Taking every thought captive for obedience to Christ (2 Cor. 10.5)

The Question
What does someone mean who claims to be an atheist? (7)
You want to make sure, and you’ll want your friend to be sure, that you both understand what he means by “God” when you’re discussing whether or not believing in God is feasible.

You should not settle merely for something like “You know, the God of the Bible” as an answer. That response merely leads to a line of questioning as long as any religion that may now or ever have existed. Instead, you’ll want to bring out your friend’s thinking about God, to understand how he envisions God, or what he understands about Him in the abstract, rather than in some concrete, religion-specific manifestation.

If you pursue this line of thinking persistently and with grace, you’re likely to end up with your friend defining God as an unseen being (or something), which is most desirable, most powerful, and most worthy of the devotion of those who believe in such a being.

With even just this much as a definition, you can summarize: “So, in your mind God is that which is most to be desired – God is what a person perceives as ultimately and supremely good. God is most powerful – God is able to accomplish all that those who believe in Him might wish. God is unseen – but, at least to those who believe, nonetheless real. And God, for these reasons, commands the devotion – the whole life – of those who believe. This God is an unseen something, most desirable, most powerful, and most compelling of devotion on the part of those who believe. Is that a fair summary?”

Your friend will have to acknowledge this as a fair definition of God.

Here it is important to observe that, on this definition, everyone believes in God. That is, everyone believes there is something of ultimate goodness to hope for, pursue, and, in time (hopefully) to achieve. That something may be as mundane as a happy and comfortable retirement, or as sublime as lasting fame and adoration. Whatever that idea of good – or of the good life – may be, for the present, it remains unseen, except in the imagination of the one who desires it. This ultimate good is, at least to the person who envisions it, all-powerful, for he cannot forego the vision of it – even though that vision can shape-shift at times – and he devotes his conscious life to the pursuit and realization of that powerful and ultimate good.

For each person, an unseen, ultimate good exists, and that good, whatever it may be, is sufficiently powerful to satisfy that person’s greatest needs, and to motivate all his or her conscious efforts to attain it.

That unseen, ultimate and powerful good, therefore, is “God” for him who seeks it.

Your friend will protest that this is not what he means by “God.” But if you hold him to his definition, this is precisely what he means. If he insists that he intended by saying he does not believe in God, not believing in the God of the Bible, still, merely dismissing this particular God does not permit him to make the claim of believing that “God” does not exist. It will be plain to both of you that “God” does exist, if only as the unseen, ultimate, and all-powerful good toward which he orients his life and organizes his days. It may well be true that your friend does not believe in the God of the Bible, but this only means he believes in some other god as more ultimately good, powerful, and desirable than the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jesus, and Paul.

Because no human being can exist without some aspirations and devotion to some vision of the good, if only as good-for-me.

In short, your friend may indeed be an aJehovahist, but he is not an atheist, because he believes in an unseen something that is sufficiently good, powerful, and desirable to persuade him to devote his every conscious moment to realizing his god.

You will want to pursue your friend’s vision of God a bit more in order to help him see that, however he imagines the good life, this is what he pursues in his work, relationships, leisure and avocations, and this is what has an all-powerful grip over his imagination, affections, strength, and time.

No matter, therefore, what that good might be, it is to your friend, God. Your friend believes in “God.” And you will want to help him explore the rationale for and nature of that belief rather more fully, and to invite him to consider whether his preferred deity is in fact more to be desired than the God of Scripture.

For reflection
1.  Do you agree that whatever people envision as the ultimate good in life is God to them? Explain.

2.  How is it apparent that people are devoted to some idea of ultimate good, or of the good life? What would you point to in a person’s life to demonstrate such “devotion”?

3.  We’re trying to expose the folly of atheism per se. That is, we want to show those who claim that God does not exist that such a claim is impossible to hold, since, in fact, everyone believes in some kind of supreme and all-powerful good. Why is it important that we do this?

Next steps: Meditate on Romans 1.18-32. Paul talks about the various idols people of his day pursued instead of God. What idols are people devoted to in our day? How do such idols function as their “gods”? Talk with a fellow believer about these questions.

The Week features insights from a wide range of topics and issues, with a view to equipping the followers of Christ to take every thought captive for Jesus. Please prayerfully consider supporting The Fellowship of Ailbe by sending a gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.