No Greater Battle
Never has a more vain and vacuous statement been uttered than “God does not exist.” Yet, these and similar empty, egotistical words have been expressed with increasing frequency in recent times. From Richard Dawkins’ The God Delusion (2006) to Christopher Hitchens’ god Is Not Great (2007), Satan has used some of the most popular works in the world (New York Times bestsellers) to deceive millions. More recently, the world-renowned atheistic cosmologist Stephen Hawking was given an entire hour on Discovery Channel’s new “Curiosity” series to allege that God did not create the Universe. He concluded the pilot episode (titled “Did God Create the Universe?”) with the following words:
We are each free to believe what we want, and it’s my view that the simplest explanation is there is no God. No one created the Universe and no one directs our fate. This leads me to a profound realization. There is probably no heaven, and no afterlife either. We have this one life to appreciate the grand design of the Universe, and for that, I am extremely grateful (“Curiosity,” 2011, emp. added).
Sadly, these kinds of “profane and idle babblings and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge” (1 Timothy 6:20; cf. 2 Timothy 2:16) have had an extremely negative impact on America.
Three extensive surveys over the past 20 years have revealed that a growing number of Americans are becoming less and less religious. In 1990, 8.2% of Americans claimed to be non-religious, most notably agnostics and atheists (Kosmin, 1991). In 2001, that number had jumped to 14.1% (Kosmin, et al., 2001), and by 2008 it had reached 15% (Kosmin and Keysar, 2009). The percentage of non-religious Americans has almost doubled in two decades. Whereas in 1990, one out of every 12 Americans claimed to be non-religious, today nearly one out of every six Americans claims no religious affiliation. [NOTE: The percentage of non-religious individuals would be even higher were it not for the many millions of Catholic Hispanics who have migrated to the United States over the past two decades.]
The likelihood of you crossing paths with an atheist or agnostic at some point in the next few months are pretty high. The chance of your children, grandchildren, nephews or nieces running into atheistic professors or skeptical students in high school or college is very high (considering many public schools and universities are breeding grounds for non-religious Americans). More than ever, Christians need to equip themselves with the tools and weapons to help them in this all-important battle. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5).
Highly acclaimed atheistic evolutionary scientists (e.g., Richard Dawkins, Stephen Hawking, etc.) recognize that a war is going on—a war between atheistic evolutionary science and theistic anti-evolutionary science. Atheists say that they are ready to “get on with it” (Brooks, 2006, 192[2578]:11). They are speaking “with an evangelist’s zeal” and declare that they are “ready to fight the good fight” (Brooks, pp. 10-11). They are attempting to use their vain, empty words to set atheistic evolution “in place of God” (Brooks, p. 8).
Christians must not shy away from this battle. We, too, must roll up our sleeves and heed the apostle Paul’s admonition to “fight the good fight of faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). We must follow the example of Paul and strive to “speak the words of truth and reason” (Acts 26:25), and, as Peter wrote, “be ready to give a defense to everyone” (1 Peter 3:15).
What can Christians do? How can we fight against godless, evolutionary science? Consider some practical suggestions in our fight against atheistic evolution (cf. Lyons and Butt, 2007).
1. Recognize that there is a battle over the most fundamental pillar of Christianity (the existence of God), and resolve to do something.
2. Begin teaching your children, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, etc. the case for creation and the case against evolution before they ever enter school. Then continue this instruction as they get older.
3. Consider homeschooling as an option for your child’s education. Many have never considered this education possibility, but children of faithful Christian parents can receive a great, well-rounded education from those who love them the most, without continually being subjected to the foolishness of atheistic evolution and humanism at early ages. What’s more, studies have shown that on average, homeschoolers score 30 percentile points higher than the average public school student on standardized science tests (see Lyons, 2010).
4. Encourage your children to ask questions about God, creation, and evolution. If you don’t answer their questions, someone will—and that someone probably will be an evolutionist.
5. Give your children (and yourself!) the tools needed to build a strong faith—one that is based on both reason and revelation.
6. Familiarize yourself with Web sites such as this one (apologeticspress.org) and christiancourier.com, which provide immediate answers to many of your questions. They also aid students with term papers, reports, speeches, etc.
[NOTE: The final five suggestions are adapted from a list compiled by Eugenie Scott, which was written from an atheistic evolutionist’s perspective, and which appears in Niles Eldredge’s 2001 book, The Triumph of Evolution and the Failure of Creationism, pp. 178-180.]
7. Donate books and videos about creation to public school and libraries.
8. Make it a point to share your views about creation with school board members, legislators, textbook commissioners, and other educational policy makers.
9. Let teachers know that they have your support if they choose to teach about the errors and weaknesses of evolutionary theory.
10. Attempt to create an open-minded atmosphere in your community, so that creation and evolution can both be discussed.
11. Work with parents, teachers, churches, etc. to develop or publicize workshops or seminars about the errors of evolution and the evidence for God’s existence.
REFERENCES
Brooks, Michael (2006), “In Place of God,” New Scientist, 192[2578]:8-11.
“Curiosity: Did God Create the Universe?” (2011), Discovery Channel, August 7.
Kosmin, Barry (1991), The National Survey of Religious Identification, http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=4&ved=0CCwQFjAD&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww. jewishdatabank.org%2FArchive%2FNSRI1990-Research_Report_with_Selected_Tabulations.pdf&ei=nH_1TIvqG8WBlAfd5Jz4BQ&usg= AFQjCNHASEXKYZTsxzKlRe24U8-4foBJQA.
Kosmin, Barry A., Egon Mayer, and Ariela Keysar (2001), American Religious Identification Survey, www.gc.cuny.edu/faculty/research_briefs/aris.pdf.
Kosmin, Barry A. and Ariela Keysar (2009), American Religious Identification Survey, www.americanreligionsurvey-aris.org/reports/ARIS_Report_2008.pdf.
Lyons, Eric (2010), “Evolution, Textbooks, and Homeschooling,” Apologetics Press, https://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=3594.
Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2007), “Militant Atheism,” Reason & Revelation, 27[1]:1-5, January, https://apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=12&article=2051.
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