i am extremely interested in any kind of dialogue between Christianity and culture. call me crazy, but i am constantly looking for interaction (with or without the church being involved) between the two. in fact, one day i'd love to teach a college course on how Christianity can better engage culture in order to more effectively spread the Gospel. it is because of this interest that i am constantly perusing blogs (look to the left of this screen to lists of blogs i follow), sermons, books, twitter, facebook, music, movies, magazines, articles and podcasts in hopes of better understanding what is going on in the world, views of Christianity and how God is moving.
"If God is real, He cannot be created, He must be *discovered.* We cannot invent His characteristics to suit our imagination." -Tim Kelle
i came across an article written by sarah lyall in the new york times called atheists send a message on 800 buses. the article is about an organization called atheist campaign who raises money to post "there is probably no god" themed messages across the UK: on buses, signs at the tube (aka subway) and all over the press. their agenda... "to send atheistic viewed messages as correctives to religious ones."
for the sake of this post, here are some definitions to help clarify the use of the term 'atheist.'
atheist: one who believes that there is no deity
diety: the rank or essential nature of a god; supreme being; a god or goddess; one exalted or revered as supremely good or powerful
these messages have been met with multiple responses. news of the campaign has led to similar publicity efforts in washingon, which say: “why believe in a god?” the ads read, over a picture of a man in a Santa suit. “just be good for goodness’ sake.” similar groups in australia were denied the opportunity to publicize their atheistic message saying, “atheism: sleep in on sunday mornings."
here is a quick excerpt (in italics) from the article:
An interesting element of the bus slogan is the word “probably,” which would seem to be more suited to an Agnostic Bus Campaign than to an atheist one. Mr. Dawkins, for one, argued that the word should not be there at all.
But the element of doubt was necessary to meet British advertising guidelines, said Tim Bleakley, managing director for sales and marketing at CBS Outdoor in London, which handles advertising for the bus system.
For religious people, advertisements saying there is no God “would have been misleading,” Mr. Bleakley said.
“So as not to fall foul of the code, you have to acknowledge that there is a gray area,” he said.
He said that potential ads were rejected all the time. “We wouldn’t, for example, run an ad for an action movie where the gun was pointing toward the commuter,” he said.
But Mr. Bleakley said he had no problem with the atheist bus ads. “We do have religious organizations that promote themselves,” he said. “If somebody doesn’t believe in religion, why wouldn’t we carry an ad that promotes the opposite view? To coin a phrase, it’s not for us to play God.”
But the element of doubt was necessary to meet British advertising guidelines, said Tim Bleakley, managing director for sales and marketing at CBS Outdoor in London, which handles advertising for the bus system.
For religious people, advertisements saying there is no God “would have been misleading,” Mr. Bleakley said.
“So as not to fall foul of the code, you have to acknowledge that there is a gray area,” he said.
He said that potential ads were rejected all the time. “We wouldn’t, for example, run an ad for an action movie where the gun was pointing toward the commuter,” he said.
But Mr. Bleakley said he had no problem with the atheist bus ads. “We do have religious organizations that promote themselves,” he said. “If somebody doesn’t believe in religion, why wouldn’t we carry an ad that promotes the opposite view? To coin a phrase, it’s not for us to play God.”
obviously, there have been many reactions to this agenda-pushing movement. lyall states that the methodist church welcomes the campaign as a way to get people to talk about God.
i believe it is a good thing when people talk about spiritual things... especially when Scripture is the focus of the discussion.
So what does the Bible say about the existence of God and the belief about the existence of God?
Isaiah 14:13-14 - (quick paraphrase) even the devil wants to be like God.
Psalm 14:1 - "The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good."
i love 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (click here to read the passage), so much so that this passage has found it's way into a previous post as well. this passage says that "for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. for it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate" (verse 18), and that "the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength" (verse 25).
it is impossible to figure out God, His foolishness is greater than our wisdom... wow... especially since there is no foolishness found in God. i spend my days with college students at a very liberal university. many of these students have been told that they are ignorant because they believe in God. they are ridiculed by professors who believe that only the ignorant could place their faith in God.
i believe God answers that opinion in Romans 1:18-20: “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”
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