I WAS An Atheist

If one were to listen to the atheist rhetoric of authors such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, and the propaganda that fills the internet, one would think that all "thinking and rational" individuals are simply evolving into a condition of atheism or non theistic belief. After all most who don't believe in God, claim that non-belief is somehow a default system or normalcy of human existence. Many also believe that people are only trained to be believers by their culture, family or environment. Still others believe that theism or belief in God is only a product of birth, location and circumstance. To confirm this many point to the growth of religions such as Islam claiming that the only reason for its growth is the high birth rate within Islamic nations. Others apply the same rationale to Christianity. The metaphysical naturalist believes however that the more men learn the less religious they will be.

All of these assertions are simply weak postulations to explain away what is obvious; 1- man lives in a world that includes much more than the materialistic components and 2- what we see comes from a source that we do not see. In fact the bible being ages ahead of this type of argument, applies the eternal existence of that which is not seen (God) to the concept of faith as follows:

2 Corinthians 4:18 ~ "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen [are] temporal; but the things which are not seen [are] eternal."

As I've discussed in 'Does Science Presuppose Atheism' a common thought of unbelievers is that science will somehow eventually answer all questions and that whatever can't be proven by science is somehow illusionary. Well, aside from that fact that science can't prove itself and that many theories of science begin with presumptions that remain unproven, the interpretations of science are said to only solidify natural laws and solidify materialism.

God Is

For many, the assertions I've outlined above were thought to be common. However all of those thoughts, previously said to be rational, have come under serious scrutiny from individuals that the materialists, and especially metaphysical naturalists don't like to talk about much. With the conversion of scientists like Dr. Francis Collins, Dr. Allister McGrath and Dr. Dean Kenyon the scientific community has been set on its ear for quite some time with quite some time more to come.

We were all aware of giants like the Triple earned Doctorate A.E. Wilder Smith, and how he asserted years ago what many scientists are dscovering currently. But in this there's a difference. You see, the scientists I mentioned WERE all previously atheists. However, a funny thing happened on the way back from the lab...The more they found, the more they examined scientifically, the more their atheistic worldview and presupposition of materialism was untenable. They all decided that 1- the evidence of science affirms the works of God and 2- the whole of the evidence points to the fact that the Christian God is the only God, and belief in Jesus was and is the method or path to that God and to that salvation. As you'll see this is something that no matter how much it's explained that the leaders of atheism can't seem to wrap their heads around.

The Scientist Who Sees The Language Of God

Dr. Francis Collins M.D., Ph.D., is the current head of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.and former director of the Human Genome Project. His most recent book is "The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief." a physician-geneticist noted for his landmark discoveries of disease genes, and his visionary leadership of the Human Genome Project (HGP), is the former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). Dr. Collins, served as NHGRI's director since April 1993. Beside leading the Human Genome Project to completion, he initiated a wide range of research projects that built upon the foundation laid by the sequencing of the human genetic blueprint.

As head of NHGRI, Collins oversaw the HGP, the multidisciplinary, multi-institutional, international effort to map and sequence the 3 billion letters in the human DNA instruction book. Many consider this project to have been the most significant scientific undertaking of our time. The ultimate goal is to improve human health.

With Collins at the helm, the HGP attained historic milestones, while consistently running ahead of schedule and under budget. A working draft of the human genome sequence was announced in June 2000, and an initial analysis was published in February 2001. HGP scientists finished the sequence in April 2003, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Watson and Crick's seminal publication describing the double helix structure of DNA.

But the exploration of the genome is really just beginning. Building upon the foundation laid by the HGP, researchers around the globe are now collaborating on a wide range of projects that are using genomic tools and technologies to expand understanding of human biology and combat human disease. (1)

"As the director of the Human Genome Project, I have led a consortium of scientists to read out the 3.1 billion letters of the human genome, our own DNA instruction book. As a believer, I see DNA, the information molecule of all living things, as God's language, and the elegance and complexity of our own bodies and the rest of nature as a reflection of God's plan.

I did not always embrace these perspectives. As a graduate student in physical chemistry in the 1970s, I was an atheist, finding no reason to postulate the existence of any truths outside of mathematics, physics and chemistry. But then I went to medical school, and encountered life and death issues at the bedsides of my patients. Challenged by one of those patients, who asked "What do you believe, doctor?", I began searching for answers.

I had to admit that the science I loved so much was powerless to answer questions such as "What is the meaning of life?" "Why am I here?" "Why does mathematics work, anyway?" "If the universe had a beginning, who created it?" "Why are the physical constants in the universe so finely tuned to allow the possibility of complex life forms?" "Why do humans have a moral sense?" "What happens after we die?""

 Dr. Collins further states:

"But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page. Ultimately, a leap of faith is required.

For me, that leap came in my 27th year, after a search to learn more about God's character led me to the person of Jesus Christ. Here was a person with remarkably strong historical evidence of his life, who made astounding statements about loving your neighbor, and whose claims about being God's son seemed to demand a decision about whether he was deluded or the real thing. After resisting for nearly two years, I found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and I became a follower of Jesus." (2)

The Scientist Turned Christian Apologist

Dr. Alister McGrath born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, holds the Chair in Theology, Ministry and Education at King’s College London. He was previously Professor of Historical Theology at Oxford University and Director of the Oxford Center for Christian Apologetics. (3)

Originally a student of science, in 1977 McGrath was awarded a PhD in Biochemistry from Oxford University for his work on molecular biophysics. Following his conversion from atheism to Christianity, he studied divinity at St. John's College at Cambridge (1978-80). It was during this time that he studied for ordination in the Church of England. McGrath was elected University Research Lecturer in Theology at Oxford University in 1993, and also served as research professor of theology at Regent College, Vancouver, from 1993-9. He earned an Oxford Doctorate of Divinity in 2001 for his research on historical and systematic theology.

Dr. McGrath wrote the book, 'The Dawkins Delusion' as a by point retort to Richard Dawkins, 'The God Delusion' and personally took Dr. Richard Dawkins to task, which was obviously a surprise to Dr. Dawkins who seemed to couldn't put his mind around the fact that a learned individual would choose faith and even more so choose Jesus and the Christian faith in particular. This is the interview that Dawkins couldn't air, but was yet so gracious to allow to exist uncut. One thing it proves is that Dawkins doesn't really even understand Christianity yet alone its criticisms. My favorite line from Dawkins "I don't understand why you are a Christian..." (about 23:40 mark) That was too funny

Then there are others scientist who also contributed to atheism and materialism through published books and works whereby they set forth theories that at the time they were convinced of.

The Scientist & Educator Who Found And Stood By His Convictions 

Dr. Dean Kenyon is Professor Emeritus of Biology at San Francisco State University. He received his Ph.D. in Biophysics from Stanford University. He was a National Science Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemical Biodynamics at the University of California at Berkeley, a Research Associate at NASA-Ames Research Center, and a Visiting Scholar at Trinity College, Oxford University. He is also the co-author of 'Biochemical Predestination' which was a work certainly antithetical to the Christian worldview, produced before he scrapped many of the materialistic scientific views that he once espoused.

"The more I thought about the alternative that was being presented in the criticism, and the enormous problem that all of us who worked on this field had neglected to address the problem of the origin of genetic information itself, then I really had to reassess my whole position regarding origins...we have not the slightest chance of a chemical evolutionary origin for even the simplest of cells. So the concept of the intelligent design of life was immensely attractive to me and made a great deal of sense as it most closely matched the multiple discoveries of molecular biology"

Conclusion:

One thing we can be certain of, this trend is continuing and even catching on as the educated discover that life without God is a futile and hopeless proposition and is the ultimate in self torture. The materialist, may live, create their own relativistic meaning in life, die, rot in the grave and everything they do in between is virtually meaningless in the end. There is no ultimate purpose or connection with any universal principle. In other words, there is no hope, but what is had during these short years of existence.

For the Christian, we have hope both here and now. We have hope that we shall live again, all injustices will be rectified, all questions will be answered and that our existence no matter how small, is filled with purpose,  examined and ordered by a God who cares for all of his creation whether that creation realizes it or not.

The critic asserts that if God cared, he wouldn't destroy his creatures then...I only answer by saying that the unbeliever destroys themselves by their unbelief, God simply states the penalty, provides and alternative and upon human persistence, carries out the sentence. The good part is that the sentence could be waived or commuted forever if he right confession is made...I know that's right!

Blessed!

References:

 

1~ Dr. Francis Collins National Human Genome Research Institute

2~ CNN.Com 'Collins: Why This Scientist Believes In God' 4/6/2007

 

3 ~ Dr. Alister McGrath Theopedia.com  

Atheism Is Dead