2 of 2

Christians have long disdained what Eagleton calls the "mealy-mouthed liberalism which believes that one has to respect other people's silly or obnoxious ideas just because they are other people's." But we have also understood it to be a safeguard in civil society. Despite its vapid quality, such liberalism has been a blessing. The antitheistic rhetoric that erodes the ethos of respect is a clear and present danger. Atheists may be a minority (from 8 percent to 27 percent of the American population, depending on the poll and the questions asked), but they tend to dominate elite institutions.

The new atheistic rhetoric betrays panic, another sign of weakness. Atheism knows that it is losing both arguments and the global tide. Stories of the global vibrancy of religion are everywhere trumping the grand narrative of evolutionary progress. And the best philosophers are still taking the God-hypothesis seriously.

Christians should learn from the confident work of apologists who frame for our time arguments for God's existence. (Witness Antony Flew's conversion to theism, reported in CT's April 2005 issue.)

We should also pay attention to the state of civil society, being careful not to overreact to atheism's newly aggressive stance. In an already polarized culture, we cannot afford to destabilize the balance further. Most of all, we must be careful to live out our faith—with demonstrable neighbor love—rather than coasting along in a civil religion that blesses consumer culture and sings praises to the God of materialism. After all, the greatest apologia is love lived out.

Copyright © 2007 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

The New York Times , The London Review of Books, and Harper's Magazine published reviews of The God Delusion.

On his website, Dawkins includes an excerpt.

Clockwork Origins, parts 1, 2, and 3 (Books & Culture) discuss Dawkins' previous books.

NPR interviewed Sam Harris on Letter to A Christian Nation.

David Aikman's "Atheism and Moral Clarity" is available at the Trinity Forum

Anthony Flew's conversion to theism was reported in the April 2005 issue of Christianity Today.

Other Christianity Today articles on atheists and religion include:

The Twilight of Atheism | Why this once exciting and 'liberating' philosophy failed to capture the world's imagination. (March 2005)

Pledging to Fight | Atheist says battle over 'under God' has just begun. (August 1, 2004)

Forced by Logic | It took philosophy and a friend to convince this atheist (June 1, 2003)

Russian Intellectuals Try to Revive Atheism | The Moscow Society of Atheists says its ideology has fallen out of fashion (January 1, 2001)

The Trials of Being Agnostic | A conversation with skeptic Wendy Kaminer. (Books & Culture, January 1, 2000)

first page |  2 of 2

share this page

February 2007, Vol. 51, No. 2