The study of apologetics or evidences for the defense of Christianity has been a special interest of mine for half a century now. While there has been opposition to Christianity as a divinely revealed religion, and to the Bible as the special revelation of the mind of God all along, much of it has been subtle. Of late we have begun to notice that Atheism has become evangelistic in their opposition to the Faith.
Time publishes a list of Top 10 this and that at the end of the year. I took a look at the Top 10 Religion Stories. Number 7 in that list is “The Roar of Atheist Books.” Here is a brief summary:
Statistics may or may not show that there has been an actual increase in the number of Americans who believe there is no God. But one thing is certain: Conservative religious influence riled up enough secular authors to produce a slew of skeptical literature, and enough readers were intrigued to turn Richard Dawkins (The God Delusion) and Sam Harris (Letter to a Christian Nation) into bold-faced names and turn Christopher Hitchens (God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything), bold-faced already, into a one-man literary cottage industry.
Christians must not hide their heads in the sand and hope no one notices these works. Even in New Testament times, Peter urged the Christians who were living in a society a lot like ours to be set for the defense of the Gospel.
But set Christ apart as Lord in your hearts and always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks about the hope you possess. Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you. (1 Peter 3:15-16, NET Bible)
At BiblicalStudies.info, there are many good links under Apologetics that will help you prepare to answer attacks on the faith. Become acquainted with these materials.
The arrogance of atheism is astounding. Imagine a person who lives on one square meter of the earth (at any given time) for a total of 60 to 100 years, being able to make pronouncements about eternity and all things. The writer of Hebrews says, “For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God” (Hebrews 3:5, NET Bible). It is amazing that individuals who attribute everything to chance think they are so smart. And if they are right, we can’t help being believers!
This morning Time has an article about Sunday School for Atheists. The children in our Bible classes need to learn Bible stories, but they also need to learn the evidences that help to sustain the faith against various cultural attacks.
You might want to take a look at the Blog of Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Seminary. He regularly writes blogs dealing with these cultural issues. Be sure to note what he has said about The Golden Compass.
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