December 9 | Standing Against Atheism

Psalm 14:1, “The fool says in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.” 

Atheism is the belief that there is no god. We must stand against this godless worldview with the truth and love of Jesus Christ. According to multiple surveys in the U.S. and Europe, atheism is on the rise and Christianity is on the decline because younger people are leaving the church in record numbers. Thankfully, in other places like China and Russia where atheism used to be prominent, Christianity is growing in even greater numbers, thus there is a net growth in the world.

Why is there a decline in the belief in God among our young in the U.S.? I believe the Bible gives the reason in 2 Thessalonians 2:10, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” Paul, like David in today’s passage, taught that if you deny God and His truth you are only left with man-centered and satanic inspired lies. Atheism, is just another lie believed by men and women so that they can live however is right in their own eyes.

Whenever people suppress the knowledge of God in their conscience, history proves that horrific evils become normative.

It is estimated that over 100 million people were murdered in the 20^th century alone due to atheistic regimes (R.J. Rummel). Atheist dictators like Mao in China murdered over forty million of his own people and Stalin in Russia put to death tens of millions in his revolution. Also, Pol Pot in Cambodia, Kim Song II in North Korea and Ho Chi Min in Vietnam were responsible for millions of deaths due to their rejection of God. This may seem extreme, but we already see the death toll of unborn children in the tens of millions in the U.S. and record rates of suicide, mass shootings, urban violence, gender dysphoria, sexual perversion and depression because our young people are trying to live without God in their life.

Therefore, we as Christians should stand up against atheism in the following ways; first, we should expose the foolishness of not believing in God with the gospel and apologetics. For example, we should teach disciples how to expose the self-contradicting nature of atheistic presuppositions and affirm the validity of the Christian arguments for God from the first cause, design and objective morals. Dr. Cornelius Van Til said, “I hold that belief in God is not merely as reasonable as other belief, or even a little or infinitely more probably true than other belief; I hold rather that unless you believe in God you can logically believe in nothing else.”

Second, Christians should clearly teach young people the Bible and all its truths with the evidence of modern scholarship, such as explaining the Bible’s reliability, proof for Jesus’ resurrection and the evidence of Noah’s flood. Third, we should live such good lives in front of non-believers that they will be compelled to acknowledge God is alive in us.

Reflection

Do you believe in God?

Action

1. Explain why atheism is both sinful and destructive.
2. Pray that God will use you to reach unbelievers with the truth of Jesus Christ.
3. Resources: “On Guard,” by Dr. William Lane Craig & “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist,” by Dr. Norman Geisler.

One Year Reading Plan

Joel 1:1-3:21, Revelation 1:1-20, Psalm 128:1-6, & Proverbs 29:18. Click here to read online.