Don't Believe in God?

On September 11, in the "Religion" section of a magazine I picked up, there appeared a color picture of a billboard that had been placed near a fairgrounds. With a background of blue sky and fluffy white clouds, it carried a simple message: "Don't believe in God? Join the Club."

At this time of year, the park begins to swell with activity, as the annual fair gets underway. If you want publicity, there could be no better time to launch a new group, calling itself, "The California Coalition of Reason."

The billboard is truly a sign of the times. According to this magazine, "... the coalition is made up of four 'free thought' groups... California Atheists, Norman Naturalism, University of California chapter of the Center for Inquiry on Campus and CAL Secularist Parenting."

The article included a quote from Fred Edwards, the national director of the United Coalition of Reason: "The point of our nationwide awareness campaign is to reach out to the millions of atheists, agnostics, skeptics and humanists living in the United States.

"Nonreligious people sometimes don't realize there's a community for them because they're flooded with religious messages at every turn. So we hope this will serve as a beacon and let them know they aren't alone."

Their message is clear. Since God doesn't exist, one should seek communion in like-minded believers, or in this case, unbelievers. There are a couple of problems here. One is, as overheard in a recent conversation, "If there were no God, you couldn't be an atheist."

That is, if God really, truly didn't exist, there would be nothing to believe in the first place. So, assuming that mankind could somehow arrive at existence without God, everybody would be a worshipper of nature. Since the God concept wouldn't have existed in the first place. There would be no unbelievers, not even the word, "atheist." (You can't be an atheist unless somebody else is a theist.) But who's arguing? If you're an atheist, you're an atheist. It seems that we have arrived at the time described by Paul in his first letter to Timothy:

"Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons" (I Timothy 4:1).

Paul's statement here points out a couple of problems with atheism. First, he describes this latter-day phenomenon as a "departure." In the verse above, this is a translation of the Greek word, aphistemi, meaning to "withdraw, depart or leave."

In other words, alternatives to faith in Christ do not characterize initiative, so much as they typify reaction or rebellion, as they depart from something that already exists. As indicated by its very name, atheism is a reaction against faith, not toward godless naturalism. Paul shows this very clearly in Romans:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness;

"Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them.

"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they re without excuse;

"Because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.

"Professing to be wise, they became fools" (Romans 1: 18-22).

Paul says here that atheists are reactionary: they suppress the truth. He declares that God is visible in the world to those who will see Him. His creation is a visible witness of His existence. Atheists insist that creation created itself and is still progressing toward a higher state. This wishful thought is contradicted by the universal scientific observation that the material universe is in a state of progressive disorder and degradation - entropy. In the physics of elementary particles, the world changes, but it does not evolve.

The second problem is that those who depart from the faith begin to pay attention to erroneous spirits and the teachings of demons.

Of course, atheists would also deny the existence of demons. But as Christians, we not only acknowledge their existence, but also understand that they have an agenda - to obscure or eradicate God's express plan for this world.

The millions of historical idols and icons in ancient Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece and Rome attest to the existence of demons. Those early Gentile cultures even regarded demons as their friends, as mentioned by the Greek historian Hesiod, who wrote in his Works and Days. "But after that earth had covered this generation, they indeed by the counsels of mighty Zeus became demons, kindly ones, haunting the earth, being guardians of mortal men."

Demons produced the mystery religions of old, which were opposed first by Judaism, then by Christianity, following the example of the God/man, Christ Jesus, who regarded them both as real, and as opponents of His work.

This brief article will not convince any atheist that he is wrong; that is not its purpose. But it will give clarity to the time in which we live. Truly, the days until He comes in judgment are short.

Finally, I would hope that the many "free thought" groups discover the freedom that can be found only in Christ: "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed" (John 8:36).