Atheism: The Great Faith

Increasingly, militant atheists arrogantly charge that we believe in fairy tales, and they’ve convinced themselves that they are providing a needed service to mankind by exposing this “fact.” While it is sometimes best to wipe the dust off your feet and move on, sometimes this isn’t advisable. Their attack take place while you are talking to a group about your Christian faith, and your flight might be interpreted as a failure to provide an answer. Therefore, here are some strategies you might consider.

You might ask them, “I wasn’t aware that I believe in ‘fairy tales.’ Can you point one out?” They usually have a prepared list including talking serpents and donkeys.

You might then answer, “Is there any reason why an all-powerful Creator couldn’t enable a serpent to talk?”

They’ll probably respond that you or he have never seen such a thing, to which you might simply respond, “Does the fact that we’ve never seen something mean that it’s impossible? Please tell me what makes something a ‘fairy tale.’” Or

“Don’t you believe in things that you haven’t seen – like atoms and gravity?”

As you can see, questions can be an affective tool, and you can do it with a smile on your face. They put the pressure on the atheist to defend his allegations. You can also take your questioning into his territory:

“What makes a ‘talking serpent’ more of a ‘fairy tale’ than your belief that everything just sprang into existence without a cause?” Or

“What makes a ‘talking serpent’ more of a ‘fairy tale’ than your belief that life just suddenly arose from non-life?” or “that all of life’s building blocks just miraculously self-constructed and came together?”

Of course, he can‘t give you a good answer. If he tries to, you might ask, “Where’s your proof?” He might instead assert that all credible scientists believe that natural causation explains these things and that it’s simpletons like you who deny naturalism and evolution.

Don’t be intimidated. Intimidation and ridicule are part of his strategy. Again, think of a good question that summarizes his charge and reveals its foolishness:

“Are you saying that whenever we question the prevailing scientific consensus, we become no more than ‘simpletons?’” or “Are you suggesting that we should always acquiesce to the ‘experts?’” You can even ask a simpler question:

“How do you know that ‘all credible scientists believe in natural causation to explain these things?’” Once again, you are putting the responsibility back on the atheist to prove his wild claims, and this is where the responsibility belongs!

Eventually, your questions might force him to concede that science still doesn’t have the answers for the many mysteries of life – freewill, consciousness, life, DNA, the cell, the fine-tuning of the universe and even the “natural” laws of nature – but he’ll assure you that science eventually will have the answers.

You might merely conclude, “Well, it seems that you are a man of great faith, in fact, greater than mine!”