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

The Question
What does someone mean who claims to be an atheist? (10)
We can bring our investigation of this question to a close today with a brief summary, a bit of perspective, and a word about what to expect.

We’ve seen that the person who claims to be an atheist is not, in fact, an atheist at all, not in the strictest sense of the word. He cannot know for sure that God does not exist, since in order to know that he’d have to know everything that can be known. He can only believe that the God of the Bible does not exist, and from this point we will need to travel two paths, each designed to demonstrate the unreasonableness of such a view.

First, just because he does not believe the God of the Bible to exist does not mean he doesn’t believe in some god – some ultimate good or truth or most-desirable-thing to which he has committed his life. He lives toward a vision of unseen, hoped-for good, and this vision or longing or aspiration is what he devotes himself to all his waking moments.

This unseen, hoped-for good functions as a god to him; yet it is itself the product of his own thinking, no matter how many resources or authorities he may appeal to in support of his choices and commitments. At the end of the day, the person who claims to be an atheist is only an aJehovahist. He is in fact an autotheist, and looks to his own mind for the wisdom, understanding, direction, and “truth” he needs in order to make his life make sense. He may not believe in the God of the Bible, but he certainly believes, at least, in the god of his own mind.

Second, we’ll want to emphasize the inescapability of his living by faith. Faith being, as everyone will agree, an important component of religion, our atheist friend is not not religious, he has simply chosen to live, by faith, a religious lifestyle different from that of the Christian. He cannot know that his mind is reliable and his chosen path is the best for him. He simply has to believe this is the case. And believing thus, he orders his life accordingly, by disciplines, rituals, and practices expressive of his faith in his preferred deity.

So our friend who claims to be an atheist is actually not an atheist at all. He simply believes in a different god than we do as Christians, and this god disposes and directs him to a different set of beliefs about things true, good, and beautiful – a different religion than that of the Christian.

The atheist’s chosen religion needs to be put in perspective, and that from two angles. First, all unbelievers, in order to make sense out of their lives, must borrow from Biblical teaching and truth. For example, as we’ve seen, even the most idiocentric unbeliever recognizes the need for a law higher than his own mind, or else society would tear itself apart in disputes and conflicts between contrasting and irreconcilable worldviews (religions). That sense of higher, transcendent, reliable law, we will be quick to point out, comes from all people being made in the image of God, knowing God in their souls, and having the works of His Law written in some mysterious but true fashion on their hearts.

Many other convictions and practices from our atheist friend’s chosen way of life can be shown ultimately to derive not merely from his own best thinking, but from God and His Word. Notions of beauty, goodness, truth, law, justice, decency, fairness, and the like have no meaning apart from some absolute and unchanging ground. This cannot be discovered in the mind of man, even though such ideas are sought by and come frequently to expression in the lives of men. And this is because, made in the image and likeness of God, the works of His Law written on the hearts, and the knowledge of Him firmly embedded in their souls, people cannot help borrowing on God’s truth to prop-up their chosen lifestyles, regardless of how vehemently they may deny Him.

We can explain why our atheist friend continues to depend on the truth of the Bible. He cannot.

Second, we will want to ask our autotheist friend to compare the track record of his religion with that of the God of Scripture. Has he accomplished as much in the way of beauty, goodness, truth, and charity as the Christian movement has over the past 2,000 years? And, comparing the two, which religion – his or that of the Bible – would he like to see providing the social and cultural context for his children and grandchildren?

Finally, a word of advice about expectations. We should not expect that atheists will be converted to Christ by our arguments. Some will, and some may want to keep the conversation going for a while (Acts 17.32-34). But most, I suspect, will simply redouble their stubbornness and scorn and hold fast to their unbelief. This is the effect of the blinding power of sin, and it should not lead us to condemn, despise, or avoid our atheistic friends, but to pray for them and continue to take whatever opportunities for serving or conversing with them which the Lord may provide.

But we should not doubt the power of such conversations to sow seeds of doubt in the mind of our atheist friends and acquaintances. Such doubts can often, but not always, lead to greater openness to the truth of the Gospel.

So what does someone mean who claims to be an atheist? He means that he needs a loving Christian friend to come alongside for what could be a lengthy series of conversations about the most important question anyone can entertain.

For reflection
1.  Meditate on Acts 17.32-34. How should we expect people to respond to our witness for the Lord? What should you do in the case of each response?

2.  Why is there no such thing as an atheist?

3.  To what would you point in the history of the Christian movement to demonstrate the reliability of the Christian faith over all other religions?

Next steps: Begin praying for opportunities to talk with the people you see each week about what they believe and why they believe what they do. Be ready, should they ask, to give a reason for the hope that is within you (1 Pet. 3.15).

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