Towards an Understanding of Iris Murdoch’s Godless Theology

Iris Murdoch, a twentieth-century Irish philosopher and novelist best known for her contributions to ethical theory, argues that philosophy should rest not only on ethics and art but also on religion. While affirming the indispensability of religion for moral life and ethical reflection, she calls for a critical re-examination of Christianity—addressing both its institutional practices and its prevailing conception of God. According to Murdoch, the historical and intellectual trajectory of Western culture has exposed a personalized, myth-laden understanding of God as detached from reality and ultimately unsustainable. In response, she advocates the demythologization of traditional Christianity—which remains bound to this mythological conception of the divine—and its reconstruction through insights drawn from Eastern traditions, particularly Zen Buddhism. Reenvisioning religion as what she terms a “Godless Theology”, raises inevitable questions: Is it philosophically coherent to speak of theology without God? Does the very expression itself not harbor a paradox? She grounds this theology in Plato’s Idea of the Good, which serves as its ontological foundation, and reformulates the ontological argument so that it aligns with her broader philosophical vision. This study argues that Murdoch’s theology, while rejecting the notion of a personal deity, nevertheless advances an unconventional ontological understanding of deity—one that, though nontraditional, still constitutes a genuine form of belief. Accordingly, the discussion considers whether Murdoch’s Godless Theology should be regarded merely as a nominal stance or, more significantly, as a substantive reconfiguration of faith. This article contributes by distinguishing nominal from ontological ‘godlessness’ in Murdoch, showing how