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Atheists Running Scared
April 2007
Richard
Dawkins’ latest book THE GOD DELUSION has been in the top ten on
the New York Times bestsellers’ list for over 22 weeks.
Dawkins, a long-standing professor at Oxford University, is
considered the dean of Biological Evolution. Actually, Dawkins’
book is one of six recent books promoting atheism.
Is atheism
cresting the wave of popularity? No! The reverse is true. A
fitting subtitle for Dawkins’ book could be “The Angry Old
Atheist.” Dawkins even lashes out at fellow atheistic
evolutionists. Jim Holt, the New York Times reviewer, a
science and philosophy writer, observes, “Dawkins’s avowed
hostility can make for scattershot reasoning as well as for
rhetorical excess.”
Dr.
Denis Alexander, of Cambridge renown, epitomized Dawkins’ game
plan: “The time-honoured strategy in propaganda when attacking
the ‘opposing sides’ is to paint them in the blackest possible
light, using the most gruesome examples, and then to make stark
contrast with one’s own side which is, of course, full of truth,
light and reason.”
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Dawkins’
basic premise is, although one cannot disprove the existence of
God, he argues this provides no reason to believe in God. Dawkins
contends the burden of proof is on the advocate of the existence
of God.
All
the reviews have failed to put Dawkins’ book THE GOD DELUSION in
its historical perspective. The basic reason for Dawkins’ anger
is not his conjured up absurdities of the Theists, which he
viciously shoots down, but the gnawing heartache of betrayal.
Dawkins has a super-ego problem that blinds him and distorts his
reasoning. After all, he is the dean of Biological Evolution. His
masterpiece was his book THE BLIND WATCHMAKER, published in 1986.
Theists
were using the logic that only an intelligent person could make
something so extremely complicated as a watch with gears moving in
opposite directions and intricate parts traveling at varying
speeds. A watch could not come into existence by chance. It had to
have a maker. Therefore, the theists reasoned, the universe is so
complex that there has to be an intelligent designer behind it.
Dawkins thought he demolished this Creationism in his book THE
BLIND WATCHMAKER. With a gleam in his eye Dawkins asserted that
evolution was indeed THE BLIND WATCHMAKER. His fellow atheists
beamed with approval.
Enter
“Intelligent Design”
But
then something happened. In 1993 Professor Phillip Johnson,
University of California, invited a small group of scientists from
major academic centers to Pajaro Dunes, CA, to question an idea
that had dominated scientific thinking for 150 years—Darwinian
Evolution. This was a turning point for all who attended. Each had
questions they dared not express before. Each brought
something of their own into this critical inquiry. As the
discussions intensified, excitement rose as a new way of looking
at the origin of life dawned. This was the beginning of a
community of scientists who were willing to follow their doubts
concerning evolution to new horizons of understanding the origin
of life and the symmetry of the universe.
Richard
Dawkins’ latest book THE GOD DELUSION has been in the top ten on
the New York Times bestsellers’ list for over 22 weeks.
Dawkins, a long-standing professor at Oxford University, is
considered the dean of Biological Evolution. Actually, Dawkins’
book is one of six recent books promoting atheism. Is atheism
cresting the wave of popularity? No! The reverse is true. A
fitting subtitle for Dawkins’ book could be “The Angry Old
Atheist.” Dawkins even lashes out at fellow atheistic
evolutionists. Jim Holt, the New York Times reviewer, a
science and philosophy writer, observes, “Dawkins’s avowed
hostility can make for scattershot reasoning as well as for
rhetorical excess.”
Dr.
Denis Alexander, of Cambridge renown, epitomized Dawkins’ game
plan: “The time-honoured strategy in propaganda when attacking
the ‘opposing sides’ is to paint them in the blackest possible
light, using the most gruesome examples, and then to make stark
contrast with one’s own side which is, of course, full of truth,
light and reason.”
Dawkins’
basic premise is, although one cannot disprove the existence of
God, he argues this provides no reason to believe in God. Dawkins
contends the burden of proof is on the advocate of the existence
of God.
All
the reviews have failed to put Dawkins’ book THE GOD DELUSION in
its historical perspective. The basic reason for Dawkins’ anger
is not his conjured up absurdities of the Theists, which he
viciously shoots down, but the gnawing heartache of betrayal.
Dawkins has a super-ego problem that blinds him and distorts his
reasoning. After all, he is the dean of Biological Evolution. His
masterpiece was his book THE BLIND WATCHMAKER, published in 1986.
Theists
were using the logic that only an intelligent person could make
something so extremely complicated as a watch with gears moving in
opposite directions and intricate parts traveling at varying
speeds. A watch could not come into existence by chance. It had to
have a maker. Therefore, the theists reasoned, the universe is so
complex that there has to be an intelligent designer behind it.
Dawkins thought he demolished this Creationism in his book THE
BLIND WATCHMAKER. With a gleam in his eye Dawkins asserted that
evolution was indeed THE BLIND WATCHMAKER. His fellow atheists
beamed with approval.
Enter
“Intelligent Design”
But
then something happened. In 1993 Professor Phillip Johnson,
University of California, invited a small group of scientists from
major academic centers to Pajaro Dunes, CA, to question an idea
that had dominated scientific thinking for 150 years—Darwinian
Evolution. This was a turning point for all who attended. Each had
questions they dared not express before. Each brought
something of their own into this critical inquiry. As the
discussions intensified, excitement rose as a new way of looking
at the origin of life dawned. This was the beginning of a
community of scientists who were willing to follow their doubts
concerning evolution to new horizons of understanding the origin
of life and the symmetry of the universe.
Earth
was no longer viewed as a speck of dust adrift, without purpose or
significance, in the vast cosmic sea. They now knew that a
finely-tuned array of factors throughout the universe worked
together to make Earth suitable for complex life. All of this
wealth of knowledge could be summed up by one
phrase—“Intelligent Design.”
They
returned to academia and dialogued with their associate
scientists. Now many of Dawkins’ fellow atheistic evolutionists
deserted him for “Intelligent Design.” Many books supporting
“Intelligent Design” were published. Yes, there is a God
behind it all. What audacity! No longer was Dawkins debating
with biblical simpletons, but with “Intelligent Design”
scientists, or simpletons buttressed by the arguments of
“Intelligent Design” scientists.
The
next blow to Dawkins was the deflection of Fred Hoyle, the dean of
cosmology and hero of atheistic evolutionists, who aggressively
opposed theism and Christianity. Hoyle originated the longstanding
“Static Universe” theory that excluded the need of an
intelligent Creator.
But
Hoyle discovered that an incredible fine-tuning of the
nuclear ground state energies for helium, beryllium, carbon and
oxygen was necessary for any kind of life to exist. If the ground
state energies of these elements proportioned to each other were
just four percent higher or lower, there would be insufficient
oxygen or carbon for life anywhere in the universe, including the
planet Earth. This fine-tuning forced Hoyle to conclude—a
super-intellect (God) “monkeyed” with physics, as well as with
chemistry and biology in order for life to exist on Earth.
Hoyle becoming a theist shook the halls of atheistic evolution.
Then
Hoyle did the unforgivable. He dared to attack Dawkins’ pet
theory of chemicals sloshing about in a “prebiotic soup”
catalyzed by extreme convulsions of nature and presto, microscopic
life appeared. The total probability of this happening by chance
is 1/10^167,626 Thus, without an intelligent Creator,
life’s probability was next to zero.
Hoyle
compared this chance of spontaneous life as equal to a “tornado
sweeping through a junkyard” that afterwards settled down
uniquely assembled into a Boeing 747 from all the debris.
Dawkins’ anger bristled as he retorted Hoyle, a recognized giant
in science, “doesn’t understand the first thing about natural
selection.”
The
Last Straw
Antony
Flew, Dawkins’ fellow professor at Oxford and the leading
Philosophy Professor championing atheism for over 50 years,
startled the intellectual world in 2004 by announcing that he now
believed in God.
Once
a legendary proponent and debater for atheism for decades, Flew
concluded, “the argument to Intelligent Design is enormously
stronger than it was when I first met it.” Flew stated, “It
now seems to me that the findings of more than fifty years of DNA
research have provided materials for a new and enormously powerful
argument to design.” Flew also renounced naturalistic theories
of evolution. This proved devastating to Dawkins. So Dawkins
struck out with a vengeance in THE GOD DELUSION. “The fool says
in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” Psalm 14:1, ESV.
Evolution’s
Roots of Morality???
To
Dawkins all religions are evil. They pervert and brutalize
mankind. He attributes the good in man to Darwinian Evolution:
“Altruistic genes have been selected through the process of our
evolution, and we possess a natural empathy.” According to
Dawkins, if mankind threw off the evil contaminations of all
religions they would stand united as atheists, allowing their
altruistic genes to propel them into a brave new world. Well, the
20th century shot that theory full of holes.
Evolution
and atheism proved to be a disastrous mix. In his book OUT OF
CONTROL, Zbigniew Brzezinski, President Carter’s National
Security Advisor, noted “The 20th century became mankind’s
most bloody and hateful century.… Totalitarian utopias caused
the death of approximately 175 million people in this history of
insanity.” Why?
The
roots of Nazism came out of the writings of Friedrich Nietzsche
and his theory of the Superman. Nietzsche’s philosophy, in turn,
drew from the writings of Darwin and Herbert Spencer. Spencer
coined the phrase “survival of the fittest,” yet it was
Nietzsche who most clearly articulated that evolution showed that
strength was the most desired quality and weakness the only
failing. Yet, the atheistic rule of Hitler, Stalin, Mao, etc.,
resulting in 175 million deaths proves the utter bankruptcy of the
evolution-atheism mix.
Are
All Religions Evil?
Global
Islamic Jihad bombings, 9/11, mass murders, and beheadings all in
the name of Allah seems to confirm Dawkins. What about Judaism?
The God of Judaism gave us the moral laws of Moses and the utopian
ideals of the Prophets.
The
second President of the US, John Adams, had this to say of the
Jewish people and their religion: “They have done more for
civilized men than any other nation…. They are the most glorious
nation that ever inhabited the earth. The Romans in their empire
were but a bauble in comparison to the Jews. They have given
religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the
affairs of mankind more, and more happily, than any other nation,
ancient or modern.”
Jesus
indicted the religious rulers for corrupting Judaism, but the
religion God gave to the Jewish people was pure. Matt. 23.
What
about the Christian religion? The teachings of Jesus and his
twelve Apostles are pure and noble. The Sermon on the Mount and
Paul’s dissertation on love are sublime. But the Christian era
has been bloody. There is no evil in the Christian religion.
Whereas, there is evil in the Christian church to the
extent these systems have been influenced by Satan’s false
teachings and follow his spirit. During the centuries of the Holy
Roman Empire, the Popes claimed to be God on earth, and The
“Holy” Inquisition was born amidst the screams of tens of
thousands as they were stretched on the racks or burned at the
stake.
Calvin
in Geneva, percentage wise slaughtered or burned more than
the Papal Inquisition. Then there was Luther’s bloodbath of the
Anabaptists, whose only sin was they opposed infant baptism. Jesus
in Matthew 13 predicted that the tares, nominal Christians, would
vastly outnumber the wheat, true Christians. The true Christians
were a light of nobility by word and deed during the darkness of
the Christian era.
Christ’s
Kingdom
The
story of Christianity is far from ended. Atheism lasts only for
the present life— short or long. But Christianity lasts for
eternity. Why? The God of the Christian religion so loved not only
Christians, but also non-Christians including atheists, that He
gave His son to die for every man. (Heb. 2:9) For God “will have
all men to be saved [from Adamic death—‘For as in Adam all
die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive,’ 1 Cor. 15:22]
and [then] to come to an accurate [Gk.] knowledge of the
truth,” 1 Tim. 2:3,4. Why? Because Jesus “died a ransom for all,”
verse 6.
During
this life God is calling a special class, a “little flock,”
who will have the unique honor of reigning as kings and priests
(to bless) with Christ in his thousand-year kingdom, Rev. 20:6.
Meanwhile, all non-Christians, including atheists, are learning
the consequences or “travail” of sin (Eccl. 1:13; 3:10) so
that in Christ’s kingdom, when “the earth shall be full of the
knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:9)
the “remainder of men” (who are not of the “little flock”)
will have the opportunity “to seek after the Lord.” Acts
15:14-17. Oh yes, throughout eternity the “little flock” will
be special, very special. They will be the “apple of God’s
eye,” Psalm 17:8.
Dawkins’
Basic Challenge
Remember
Hoyle’s Boeing 747 satire to disprove spontaneous life by
chance. Dawkins turned it around to argue that, “God almost
certainly does not exist.” He said, “However statistically
improbable the entity you seek to explain by invoking a designer,
the designer himself has got to be at least as improbable. God is
the Ultimate Boeing 747.”
Notwithstanding
Dawkins’ sarcasm, forget his Boeing 747. Our God is the ultimate
of what an ideal God should be. No amount of superlatives can
fully describe His greatness and goodness. Justice is the
foundation of His rule. He is the epitome of Paul’s dissertation
on love in 1 Corinthians 13. He knows the beginning from the end
and has the wisdom to plan for eternity for the best interests of
all, without the possibility of failure. And He has the power to
carry out His benevolent purposes.
This
God Exists
The
Judeo-Christian Bible is unique in that it contains hundreds of
prophecies, some making predictions from over 3,000 years ago that
are being fulfilled in our day. Over 200 prophecies were written
up to 1,000 years before the 33-˝ years of Jesus’ life on
earth. They predicted minute details about Jesus, which were
fulfilled. Many prophecies have been fulfilled down through the
ages. How does this prove there is a God? Only a God can make
predictions from 300 to 3,000 years ahead of time and know in
advance what will happen or use His power to fulfill these
predictions.
Also,
our Bible contains many scientific observations that anticipated
scientific discovery by up to 3,000 years. Again, only a God, our
Heavenly Father, could predict and cause these scientific
discoveries to happen.
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