “philosopher’s god”, not the God of faith.

There is a chasm between God being real in someone’s life and being a set of theoretical ideas.

The philosopher’s god is a construct of theoretical attributes such as all-powerful, all-knowing, everywhere present and infinite, and atheists are often ironically angry at him........

© The Sydney Morning Herald