The Rational Basis of Religious Experience
by Alfred George Oettle
*22-06-1919
†08-11-1967
The Rational Basis of Religious Experience was written by Dr Alfred George Oettle,[1]
MBChB (Wits), who delivered it as a lecture to the Rational Society of the University
of the Witwatersrand in 1966. It was subsequently published by the Christian
Medical Fellowship, of 56 Kingsway, London WC2.
The foreword in the published version of the lecture was written by J F Murray MD, of the South African Institute for Medical Research in Johannesburg. It reads:
Dr George Oettle,[2] who died on the 8th November, 1968[3] was known to his colleagues as one who loved the parry and thrust of debate. Critical to a degree he used his brilliant mind to test and evaluate every statement he encountered and every set of facts uncovered in the course of his research. Nothing irritated him more than loose or slovenly thinking, and he delighted in the application of logic to the assessment of his research findings. His love of logic and of rational thinking applied to every aspect of his life. It is not surprising therefore, that, when he was invited to address the Rationalist Society of the University of the Witwatersrand on the subject of “The Rational Basis of Religious Experience”, he welcomed the opportunity of setting forth his thinking in this field. He had a profound knowledge of the Bible and was a man of deep and unshakable faith in the Providence of God. Despite his brilliant mind, his great scientific achievements, and his research ability he was, withal, a humble and lovable man. Although he was deeply religious by nature he never thrust his beliefs down the throats of others, nor flaunted them from the housetops. Nonetheless no one could be long in the presence of George Oettle without realising that this was a man whose every thought and action was coloured and determined by Christian love and faith.
Following an outstandingly successful academic career, he devoted the remainder of his all too short life to the full time pursuit of knowledge in the research field. Shortly after joining the staff of the South African Institute for Medical Research in 1951 he interested himself in the epidemiology of cancer and became the leading authority in the field in South Africa. Methods of investigation which he devised for use amongst the Bantu[4] in South Africa have been adopted and followed in many other parts of the world. His contributions to science have been immense, but to those who knew him personally the memory which remains above all is one of a man who fulfilled the prophet’s words “to do justly and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God”.
To these words of commendation I feel obliged to add that my Uncle George was a family man, deeply in love with his wife, my father’s sister Elsa,[4]
and a loving and caring father towards his six children. Besides his professional involvement in science and his deep Christian faith, he was generally interested in the world around him, and was a keen and knowledgeable amateur ornithologist.
This paper appears in Saints & Seasons with the permission of George Oettle’s children, my cousins.
To read more about the Oettle family, click here.
The photograph of George Oettle was provided by his son, Dr Charl Oettle, of Worcester.
