Religion: The God-Haters

What have atheists in common with saints? A great deal, suggests top-rank Roman Catholic Philosopher Jacques Maritain, now teaching at Princeton, in the current issue of the quarterly Review of Politics. "The genuine, absolute atheist, with all his sincerity and devotion," he concludes, "is but an abortive saint and, at the same time, a mistaken revolutionist."

Writing "On the Meaning of Contemporary Atheism," Maritain sharply differentiates between the various manifestations of Godlessness. There are the "practical atheists, who believe that they believe in God but who in reality deny His existence by each...