From Atheism to Belief in God

The Psalmist said long ago that “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Today, with the modern advances in the sciences and the weakening of the institutional church, atheism is less and less appealing. Here are several examples of the “fools” who came to their senses.

First, we pause to think on Clive Staples Lewis. C. S. Lewis was born 29 November 1898 in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Though he never militantly warred against the idea of God, he was an atheist. In his own words, Lewis became a theist, "In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed." Under the influence of J.R.R. Tolkien (a devout Roman Catholic) and Hugo Dyson, Lewis became a Christian in 1931. He went on to become one of the twentieth centuries greatest apologists.

Second, we look at Lee Strobel. Born in 1952, Strobel earned a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale, and a journalism degree from the University of Missouri. As a journalist and an atheist, he set out to disprove the existence of God. His journey from atheism to Christianity is chronicled in his first book The Case for Christ. He has gone on to write numerous apologetics (defenses of the Christian faith) with a style and energy that people love.

Third, we want to listen to Alister McGrath’s story. McGrath was born in 1953 in Northern Ireland. In his youth, he read A. J. Ayer’s Language, Truth, and Logic, and Bertrand Russell’s Why I Am Not a Christian. McGrath thought of God talk as vacuous. He felt this so strongly that he attempted to start an Atheist Society on the campus of the Methodist College in Belfast. McGrath likened his conversion to theism to that of his countryman C. S. Lewis who experienced “the steady unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet.” By detailed study and comparison of the two opposing worldviews of atheism and theism, McGrath became disenchanted with the former and embraced the latter.

Our last interview is with Antony Garrard Newton Flew (February 11, 1923 – April 8, 2010). Flew, a British philosophy professor who was a leading champion of atheism for more than a half-century, converted to theism at age 81. He confessed to a belief in God based on scientific evidence. After decades of insisting that belief in God was a mistake, Flew concluded that some sort of intelligence or first cause must have created the universe. He was best labeled a deist like Thomas Jefferson, whose God was not actively involved in people's lives. Flew stated in an interview a few years before his death that his view of Godm was the result of his "growing empathy with the insight of Einstein and other noted scientists that there had to be an Intelligence behind the integrated complexity of the physical Universe" and "my own insight that the integrated complexity of life itself – which is far more complex than the physical Universe – can only be explained in terms of an Intelligent Source" (tothesource.org, 2007). Though not a Christian, his acknowledgment of a creative power outside our plane of existence was significant.

Ultimately, God wants to be known. He sent His Son to be crucified and raised again so that all who believe might be saved. Many still deny God and His Only Begotten Son. Never give up on anyone!
~Parish Hartley~