Atheists Rethinking Christianity

I had the honor of speaking at the Witnesses Now for Jesus Convention Midwest this past weekend. One of my talks was "Answers for Skeptics." One of the issues I raised was in response to the problem of evil questions. It is what William Lane Craig calls "The Problem of Good." If there is no God there also is no objective standard outside of us for morality or judging good from evil. As mere products of mindless time plus chance there is only predator, prey and whatever happens in nature. Hundreds, thousands or millions die from Tsunami, volcano or dictator, it doesn't matter, human life hasno inherent value. As if late we have been seeing an interesting trend among the leading atheists which we mentioned in "Atheists Need Christianity." Even the inimitable Atheist Richard Dawkins warns against celebrating the alleged demise of Christianity in Europe on March 14, 2018 in a 32-word tweet:

“Before we rejoice at the death throes of the relatively benign Christian religion, let’s not forget Hilaire Belloc’s menacing rhyme: ‘Always keep a-hold of nurse – For fear of finding something worse.’”

"Atheists in Praise of Christianity?" by Jonathon Van Maren was published in May of this year about atheist and Historian Tom Holland's new book, "Dominion: How the Christian Revolution Remade the World" Holland now refers to himself as a Christian atheist. He is not convinced about the existence of God, but he has changed his mind on Christianity. Maren explains: "How did we get from there to here? It was Christianity, Holland writes. Christianity revolutionized sex and marriage, demanding that men control themselves and prohibiting all forms of rape. Christianity confined sexuality within monogamy. (It is ironic, Holland notes, that these are now the very standards for which Christianity is derided.) Christianity elevated women. In short, Christianity utterly transformed the world."

In fact, Holland points out that without Christianity, the Western world would not exist. Even the claims of the social justice warriors who despise the faith of their ancestors rest on a foundation of Judeo-Christian values. Those who make arguments based on love, tolerance, and compassion are borrowing fundamentally Christian arguments. If the West had not become Christian, Holland writes, “no one would have gotten woke.”

The very thing which civilized culture from what it was in the First Century is Christianity. That is also the very thing culture is trying to throw off but how many will survive when they return to First century values. Atheists are concerned. As Kurt Mahlburg demonstrates in "Meet the Atheists Who Are Grateful for Christianity" it isn't only Dawkins and Holland, there is a growing number of atheists whoare grateful for Christianity:

British journalist Douglas Murray (1979-) has declared that “you cannot take Christianity out of the West and have anything that’s recognizably the West.” Murray, an atheist—and who happens to be gay—speaks with admiration of Christianity and “the positive role it has played in building Western civilization.” He says that westerners “still dream Christian dreams” and he even goes as far to call himself, rather cheekily, a “Christian atheist.”

As we witness what seem like the world collapsing around us it is sometimes difficult to see the impact Christianity has had shaping the Western world, hold that life is sacred, humans’ values, elevation of women and so much more. To me it was particularly touching to hear of the profound impact Christianity has had on the world from the stand point of 9 atheists in "Meet the Atheists Who Are Grateful for Christianity." Take the time to read it and be encouraged.

https://mailchi.mp/819803475bcf/that-person-those-people?e=169825fd77