[Pearls Episode 138: Answering atheism Tuesday.]
In reflecting on the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, we focused on this from Jesus, “If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.”
What is it that makes atheists so determined?
Ben Stein, theist and all-around entertaining guy, once interviewed atheist grand poohbah, Richard Dawkins, and asked, “What do you think is the possibility that Intelligent Design might turn out to be the answer to some issues in genetics or in evolution?”
“Intelligent Design”, of course, is the Popular Mechanics nickname for God.
Dawkins replied, “Well, it could come about in the following way. It could be that at some earlier time, somewhere in the universe, a civilization evolved, probably by some kind of Darwinian means, probably to a very high level of technology, and designed a form of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet. Now, um, now that is a possibility, and an intriguing possibility. And I suppose it’s possible that you might find evidence for that if you look at the details of biochemistry, molecular biology, you might find a signature of some sort of designer.”
In other words, Dawkin’s position is, “anything but God.” No matter how outlandish. Darwinian Spacemen… do offer a prayer for Mr. Dawkins.
How does it come to this? That God can’t even be the remotest possibility in the minds of some?
Well, in addition to the warning in the parable of the Rich Man, scripture tells us quite a bit about atheists. For example,
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” (Ps 14:1) That can sound harsh to our ears, but “fool” doesn’t mean intelligent. It means unable to see to the root of things. For example, not being able to concede that the splendor of creation cries out that there must be a Creator, or at least acknowledge that possibility.
And that gets to the stubbornness of the human condition, “For what can be known about God is evident to them, because God made it evident to them. Ever since the creation of the world, his invisible attributes of eternal power and divinity have been able to be understood and perceived in what he has made. As a result, they have no excuse…” (Romans 1:19-20) In many instances, deep down, atheists have that sense that God is real, but they “suppress that truth” (cf Romans 1:18).
And this brings us to the heart of it, “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of their ignorance and hardness of heart.” (Ephesians 4:18) At the root of atheism is a hardness of heart – the heart being the core of our very being, and a hardened heart reflecting an unwillingness to allow God to enter. There are so many ways a heart becomes hardened, but two at the top of the list are pride and wounds.
In any event, Jesus is showing us that arguments really aren’t going to carry the day with atheists. Ultimately, only the One who created the human heart is capable of softening it – though sometimes through our kindness and other times through our prayerful intercession.
Or, perhaps if God disguised Himself as a Darwinian spaceman…
Blessings on your journey with Christ –
Steve and Karen Smith
Interior Life