The Many Faces, and Causes, of Unbelief - Apologetics Press

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than Oxford professor Richard Dawkins conceded as much. In his book, The Selfish Gene, Dr. Dawkins discussed at great length the gene’s role in the naturalistic process of “survival of the fittest” and admitted that, according to the evolutionary paradigm, genes are “selfish” because they will do whatever it takes to ensure that the individual in which they are stored produces additional copies of the genes. In commenting on the effects of such a concept on society as a whole, he then lamented: “My own feeling is that a human society based simply on the gene’s law of universal ruthlessness would be a very nasty society in which to live” (1989b, p. 3). When men act consistently, when men act congruously, and when men act correctly—in keeping with the cardinal doctrines of their respective world views—which system has more to recommend itself, belief or unbelief? To ask is to answer, is it not? One system—belief—teaches that we should esteem others better than ourselves, love our neighbors, and be self-sacrificing even unto death. The other—unbelief—teaches a “survival of the fittest” concept that makes nature “red in tooth and claw” so that the strong subjugates the weak, might makes right, and “selfish genes” ensure that it is “every man for himself.” Truth be told, whom would you rather have for your neighbor—the believer, or the unbeliever? UNBELIEF When you see the above section heading of “Unbelief” listed as a cause of unbelief, you might think that surely I have erred. How, pray tell, could unbelief be a cause of unbelief? Please allow me to explain. It is my contention that unbelief engenders more unbelief. In his book, Therefore Stand, Wilbur M. Smith compared unchecked unbelief to ...a contagious disease. Unless it is restrained it grows in intensity, and will infect an increasingly large number of people. It is difficult to determine whether this is an age of unbelief because so many men do not believe, or many men do not believe because it is an age - 115
of unbelief. I suppose that some would say you cannot have an age of unbelief unless it is caused by the unbelief of men. Well, I am not so sure. There are certain intellectual and moral characteristics that mark each age of human history, and it would seem that the outstanding mark of our particular age is Unbelief (1974, p. 173). Dr. Smith made these comments in the original printing of his book in 1945. If he was correct in his assessment that his was an “age of unbelief” (and the documentation he provided incontrovertibly proved his point), then what may be said about our age? Smith wrote at a time when America had just emerged from the shadows and ravages of World War II. It was a time in our nation’s history when people had sacrificed— first, their finances at home and, second, their sons and daughters on foreign battle fields—to bring an end to tyranny. It also was a time when people actually realized that they needed God. Compare that set of circumstances to those of today. The economy is booming. America has not been involved in a war in over thirty years. Unemployment is at an all-time low. Simply put, people do not feel the “need” for God that they did in post-war America. And there are other factors to be considered. As Smith explained: Great thinkers, leaders of thought, men of achievement, men with great gifts of expression, inevitably must influence vast multitudes of people who look up to them as their leaders, as their guide, and when the outstanding men of the great segments of thought in our generation are atheistic, and antagonistic to the Christian Faith, what can one expect the younger generation to be, willingly following in their steps? (p. 174). We are living in an age where some of the most visible, most respected, and most prolific intellectuals on the world stage are outspoken proponents of unbelief. We view the late Carl Sagan’s lavish television extravaganza, Cosmos, and are informed that evolution is a “scientific fact” from which no - 116
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APOLOGETICS PRESS
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CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 CHAPTER 3 CHAPT
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For example, when Joshua—who had
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the truth, but they will not. The s
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obliged to acknowledge that it was
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2 THE MANY FACES OF UNBELIEF Throug
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Impossible task, that—since one w
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Neither of these tasks is simple (n
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foundation, not in divine guidance,
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are monkeys” (see Leonard Huxley,
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Such a premise is flawed internally
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The development, over the past four
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Thus, in the end the skeptic does n
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le plethora of men and women who ma
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include “Hell” and “Some Mist
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In fact, in the late 1970s, while I
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future state of rewards and punishm
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tion to function on its own; some b
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Deism...refers to what can be calle
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a God strong enough to create the w
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ecomes indistinguishable from evil.
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Ryerson who allegedly was able to
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...Every action, under certain circ
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tes 12:7). The writer of the book o
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the Lord struck him, because he did
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ook, Apologetics in the New Age: A
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at ease. Yes, it is! Therefore, in
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What should be the response of Chri
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principle of causality. In its pict
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a better world, but is limited by t
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every citizen enjoys. Or contemplat
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since that time that it has very gr
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Page 124 and 125: 4 CONCLUSION Every person familiar
Page 126 and 127: This latter observation needs a lit
Page 128 and 129: REFERENCES Abelson, Phillip (1964),
Page 130 and 131: Durant, Will (1980), “We Are in t
Page 132 and 133: Huxley, Thomas Henry (1896), Darwin
Page 134 and 135: Raymo, Chet (1998), Skeptics and Tr
Page 136: Watkin, Edward I. (1936), Theism, A
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The Many Faces, and Causes, of Unbelief - Apologetics Press

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