PILLAR THIRTEEN: “THE HEART HAS ITS REASONS THAT REASONS DOESN’T KNOW”(Blaise Pascal)

The only true reason for being an atheist: blind faith.

1. If the twelve pillars of atheism are logically flawed, why be an atheist? It

seems to me that the arguments for atheism are sometimes given after the fact. The person already rejected God and needs a rationale. The rejection may be because one’s parents were non-Christians or maybe overly strict, fanatic Christians. Or maybe the person was abused as a child by a priest or pastor or deacon. Or maybe one’s child died (perhaps even despite prayers). Or maybe one just wants to feel “free” to act in a supposedly unchristian manner.

2. But at the heart of it all is the desire to control one’s own life, to be master of

one’s soul, and not give in to an imaginary divine being or an organization’s creed. In John Milton’s Paradise Lost Satan says, “I’d rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.” That is exactly what is the nature of what Christianity calls sin, wanting to live your own life, apart from God. The New Testament word for sin is hamartia—missing the mark—the same word Aristotle uses for a character’s tragic flaw in Greek drama. And indeed the tragic flaw in mankind is sin. We all miss the mark, especially when we try to go on our own.

3. The trouble is that when one is the master of one’s fate (an impossibility, by

way), one finds oneself alone in the universe. Existentialists call it alienation, angst, and absurdity. One becomes one’s own god, a difficult role to maintain.

4. So what happens is that other gods are followed: sex, money, family, alcohol,

entertainment, drugs, fame, sports (even exercise), food, job, politics, or a philosophical or social cause. Atheists claim to be “free,” but they aren’t. True freedom is the freedom St. Paul talks about—freedom from the burden of sin through Christ.

5. If Christianity is so true, why don’t more people believe? They reject commitment to Christ because they think a) they’re not good enough, b) they’re good enough on their own and don’t need the church or Jesus or God, c) they realize they’d have to undergo a drastic change in their lifestyle that may mean something like giving up sleeping with your boyfriend or giving up something more trivial like sleeping in on Sunday morning, d) their life is absolutely miserable, but it would be a weakness to give up and wimp out by giving in to Jesus, or e) they have a naturalistic viewpoint and can’t see accepting something they can’t see.

6. As for the first objection, one needn’t be “good.” Acceptance of Christ requires a repentance, a realization that one is a sinner and needs God’s grace. “I’m not perfect, I’m forgiven,” says a bumper sticker. Secondly, no one is ever good enough on one’s own, but really needs a Savior. Original Sin is reality for everybody. How could anyone possibly measure “good enough”?

7. As for the third objection, it’s true you’d have to change your lifestyle when becoming a Christian. Even if you already are a moral person and do good things for others and are maybe a “spiritual” person (one who even prays), you’ll find yourself wanting to get involved in a church, and you’ll find the Bible more meaningful and your soul more content. If you’re not

a moral person, you’ll find your new lifestyle more rewarding, more healthful, more satisfying. Do the so-called worldly pleasures really give a person a sense of fulfillment and contentment? No, usually the opposite. There are new Christians who found themselves, through Jesus, able to overcome addictions. This is also the answer to the objection that of the “miserable” life. Accepting Jesus is not becoming a wimp but one of the most daring things a person can do.

8. The naturalist objection has already been answered. Christianity is reasonable and scientific and reflects the truth of what reality is. The eternal world is the real world. To say that atheism is more reasonable than Christian faith is in itself an unreasonable statement, considering all the brilliant thinkers—Newton, Milton, Augustine, Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, C. S. Lewis, etc.—throughout the centuries who have argued for Christianity.

9. So how does one become a Christian? Some people go to Sunday school and church all their lives and gradually come to a deep faith. Some people have a dramatic conversion experience, either from hitting bottom as a result of a sinful lifestyle or because they at some point become convinced of the truth of the Gospel. Sometimes a crisis precipitates it; sometimes it is an intellectual decision. Sometimes it’s at an evangelistic revival service, and sometimes it’s because of the faithful witness of a friend. Sometimes it’s from reading the Bible or Christian writings. But whatever the method, the person’s life is changed. And sometimes people have a “conversion experience” that is not so deep-rooted, and they soon or eventually fall away from faith. Jesus told a parable about seed falling on various types of ground. Some seeds take root and flourish; others fall on hard ground or are choked out by weeds (the cares of the world); some grow but then die.

10. Ultimately, however, it becomes a matter of commitment. Getting married serves as an appropriate analogy. Indeed the Bible refers to Jesus as bridegroom, His church as a bride. The Song of Solomon poetically portrays the relationship of God to Israel in sexual terms. Ideally when a couple marries they say vows that they will keep till death. And for a marriage to be successful and unbroken, they have to mean the vows and keep to them. Many couples do. Being a Christian is having a relationship with God through Jesus. God knows your flaws and forgives them and loves you anyway—just as the way you should love your spouse and the way you love your children or your parents. But you also have to show your love to God, give in to Him, serve Him, as you should your spouse. But God is greater, more powerful than your spouse and is always there if you let Him be.

11. Soren Kierkegaard calls this relationship the result of a “leap of faith.” Atheists have already taken a leap of faith, but backwards. And jumping backwards can be very precarious. When one takes the leap forward and sincerely believes in God by believing in Jesus and His atonement for our sins on the cross, God, through the Holy Spirit can take over one’s life. When I accepted Christ, I had a spiritual high for a couple days. That doesn’t happen to everyone, and one can’t go through life like that. But from that moment I knew I was changed, and in many ways I have felt His presence in my life since. You can’t really know what it’s like to be married to another person—24 hours a day, 7 days a week—until you actually begin the marriage. So it is that you really can’t know what it’s like to be a Christian believer until you become one. All my reasoning won’t really become clear until you make that leap of faith.

12. Jesus said that if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we could move a mountain. Too often we think we need the faith of a mountain to move a mustard seed. But what He was saying is that all you need is that little bit of faith that would allow you to take the first step. God, through the Holy Spirit, will do the rest. Jesus also said that if you plant a tiny mustard seed, it will eventually grow into a large tree with many branches where birds will build their nests. He, of course, is speaking figuratively and spiritually in both cases. I found this to be true in my own life. At age 15 I “accepted Christ” (though it seems more like He accepted me) at a Youth for Christ banquet. It didn’t take much faith to “go forward” (I initially resisted doing it), but the effect in my life since has been a spiritual mustard tree. I once heard someone say that one person with a shovel wouldn’t make much dent in a mountain. But millions of people with millions of shovels could indeed move a mountain. That’s the principle of the Christian Church. The great body of individual believers, the global kingdom of God, coming together, can move spiritual mountains. And once you become a Christian you are no longer all alone in the world.

13. Romans 1:20 says, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood, so that men are without excuse.” Common sense, reason, and science all tell us there is a God. Archaeology, history, and the experience of millions of believers tell us that He is the God of the Bible. Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and faith tell us we can know Him ourselves.

14. So ultimately the atheist has a choice: have a faith in yourself as your own god or have faith in the God who created the universe and inhabits our world and millions of human beings.