The failure of atheism

 Many would point to Frederick Nietzsche as the philosopher who has had the greatest impact on atheism today. In a very powerful book I'm currently re-reading, Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias, the author points out the fallacy of Nietzsche's claims about the positive attributes of atheism.

Nietzsche taught that Christianity denied human progress because of its teachings on morality, repentance and humility. He believed that a civilization of power could not be built on such teachings and therefore Christianity, and the belief in God, had to be destroyed. One who bought into his philosophy was Hitler who tried to create a world without God and plunged the world into a horrible war.

Zacharias points out that the reality of Nietzsche's philosophy "is, under close examination...philosophically incoherent, morally bankrupt, and unable to logically or existentially support civilization...We do not see the promised greatness or harmony. Instead we are trapped in a world of violence, discord, emptiness, alienation, and racial hatred. But having become masters of deceit and able manipulators of reality, we have also become deaf to the truth."

Does this not sound like what is happening today in our world? Violence, discord, emptiness, alienation and racial hatred make up the news stories every evening. We have removed God from the public square. We have rejected the very teachings Nietzsche said was preventing society from moving forward, and the result is chaos, confusion and division.

Atheism is a failed philosophy, but it is quickly becoming the dominant worldview of many within our nation. We have seen the results of this belief system played out in such countries as the Soviet Union, China, North Korea, and other nations, and yet it is proclaimed in the media, on university campuses and in a growing number of our political leaders as the best hope for mankind.

The church must boldly proclaim the truth of God's Word and challenge atheism wherever it is taught. We must know what we believe and why we believe it. We must pass our faith on to our children and grandchildren. As someone has said, we are only one generation away from losing Christianity. We must be able to defend our beliefs and faith to those who would question it.

It's important to remember that Jesus promised that the church would withstand every attack made against it. Our battle against atheism is not a battle against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness. It is a spiritual battle that we will win but only if we are willing to stand firm on the beliefs we claim we hold.