Reviews, Interviews, News, Commentaries, Excerpts, My Top 5 Books, Wilson's Bookmarks, Book AwardsAyn Rand Led Me to Christ
Only and finally in Jesus do we see humanity as the Father intends it. And only and finally in Jesus can our humanity ultimately be transfigured. "It does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (1 John 3:2, RSV). Our heroic destiny is fulfilled in Christ, whom we shall gaze upon eternally. Even now, while our transformation is still incomplete, we have "put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator" (Col. 3:10, RSV).
There is little in Ayn Rand's philosophy or worldview that a Christian can endorse, even in small ways. Moore is right; Rand is "first and foremost an anti-Christian philosopher," and Objectivism stands in painfully stark contrast to the gospel. Yet I wonder if I am alone in offering thanks for Rand and her role, inadvertent as it was, in Christian conversion. God can use a donkey to chastise a prophet. Can he also use Rand as a kind of waystation on the road to Christ?
In my more hopeful moments, I find myself wondering if Rand, in her last moments, perceived her error and turned to the One she had rejected all her life. Or, as she slipped into eternity, if Jesus made a final, undeserved, and awe-full offer of grace. But that is speculation, and well beyond what God intends us to know. It is sufficient for my own purposes simply to say: Thank you, Ayn Rand.
Edward S. Little II is bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Northern Indiana, and author of Joy in Disguise: Meeting Jesus in the Dark Times (Morehouse, 2009).
Copyright © 2011 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.
Related Elsewhere:
Gary Moore wrote earlier about why Christians should be wary of Ayn Rand and her disciples.
Previous articles on conversion or testimony include:
Testify! | In nightclubs, coffeehouses, and iPods, true first-person storytelling is becoming a cultural force as it borrows from Christian tradition. (January 7, 2011)
Bearing True Witness | Why we are tempted to embellish conversion stories. (June 28, 2010)
What Conversion Is and Is Not | Hint: It's not just about getting people 'saved.
Star Trek Into Darkness
(on articles open to the public, you must at least register for a free account).
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
Newsletters
Google
Comments
Displaying 4–6 of 55 comments
See all comments
John Donohuye
@David Theroux ..... More citations and void formulations. "Secular religion" is a self-contradiction and a sloppy attempt to smear with your own sin. Those you quote do not qualify as "all"; I will not counter with my lists. Your predilection for ignoring my direct challenges and sending in your pinch-hitters is dull. And free will does not need to be grounded in anything other than existence. That a man's choices are informed by all existents around him does not change the fact he indeed made a choice. Only those desperate to avoid responsibility for being their own captain scatter to the two extremes: mystical impossibility or nihilistic fatalism.
B. Fuller
"There are two novels that can change a bookish fourteen-year old's life: The Lord of the Rings and Atlas Shrugged. One is a childish fantasy that often engenders a lifelong obsession with its unbelievable heroes, leading to an emotionally stunted, socially crippled adulthood, unable to deal with the real world. The other, of course, involves orcs." -John Rogers
David Theroux
James Matthews, You must tautologically assume free will to make any inference, which of course refutes your claim that free will does not exist. And if man has no free will then sin has no meaning and Christ’s sacrifice has no meaning or point. God created Man in His image to choose and is hence not a robot, refuting your claim that free will is unbiblical. The further fact that we are discussing such matters is Exhibit A that determinism is false and incoherent.