Atheism
"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but create him."
-Arthur C. Clark
"It may be that our role on this planet is not to worship God, but create him."
-Arthur C. Clark
Just recently in the news it was reported that an atheist group put up a billboard in the Billy Graham Parkway that reads "One Nation, Indivisible." Obviously the "Under God" had been left out, only to be spray painted on the billboard by some disgruntled Christian. I'm sure that went over real well with the growing atheist community around the world. Nothing like giving them ammunition to further prove the bigotry and narrow mindedness they think they see in us. I think we as Christians need to really meditate on just what means to be "wise as a serpent and gentle as dove." This is one of the problems that atheists see today when they look at us. They see a bunch of religious fanatics that don't look very much like this Jesus they are always preaching about. That is also what kept Gandhi from becoming a Christian. Yet, we as Christians, cannot and should not ignore the atheism that is spreading rapidly throughout the western world. But how should we deal with people who stand for everything that we stand against? Tough question to answer.
Over the past couple of years I have engaged many atheists in debates, asked a lot questions and tried to genuinely understand how people could be so aggressively against the notion that there could be a creator out there somewhere. The following within this two part blog will be some of my thoughts and observations that have come out of my journey up until this point....
The first point that I would like to mention is that we do have many things in common with these people. Even if you are a Christian, you are an atheist in regards to your view on the Greek pantheon. We believe no other gods exist except for the God of Israel. If someone walked over to us and said "I just got done praying to Zeus so that he might strike Osama Bin Laden with a lightning bolt." We would think that person was crazy or was smoking something they shouldn't have been. This is much the same way an atheist perceives a Christian. They think we are delusional and are opposed to clear headed rational thinking. When we say "the Bible says" they have pretty much written off whatever will be said afterward because the Bible to them is just an ancient fairy tale book that feeds our delusions. Defending the Christian position becomes tricky when one thinks our belief in God is comparable to a child's belief in Santa Clause.
Now, there are many different kinds of atheists. I have heard some Christians say that atheism is really just another form of religion, but the word atheist is a blanket word. In 2008 a Gallop poll was taken that showed the number of those who were considered "non-religious" had nearly doubled over the past 20 years. It went from 8% of the US population to 15%. Most of those atheists are what I would call agnostic atheists. I used to be one of these before I came to Christ. They belief there could be "something out there" but certainly not any god that is known to us through organized religion. Then we have a our religious atheists, like our Anton Levey (Founder of the church of Satan; author of the Satanic Bible) followers. They call themselves Satanists even though they do not believe that such a being even exists. These are a minority. There are even some religions that are atheistic in nature, like Buddhism for example. Then there are what I would call the "aggressives". They are the ones that try to push anything having to do with God or religion out of schools, off the dollar, and out of the pledge of allegiance. They usually are on the higher criticism side of things and have a major influence on secular institutions of education (which is where most atheists find their re-enforcement for what they believe.) Richard Dawkins is perhaps one of the more notable figures within this group. It is this type of atheist that poses a real threat to people's faith in God. They use very effective methods of thought and argument to back their stance and make Christians seem foolish. Everything from philosophy to science to trying to show contradictions within the Bible; they usually show up with their metaphorical cannons loaded. Most Christians I know would not be able to seriously defend their point of view underneath the onslaught of arguments "the aggressives" dish out. They say that the burden of proof lies with us, with the Christian. They don't have to disprove that God exists (which is a double negative), but we must prove that He does exist. Tough thing to do on the spot.
One of the more interesting things I have noticed while getting to know some of these people is that beneath the intellectual vernier and the their dogmatic loyalty to Darwinism there is usually someone who has been hurt or is disillusioned by personal experiences. Truth be told, I probably wouldn't be a Christian if the Holy Spirit did not make himself real to me in a very powerful and life changing way. Imagine a person living in U.S. today who was raised by professing Christians, went to Bible classes as a kid, prayed on a frequent basis but nothing really happened. Then they get older, they get more educated and learn things like Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy don't really exist. They still profess to be a Christian, but really aren't sure what that means anymore. They think "come on, can we really take this Bible thing literally?" Then their best friend gets into an accident. For the first time in a long time they begin to pray. They ask God to help. They ask God to intervene. Nothing happens. Their friend dies. Whatever is left of their fledgling faith has been all but pulverized. "Certainly," they think to themselves, "there is no God." This story has been fabricated, but so many who are considered hardcore, aggressive atheists have a similar story to share.
What do we say then? Does God in His sovereignty choose before hand that these people are nothing more than vessels of his wrath? Why does God show up for some, but not for others? Does He really love them? How could He when they are completely against Him even existing? I'm pretty sure He does still love them; just as much as any sinner who has ever been forgiven through Jesus...
How we approach this matter will be the topic of my next blog...
Over the past couple of years I have engaged many atheists in debates, asked a lot questions and tried to genuinely understand how people could be so aggressively against the notion that there could be a creator out there somewhere. The following within this two part blog will be some of my thoughts and observations that have come out of my journey up until this point....
The first point that I would like to mention is that we do have many things in common with these people. Even if you are a Christian, you are an atheist in regards to your view on the Greek pantheon. We believe no other gods exist except for the God of Israel. If someone walked over to us and said "I just got done praying to Zeus so that he might strike Osama Bin Laden with a lightning bolt." We would think that person was crazy or was smoking something they shouldn't have been. This is much the same way an atheist perceives a Christian. They think we are delusional and are opposed to clear headed rational thinking. When we say "the Bible says" they have pretty much written off whatever will be said afterward because the Bible to them is just an ancient fairy tale book that feeds our delusions. Defending the Christian position becomes tricky when one thinks our belief in God is comparable to a child's belief in Santa Clause.
Now, there are many different kinds of atheists. I have heard some Christians say that atheism is really just another form of religion, but the word atheist is a blanket word. In 2008 a Gallop poll was taken that showed the number of those who were considered "non-religious" had nearly doubled over the past 20 years. It went from 8% of the US population to 15%. Most of those atheists are what I would call agnostic atheists. I used to be one of these before I came to Christ. They belief there could be "something out there" but certainly not any god that is known to us through organized religion. Then we have a our religious atheists, like our Anton Levey (Founder of the church of Satan; author of the Satanic Bible) followers. They call themselves Satanists even though they do not believe that such a being even exists. These are a minority. There are even some religions that are atheistic in nature, like Buddhism for example. Then there are what I would call the "aggressives". They are the ones that try to push anything having to do with God or religion out of schools, off the dollar, and out of the pledge of allegiance. They usually are on the higher criticism side of things and have a major influence on secular institutions of education (which is where most atheists find their re-enforcement for what they believe.) Richard Dawkins is perhaps one of the more notable figures within this group. It is this type of atheist that poses a real threat to people's faith in God. They use very effective methods of thought and argument to back their stance and make Christians seem foolish. Everything from philosophy to science to trying to show contradictions within the Bible; they usually show up with their metaphorical cannons loaded. Most Christians I know would not be able to seriously defend their point of view underneath the onslaught of arguments "the aggressives" dish out. They say that the burden of proof lies with us, with the Christian. They don't have to disprove that God exists (which is a double negative), but we must prove that He does exist. Tough thing to do on the spot.
One of the more interesting things I have noticed while getting to know some of these people is that beneath the intellectual vernier and the their dogmatic loyalty to Darwinism there is usually someone who has been hurt or is disillusioned by personal experiences. Truth be told, I probably wouldn't be a Christian if the Holy Spirit did not make himself real to me in a very powerful and life changing way. Imagine a person living in U.S. today who was raised by professing Christians, went to Bible classes as a kid, prayed on a frequent basis but nothing really happened. Then they get older, they get more educated and learn things like Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy don't really exist. They still profess to be a Christian, but really aren't sure what that means anymore. They think "come on, can we really take this Bible thing literally?" Then their best friend gets into an accident. For the first time in a long time they begin to pray. They ask God to help. They ask God to intervene. Nothing happens. Their friend dies. Whatever is left of their fledgling faith has been all but pulverized. "Certainly," they think to themselves, "there is no God." This story has been fabricated, but so many who are considered hardcore, aggressive atheists have a similar story to share.
What do we say then? Does God in His sovereignty choose before hand that these people are nothing more than vessels of his wrath? Why does God show up for some, but not for others? Does He really love them? How could He when they are completely against Him even existing? I'm pretty sure He does still love them; just as much as any sinner who has ever been forgiven through Jesus...
How we approach this matter will be the topic of my next blog...
Good blog. and thought provoking!
ReplyDeleteMy thoughts in brief were -
You said, "Most Christians I know would not be able to seriously defend their point of view underneath the onslaught of arguments "the aggressives" dish out." Agree completely. makes me wonder if God would rather us not argue at all. COuld do more harm than good.
And then you said, "Truth be told, I probably wouldn't be a Christian if the Holy Spirit did not make himself real to me in a very powerful and life changing way." ah ha! yes. nothing i say or do is dependent on their salvation but ultimately would be the "power of God unto salvation". God already told us that lawlessness and wickedness will increase. We should not be surprised that it is! i think the rise of atheism is on the rise is also fulfilling prophecy.
i'm interested and look forward to reading more.