Finding Truth: 5 Principles for Unmasking Atheism, Secularism, and Other God Substitutes by Nancy Pearcey

Author:Nancy Pearcey
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Non-Fiction, Faith Defense, Total Truth, Secularism, Losing faith, Soul of Science, Atheism, Religion, Finding God, Richard Pearcey, False Gods, Defending Christianity, Romans 1, Saving Leonardo, Materialism
ISBN: 9780781413084
Publisher: David C. Cook
Published: 2015-03-01T05:00:00+00:00

PRINCIPLE #5

• • • • •

FREE-LOADING ATHEISTS

A few years ago I visited a large urban church that attracted students from universities across the city. The leader of the college and career group told me that he was earning a doctoral degree in chemistry.

“Excellent!” I said. “Have you considered the ways chemistry relates to your understanding of Christianity? For example, have you studied theories of chemical evolution and the origin of life?”

“Oh no,” he responded. “That’s why I went into synthetic chemistry—so I would not have to deal with those issues.”

Later that evening while mingling with other students, I met a young woman majoring in biology. “Great!” I said. “Have you read up on some of the controversial issues related to your field, like evolution and intelligent design?”

To my surprise, her response was almost identical to the young chemist’s. “Oh no. That’s why I went into pre-med—so I won’t have to deal with those issues.”

These were bright, well-educated young adults who could be using their gifts to educate the church on how to enter into public discourse with an informed voice. Yet they were refusing to step up to the plate.

Many Christians seem at a loss in constructing a biblical worldview suitable for the public arena. Typically they simply restate biblical theology. For example, George Barna conducts surveys to measure how many Christians hold a biblical worldview. His definition, however, consists of theological statements: that the Bible is “totally accurate,” that Jesus “lived a sinless life,” that Satan is “real,” that “people cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good,” and so on. 1 But a worldview is not the same thing as a theology. A worldview applies theological truths to fields such as philosophy, science, education, entertainment, and politics.

Principle #5

Replace the Idol: Make the Case for Christianity

One of the best ways to craft biblical answers is to listen more closely to the questions. The Christian message will be most relevant when it is articulated at the specific points where people recognize the flaws and failures of their own worldviews. In Principle #3, for example, we met thinkers who recognize that their reductionistic worldviews have outcomes that they themselves regard as “alien” and “repugnant.” Outcomes that they themselves “cannot live” with. In Principle #4 we met people who rely implicitly on a biblical view of human reason. We could say that reductionists cannot live within the confines of their own worldview box, so they smuggle in ladders from a Christian worldview to climb out of the box. They are hungry for a fuller, more humane worldview than their idols give them.

Surprising as it sounds, the Christian worldview is so appealing that even those who reject it often borrow from it, whether consciously or unconsciously.

To craft a case for Christianity in every field would take another book. But we can get started by identifying those elements that people smuggle in from a Christian worldview. They are showing us where their own worldviews break down and, at the same time, what they find most appealing about Christianity.

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