I am sure most of you are familiar with the saying, “There are no atheists in foxholes.” While the origin of this saying is uncertain, it is believed to have originated during World War I. The logic goes that people will believe in, or hope for, some type of higher power during times of intense fear or stress such as during war.
But I also believe there are two other reasons why there really are no atheists, one intellectual and the other spiritual.
The late Christian apologist, Ron Carlson, summed up the intellectual argument well when he said: “It is philosophically impossible to be an atheist, since to be an atheist you must have infinite knowledge in order to know absolutely that there is no God. But to have infinite knowledge, you would have to be God yourself. It’s hard to be God yourself and an atheist at the same time!”1
However, the far more serious answer as to why, I believe, there are no real atheists takes place in the world of the spiritual. (Romans 1:18-21) graphically shares that those who deny the existence of God do it to cover up their love of sin and desire to not be accountable to a holy God. For the Scriptures say:
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
In these four verses we see why apologetic arguments will often do little good in reaching these people, with the good news of the gospel, since they already have decided to suppress the truth that is staring them right in the face. When it comes to believing in God we can choose to acknowledge He exists, deny He exists, or just suppress the reality that He exists. Since the above verses from Romans clearly tell us that those who deny the existence of God have no grounds to stand on because the universe screams for the existence of a Creator, those who live in sin and wickedness choose to suppress the reality of God. They believe that by suppressing this truth they will be OK. Sadly, these souls will have no excuse when they die and face a holy God at judgment because they have all the evidence they need to know that God exists.
Suppression of the truth is so dangerous because it gives one the illusion that they can go on sinning with no consequences. No wonder (Psalm 14:1) says: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God…”
While apologetics to the unbeliever appeals to a closed mind, there still is value in sharing these arguments since they may have future value. And that’s where prayer comes in. Since these non-believers have hardened hearts and closed minds sometimes the only thing we can do is to depend on the Holy Spirit through prayer to open their blind eyes to at least consider the truth, wisdom, and logic of the Bible. As the Holy Spirit moves through our prayers apologetic arguments can prove effective in opening the minds of those individuals who previously wouldn’t give even a thought about God.
Prayer and apologetics are a powerful combination. And while they may not pay current dividends don’t give up sharing and praying for souls because their eternal destiny are weighing in the balance.
1 Quote by Ron Carlson : “It is philosophically impossible to be an athei…” (goodreads.com)
Amen.
It’s well written. God bless you.
Anytime we are discussing apologetics, the Gospel and prayer, we usually think of these as preliminary efforts of a reasoning process that results in the unbeliever acknowledging at the end of the process that, “Yes, there is a God.” “The Bible is true.” “I must become a Christian.” But the Bible turns that around when it states that “the beginning of knowledge is the fear of the Lord.”
If you start with a Christian worldview and Christian presuppositions, you can make sense out of this world. If you do not start with that perspective, you can’t make sense out of anything. As the Scriptures put it, “fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
So, how do unbelievers live in this world? What is their lifestyle?
“Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Eph. 4
So we say that the unbeliever is not neutral but he expects you, the believer, to be. As soon as our defense of the faith (apologetic) no longer conforms to this assumed agreement of the facts, stripping us of any presupposed ideas about God, the Bible, creation, miracles, how we know what we know, logic, etc., they will accuse us of circular reasoning, proving the Bible by quoting the Bible. This is bluffing and suppressing the truth.
The devotion is correct in saying that it will take the sovereign work of the Holy Spirit using the Word of God to break through the delusion the unbeliever lives in. Peter said he was a witness to the Transfiguration. That should have been proof enough but he went on to say, “We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.“
We must always keep in mind the unbeliever knows but suppresses that knowledge. His problem is not seeing evidence but a moral one. We simply ask him to justify that knowledge. They can’t do this unless they borrow from the Christian worldview. When this is brought to their attention they will either walk away or try to intimidate you. Their suppression knows no boundaries in its defense of their worldview. Hypocrisy, no problem. Threats, of course. Lies, ok.
We know they are lying, they know they are lying, they know we know they are lying, we know they know we know they are lying, but they are still lying.”
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn