The New Atheism
How Evangelicals Aid and Abet

There are many who subscribe to the position that the rise of science has made atheism a plausible belief system for modern man. The arguments goes as follows: Science has eliminated much of the unknowns of the world, the suspicions that permitted religion to flourish. Man no longer requires religion to explain away the mysteries of life. Science is the domain of real knowledge. Religion is relegated to the private domain because it is about belief not facts. The atheist needs not God or any god to explain his world.

This was also the root of theological liberalism. Science has shown that the supernatural [miracles] are not possible. Religion must adapt to that, so religion is reduced to the worldly…what we can do on this earth to make it a better place of all. There is still truth but it is empirical, that which is explained by facts. Faith is in science and not in God. That has been borne out in the rapid technological advance that has made our lives easier and better on earth. Liberal religion made unbelief an alternative for right thinking folk, those who marginalized God to the private sphere of life.

But, we must not underestimate the contribution of evangelical faith to the rise of atheism. How, you may ask can that be? The evangelical was for many years one who believed in justification by faith alone and the inerrancy of Scripture. That has changed a great deal in the last 10-15 years. Many who do not believe in justification as the article upon which the church stands or falls today call themselves evangelicals. In addition, there are many more who question the Bible as inerrant or as the full Truth of God who call themselves evangelicals. Because there is no real binding definition of who and what is evangelical today, the evangelical has been reduced to a process, not a set of beliefs.

And that process is the salvation of the lost, a worthy goal, but not the end of the story. Because the evangelical process has reduced God’s role to salvation, the door is left wide open to atheism. The evangelical has abandoned God’s creation to science. There is no real interest in things of this world except as it facilitates salvation for the lost. Evangelicals left the culture room and turned out the lights; the atheist moved in and decorated the culture in the anti-God way it is portrayed today.

Evangelicals have a diminished view of the importance of creation with one exception: arguing for a literal six day creation. That in itself is a problem. The focus comes again on the process: how creation came into existence. And, much time, effort and funds are expended in this area to no avail. It is a matter of belief…did God create or not? The Bible says so. Richard Dawkins says no. Who will you believe? This side of heaven we will not know. Only God knows the scientific parameters because only the Triune God existed at the time of creation. As Ken Hamm says: “Were you there?”

Regardless of how creation came into existence, how are we impacting it? It was created good and will be redeemed. Should not evangelicals spend more time on cultural issues, along with their evangelism? If so, they would develop an expanded view of the church, the sacraments, and the nurturing of the saints at it occurs in the here and now. That would allow the world to see that matters of culture are not individually driven but that the Church has something to say about it.

When I was practicing environmental law [representing industrial clients], I was amazed at the overwhelming amount of pantheists that inhabited government regulators. Christians were almost non-existent. I pondered that for a long while. I came to realize that Christians were not seen as those who had an interest in creation. They were interested in individual souls and seeing that those souls came to know God as Savior. But, how about God as Creator? This is not an appeal for “Christian environmentalism”, whatever that is. This appeal is to put Jesus back in the public square and get him out of private.

When all that is important is to save “Fred” but not prepare him to make an impact in his created order for his Savior, we marginalize God. We privatize the faith as much as a scientist or a liberal Christian. Committed Christians need a high view of God, including Him as Creator, Redeemer and King. We need to proclaim the Gospel to the lost and allow Him to call His own to Himself. Then, with the Word, the sacraments and teaching we need to prepare these saints to make a difference for His Kingdom, for His Kingdom has come and He is King of all NOW!