"The attractiveness of atheism is directly dependent upon the corruption of Christian institutions," says McGrath. "History strongly suggests that those who are attracted to atheism are first repelled by theism." That is not very scriptural. The Bible makes it clear that man rejects God first then looks for a rationalization of that decision. Atheism is nothing but a rationalization of rebellion. Did OT Israel reject Isaiah because he was a lousy example? Did NT Israel reject Christ and the Apostles because they were terrible Christians? I agree with Moll that Churches need to teach apologetics so that believer have a reasonable response to the irrationality of atheism, but it is not a tool for evangelism. Notice that the Bible has very little apologetics in it. I believe that is because God knows that you can't debate a person into heaven.

Recently, I preached a sermon using Camus' The Fall. I think this story paints a portrait of a sin-sick soul, but the protagonist has nowhere to turn for relief from his feeling that the universe is laughing at him and his guilt over not doing anything to rescue a woman who appears to have thrown herself off a bridge. He sits in a bar in the Netherlands, an ex-patriot from France, having a conversation with another man from France. The conversation sounds like a confession, but he is quick to say it isn’t really a confession because the man listening to his story is not a priest. He wishes he could return to that fateful night on the bridge--and thinks it is impossible, always impossible. It is a cry of despair! Camus died shortly after the release of this novel, but some people think he may have been on the verge of conversion. The novel could not have been written without the language of faith. I encourage Christians to imagine being in a grace-filled conversation with Jean-Baptiste!

Well written and thought provoking. The thesis (the nature of atheism as a wrestling with God) is an all too rare - and quite refreshing - point of view. I would offer a correction and a few suggestions. The realization that "we all have plague" is not expressed through Bernard Rieux. Mr. Moll attributes to Rieux what is, in fact, beautifully and powerfully conveyed via Jean Tarrou. Tarrou anguishes through his revelation of the execution and the existential consequences with which he's lived. As well, I would suggest that Camus' was less an atheist than an agnostic. Camus doubted - despite his consistent desire to believe. He bore the weight of remarkable intellectual honesty by refusing to declare a resolution to the "existence of God" question. See "Christian Metaphysics and Neoplatonism" (his published Master's thesis), The Unbeliever and Christians (his 1948 lecture at the Dominican Monastery of Latour-Maubourg), and RIchard Ackeroyd's The Spiritual Quest of Albert Camus.

As a college student in the 60's, Camus and Sartre were required reading. Raised Catholic and very agnostic at the time of reading them I found myself pushed toward reformed theology after reading them. Camus seemed to be looking for real answers. Sartre wanted to build a system that allowed him to be a hedonist. But he found that something was there, that nothingness did not exist. He did not change even when confronted with that reality. I always sensed that Camus saw God as a determinist, that he confused sovereign grace with determinism. Camus had a great understanding of the Fall, and a great compassion for mankind. I always felt that "religion" blinded him from seeing Jesus. In many ways Camus writings led me to the door of reformed theology and Providence and Sovereign Grace.

Thanks for another very thoughtful article. I think the author really hits on something when he talks about people feeling let down. Most of us see the folly in prosperity preaching. Just as bad, in my opinion, are the claims that once you accept Christ, your life will greatly improve and you'll have an abundance of happiness. That is frequently not true. I have known good, Christian people who have gone their entire lives almost never catching a break. Nonetheless, they remained faithful and now have their reward. That reward is what we should be promising, not a bowl of cherries in this world. When the latter never comes to fruition, it is only natural to have one's faith shaken by a perception that faith had been for naught. The only paradise we should be hyping as part of the Christian walk is the one that comes after this oft-painful life.