The New Atheism

A new book was reviewed in the local paper this past weekend. It was an interview with five Protestant ministers who had lost their faith but were still leading their churches. The book was published by a group that is representative of a movement called "The New Atheism," which I understand to be a more assertive and organized effort by atheists to undermine the tenets of faith. The recent book achieves the goal that the authors wanted. It stirs the pot and gets people talking and wondering, "Gee, is my preacher faking it?"

I say, "Big deal." Five ministers who have lost their faith seems like a miniscule sampling compared to the tens of thousands who are out in the fields doing their work with integrity and perseverance. I have no hostility toward the "new atheists," nor am I threatened by them. I grieve for them that they feel compelled to undermine people of faith. I grieve for the five ministers and their congregations who are living a lie. But I celebrate the faithfulness of those churches and their leaders who keep true to their calling in word and deed in spite of the ridicule of culture.

In another century, a man of faith named Friedrich Schleiermacher wrote a book addressed to religion's "cultured despisers," in an attempt to win them over with the "reasonableness" of religion. It reminds me of the apostle Paul's address to the philosophers in Athens in Acts, Chapter 17. Paul met with little success there and you will note there are no letters from Paul to the church in Athens. Some folks, too sophisticated I suppose, are beyond convincing, but it didn't stop Paul from trying.

There was a time when I thought I was too sophisticated for religion. I had read Ayn Rand and a few others whose names, interestingly, I have forgotten, and became convinced by the "reasonableness" of their atheism. Then, some years later I re-read the Gospels and was so compelled by the life of Jesus and the "unreasonableness" of following him that I could not deny the call he made on me. Since then I have discovered scholars who are every bit as sophisticated as the most brilliant of atheists, and yet they see a life of faith as no contradiction to reason.

In any event, the life of Jesus continues to compell me, even beyond reason. There is something irrational about giving one's life for others, but there is a Truth to that way of living that goes beyond my ability to explain it, or to explain it away. I invite you to read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, whose names I have not forgotten, and see for yourself what is so compelling about the person named Jesus.