"Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ" (I Corinthians 11:1)
The ST. PAUL SCHOOL, with Frank Eiklor, Eileen Young and Walter and Cecilia Contreras

THE UNIVERSE AND YOU

(THE INCREDIBLE FAITH OF THE ATHEIST)

One day, I hope to offer a biblical study of the word "fool". The rich Spanish language offers different words to express a "fool". The word "necio" is one the worst. Jesus warned us never to denigrate a fellow human being as a "necio"-fool. He Himself used it very seldom, like when He called a man a "fool" ("necio") for selfishly storing up his material wealth while saying he would have many years to enjoy a pampered life. (He died that night). Luke 12:15-21

In the Old Testament, God used the word "fool" ("necio") twice to describe the confirmed atheist (Psalm 14:1; 53:1). "The fool has said in His heart, There is no God". Most of us have struggled from time to time where our minds have doubted if God exists. Yet in our hearts, we knew He did. But the one God labels a "fool" is not battling a doubt. He has already made up his mind-and speaks arrogantly from his heart that there is no God. "Case closed!" "Argument ended!" "Take your evidence for God's existence somewhere else. I don't want it!" "I don't live by that faith nonsense!"

But that's not true. The confirmed atheist must have incredible faith to deny the existence of God. Christian author Lee Strobel was an atheist. Why did he turn to God. "To stay an atheist I have to believe nothing produces everything; non-life produces life; randomness produces fine-tuning; chaos produces information; unconsciousness produces consciousness; and non-reason produces reason. These leaps of faith were too big for me to take." So an atheist's faith must deny countless evidences that stare him in the face; while the believer bases his faith on convictions built on solid evidence.

Take poor Charles Darwin, father of modern evolution. He had a terrible time trying to keep God out of his theories. He admitted in his writings that just thinking about the eye merely evolving was enough to make him ill. "To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree." (Darwin-"Origin of Species, 1909 Harvard Classics edition, page 190). And that was just the eye! What about the brain? Heart? Lungs? The circulatory system?

So you and I look at the heavens and stand in awe of the glory of God. We look at the earth and see His handiwork (Psalm 19:1). We look in the mirror and say with the Psalmist, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14). And the silent message that comes to our eyes-the gentle voice we hear in our hearts-is from God who will never cease saying "I love you, I love you!"

So the next time anyone tries to convince you of his "no God", "no purpose", "evolution is my god" nonsense, tell him that he has a religion that requires too much blind faith. Challenge him to see why your faith in Jesus Christ and in the Scriptures comes from convictions based on solid evidence. And let your life of integrity, purity, humility and love be a visible testimony to any unbeliever of how faith in God has changed you for the better.