Dear Atheists, from
Bodie Hodge
Bodie Hodge, M.Sc.,
B.Sc., PEI
Biblical Authority Ministries,
November 9, 2024
Why would an atheist care to live one moment longer in a
broken universe where one is merely rearranged pond scum and all you have to
look forward to is … death, which can be around any corner?
Tired of It All?
Are you tired of all the evil
associated with the philosophy of atheism—Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and
so on? After all, most murderers, tyrants, and rapists are not biblical
Christians, and most have rejected the God of the Bible. Even if they claim to
believe in the God of the Bible, they are not really living like
a true Christ follower (who strives to follow God’s Word), are they?
Do you feel conflicted about the fact that atheism has no
basis in morality (i.e., no absolute right and wrong; no good, no bad?) If
someone stabs you in the back, treats you like nothing, steals from you, or
lies to you, it doesn’t ultimately matter in an atheistic worldview where
everything and everyone are just chemical reactions doing what chemicals do.
And further, knowing that you are essentially no different from a cockroach in
an atheistic worldview (since people are just animals) must be disheartening.
Are you tired of the fact that atheism (which is based in materialism, a popular worldview today) has no basis for logic and reasoning? Is it tough trying to get up every day thinking that truth, which is immaterial, really doesn’t exist? Are you bothered by the fact that atheism cannot account for uniformity in nature (the basis by which we can do real science)? Why would everything explode from nothing and, by pure chance, form beautiful laws like F=MA or E=MC2?
Do you feel like you need a weekend to recoup, even though a
weekend is really meaningless in an atheistic worldview—since animals, like
bees, don’t take a day of rest or have a weekend? So why should atheists? Why
borrow a workweek and weekend that comes from the pages of Scriptures, which
are despised by atheists? Weeks and weekends come from God creating
in six literal days and resting for a literal day; and then the Lord Jesus resurrected on the
first day of the week (Sunday). And why look forward to time off for a holiday
(i.e., holy day), when nothing is holy in an atheistic worldview?
For professing atheists, these questions can be overwhelming
to make sense of within their worldview. And further, within an atheistic
worldview, atheists must view themselves as God. Essentially, atheists are
claiming to be God. Instead of saying there may not be a God,
they say there is no God. To make such a statement, they must
claim to be omniscient (which is an essential attribute of the God of the
Bible) among other attributes of God as well.[1] So,
by saying there is no God, the atheist refutes his own position by
addressing the question as though he or she were God!
Do you feel conflicted about proselytizing the faith of
atheism, since if atheism were true then who cares about proselytizing? Let’s
face it, life seems tough enough as an atheist without having to deal with
other major concerns like not having a basis to wear clothes, or no basis for
marriage, no consistent reason to be clean (snails don’t wake up in the morning
and clean themselves or follow other cleanliness guidelines based on Levitical
laws), and no objective reason to believe in love.
Are you weary of looking for evidence that
contradicts the Bible’s account of creation and finding none? Do the
assumptions and inconsistencies of dating
methods weigh on your conscience when they are misrepresented as fact?
Where do you suppose those missing links have gone into hiding—there should
be billions by the way in the atheistic evolutionary worldview? Surely the
atheist sees the folly and hopelessness of believing that everything came from
nothing.
In fact, why would an atheist care to live one moment longer
in a broken universe where one is merely rearranged pond scum and all you have
to look forward to is … death, which can be around any corner? And in 467
trillion years, no one will care one iota about what you did or who you were or
how and when you died—because death is the ultimate “hero” in an atheistic,
evolutionary worldview. Of course, as a Christian I disagree,
and I have a basis to see you as having value.
Invitation
I invite you to reconsider that the false religion of
atheism is simply that. I’m here to tell you that atheism is a lie (Romans 1:25).[2] As
a Christian, I understand that truth exists because God exists, who is the
Truth (John
14:6),[3] and
we are made in His image.[4] Unlike
an atheist, whose worldview doesn’t allow him to believe in truth or lies,
the Bible-believer has a foundation that enables him to speak about truth
and lies. This is because believers in God and His Word have an
authority, the ultimate authority on the subject, to base statements upon.
There is a God, and you are also made in His image (Genesis 1:26; 9:6).[5] This
means you have value. Whereas consistent atheists teach that you have no value,
I see you differently. I see you as a relative (Acts 17:26)[6] and
one who—unlike animals, plants, and fallen angels—has the possibility of
salvation from death, which is the result of sin (i.e., disobedience to God;
see Romans
6:23).[7] We
have all fallen short of God’s holy standard of perfect obedience thanks to our
mutual grandfather, Adam (Romans 5:12).[8] And
God sees you differently, too (John 3:16).[9] While
you were still a sinner, God stepped into history to become a
man to die in your place (Romans 5:8)[10] and
offer the free gift of salvation (Romans 5:15; Ephesians
2:8–9).[11]
Atheists have no consistent reason to proselytize their
faith, but Christians like me do have a reason—Jesus Christ, who is the Truth,
commands us to (Matthew 28:19).[12] We
want to see people repent of their evil deeds and be saved from death (Acts 8:22; 17:30).[13] What
a wonderful joy (Luke 15:10)[14].
Where atheists have no basis for logic and reason (or even
for truth, since truth is immaterial), Bible believers can understand that
mankind is made in the image of a logical and reasoning God who is the truth.
Hence, Christians can make sense of things because in Christ are “hidden all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (Colossians 2:3).[15] Christians
also have a basis to explain why people sometimes don’t think logically due to
the Fall of mankind in Genesis 3.
The most logical response is to give up atheism and receive
Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to rescue you from sin and death (Romans 10:13).[16] Instead
of death, God promises believers eternal life (1 John 2:25; John 10:28)[17] and
in 467 trillion years, you will still have value in contrast to the secular
view of nothingness.
Christians do have a basis to wear clothes (to cover shame
due to sin; see Genesis 2:25; 3:7),[18] a
reason to uphold marriage (God made a man and a woman; see Genesis 1:27; Matthew
19:4–6),[19] a
reason to be clean (Leviticus contains many provisions to counter diseases in a
sin-cursed world), and a source of real love (since God made us in His loving
image; see 1 John 4:8).[20] As
Christians, we have a solid foundation for saying things like back-stabbing, slander,
theft, and lies are wrong (see the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20).
I invite you to leave the false religion of atheism and its
various forms and return to the one true God who came to rescue you (John 17:3).[21] Jesus
Christ, who is God the Son, loved you enough to come down and die in our place
so we can experience God’s goodness for all eternity instead of the wrath of
God for all eternity in hell (Matthew 25:46).[22] And
we all have sentenced ourselves to judgment because of our disobedience to God
and rejection of Him (John
3:17–18).[23]
The day is coming when we all will give an account before
God for our actions and thoughts (Romans 14:12).[24] Will
you repent and receive Christ as your Lord and Savior today so that you will
join Christ in the resurrection from the dead (John 11:25; Romans 6:5)?[25] I
invite you personally to become an ex-atheist, join the ranks of the saved
through Jesus Christ, and become a new creation (2 Corinthians
5:17)[26] as
we continue to advance with the gospel in peace that only God can provide (Romans 5:1).[27]
[1] If
one claims that God may exist or that there may be a spiritual realm, then that
person is not an atheist, but an agnostic, at best. The agnostic says that one
cannot know whether God exists, but how can they know that for certain apart
from being omniscient themselves? Additionally, the Bible says in 1 John 5:13 that
we can know for certain that we have eternal life. So an
agnostic—who claims we cannot know—does not hold a neutral position regarding
the biblical God.
[2] Who
exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature
rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. (Romans 1:25)
[3] Jesus
said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father
except through Me.” (John 14:6)
[4] Keep
in mind that Christians, including me, do fall short due to sin and the Curse,
but God never fails.
[5] Then
God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them
have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the
cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the
earth.” (Genesis
1:26)
“Whoever sheds man’s blood, By man his blood shall be shed; For in the image of
God He made man.” (Genesis 9:6)
[6] And
He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the
earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their
dwellings. (Acts 17:26)
[7] For
the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
our Lord. (Romans
6:23)
[8] Therefore,
just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus
death spread to all men, because all sinned. (Romans 5:12)
[9] For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)
[10] But
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
[11] For
by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is
the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians
2:8–9)
[12] Go
therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19)
[13] Repent
therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your
heart may be forgiven you. (Acts 8:22)
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men
everywhere to repent. (Acts 17:30)
[14] “Likewise,
I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner
who repents.” (Luke 15:10)
[15] In
whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Colossians 2:3)
[16] For
“whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Romans 10:13)
[17] And
this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life. (1 John 2:25)
“And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall
anyone snatch them out of My hand.” (John 10:28)
[18] And
they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed. (Genesis 2:25)
Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked;
and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. (Genesis 3:7)
[19] So
God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and
female He created them. (Genesis 1:27)
And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made them at
the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘for this reason a man
shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore
what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matthew
19:4–6)
[20] He
who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8)
[21] And
this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom You have sent. (John 17:3)
[22] “And
these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal
life.” (Matthew
25:46)
[23] “For
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but
he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in
the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John
3:17–18)
[24] So
then each of us shall give account of himself to God. (Romans 14:12)
[25] Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though
he may die, he shall live.” (John 11:25)
For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we
also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. (Romans 6:5)
[26] Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away;
behold, all things have become new. (2 Corinthians
5:17)
[27] Therefore,
having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ. (Romans
5:1)
