Around 20 years ago, when I worked at Barnes & Noble, in charge of the Art and Religion section, my curiosities of atheist thought began to pique once again. It had a few years prior when I was in college, and as many of you know, secular humanism is taught the same way apologetics and hermeneutics are taught at a seminary–infused in just about everything.
But had I really delved into atheist thought at that time? No. I had a firm foundation in who I was as a Christian, and living in The Spirit. Besides, I had other things to think about as a young, single 20-something. So a few years later, no longer single and about to hit 30–with three very young children, and as I maintained the atheist section of religion and philosophy, I decided to grab a book on atheism and skim a few pages on break. Heck, don’t tell anyone, but I even skimmed a few pages when I should have been working. Hey, it was a slow day (or two or three).
What I came to find in that book (I don’t remember the name of the book or its author) as well as others was not a good–or even mediocre–argument against God. I couldn’t help but think to myself, “How did this guy get a book deal?” Mind you, it would be another decade before I went to seminary and learned apologetics more in-depth. But I still had a pretty good grasp on some apologetics already, but not enough (or so I thought) to argue against an author on the subject of atheism.
But when I read that–and other books on the shelf like it, the answers against their disbelief were quite simple. What I learned by reading those books was that these authors simply had thoughts and questions relating to Christianity that they, and they alone, could not answer. That’s it. No searching for answers, just…”Well, I can’t figure it out, so it must not be true. Hey, look at me! Ain’t I a genius for thinking outside the box? No one else in all humanity must have had these questions and answers! Look at those poor, gullible, stupid ewes in the pews!”
And from what I have gathered since my time at Barnes & Noble is that most other atheists have that very same thing in common.
What I discovered in that seminary a decade later, is that one semester of apologetics in even the smallest, insignificant Bible institute (such as the one I had attended) can reverse anyone’s skepticism.
Well…almost. You see, there is one huge stumbling block a skeptic–whether atheist or agnostic or of another religion–has to hurdle. You guessed it, themselves. You ever hear the phrase, “Get over yourself?” It could not be a more truer statement for the most ardent and popular atheists (especially pop-atheists). Now, don’t get me wrong, if they don’t want to believe in God, that’s fine. I can respect your disbelief so long as you are willing to admit that what it all boils down to, is that you don’t want to believe in God.
I understand and also respect your questions and doubts. We all have had questions and doubts in our lives, and we’ve all been angry at God–even as Christians. But it’s how you come to search for and find answers to your doubts and anger that matter. Alisa Childers, who had her own crisis of faith, talks about this subject well. But being angry at God can certainly be a whole other stumbling block, and a point for another blog post, perhaps some other time.
In the past year or so, I have come to steadily digest quite a few YouTube videos on apologetics and religious debates with some of the top skeptics of the 21st Century–Bart Ehrman, Richard Dawkins, and the late Christopher Hitchens. In these debates, no amount of evidence for them will suffice. Now, I have to admit, I am well aware that no one is going to concede in a debate. After all, their whole reputation is at stake. If they concede, they not only lose the debate, but respect, and even (perhaps) their livelihood. After all, they make a lot of money with these debates, interviews, books, and university positions. What would happen if they were to all of a sudden…turn around and disagree with the elites that ardently rub shoulders and admire them?
Well, what would happen is the same as what has happened to a lot of others in similar predicaments. Some, but not all, have been the scorn of higher institutions for having doubted Darwinian evolution, for example, come to the conclusion that there might be a creator behind all of this, and maybe–just maybe–there was once a worldwide flood as described in Genesis. They came to these conclusions by using basic scientific discovery.
But if researchers came to these conclusions using scientific discovery, then shouldn’t they be lauded for a job well done? You would think so. But again, it boils down to pride. Who is going to be the bravest elitist within these institutions to actually stand up and say, “This is enough, I’ve had it. Darwinian evolution is bunk!” Supposedly Charles Darwin did, though I’m not sure if that’s just an old-wives tale or not.
At any rate, pride is the cement that holds most atheistic disbelief. Not only is there the “what will happen to me and my reputation?” fear but also the fear of facing one’s own sin. For those of us who are in Christ, facing our sin has not been a problem because we understand (and have–and are living) Amazing Grace. But for the skeptic–whether atheist or agnostic, it seems that they don’t. And even if they do, it’s pretty evident (knowing human nature pretty well–because I have one of my own) that they may have to give up a few indulgences that they’d rather not. They still want to do as they please without a ‘skydaddy’ watching and examining their every move. They want to be the god of themselves. And that’s what it really boils down to–again an issue of pride.
If one who was so full of themselves were to actually come to a true belief in God, it would wreck their world. It would crush them. And it would devastate their understanding of right and wrong–especially if they believe that they are morally superior to God himself (aka, their belief that God is a “moral monster”).
Atheists cannot come to grips with trying to answer things that they cannot explain through their own intelligence. They seem to not be able to rely on others who (just may) be smarter than them–at least in this regard. They cannot face the fact that there are smarter people than they. So you see the irony here? Their arrogance keeps them in ignorance. In fact, the more they criticize Christianity, the more their ignorance is on full display. And in doing so, they ironically propagate (through what is supposed to be higher education) more ignorance–something Bart Ehrman, a supposed Bible scholar and professor at the University of North Carolina, strongly accuses Christians of doing–yet no one exemplifies this practice of willful ignorance as much as he.
What it all boils down to is that they want to be their own god, and they just simply don’t want to believe. And so, they’ll fight and argue and throw temper tantrums (in a sophisticated way of course, after all, they’re highly esteemed professors) to have their own way. And God, being a gentleman who honors the humanity He gave us, will–though He still calls everyone to repentance–allow that.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on A Closer Look
Featured Image by Marcos Paulo Prado on Unsplash
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