Why do atheists appear to hate God while they deny that He exists? What compels them to openly mock God and proffer elaborate debates designed to intimidate believers and ridicule Christian beliefs? Their boldness, arrogance and audacity is often appalling and usually emanates from ignorance. Atheists are not agnostic.
The apostle Peter recognized this tendency and offers this observation: “Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand.” (2 Peter 2:10b-12a).
The rise of humanism has precipitated an increase in atheism and secular society now officially denies the existence of God. Many learned people today even deny the historicity of Jesus Christ. They consider the Bible to be a nothing more than a book of fables and myths, and it is dismissed by the educational system as unreliable and non historical – allegorical at best and a work of fiction at worst.
Despite the existence of extra biblical evidence (both literary and archeological) that corroborates the narrative of the scriptures, an abundance of textual criticism by biblical scholars over time and the diversity of copies that have been discovered that serve to substantiate the accuracy of the Bible, its authenticity is still questioned. The vast majority of those who dismiss the Bible’s authority have never read it and of those who have, many fail to conduct any qualitative research into the context of its pages.
Intellectual Dishonesty
Atheists demand evidence for the existence of God, yet when they are presented with evidence they dismiss it as inadmissible by continually moving the goal posts of what they consider acceptable in their superficial logic. They heedlessly put faith in the Big Bang theory and evolutionary theory as a counter thesis to explain life, while accusing the Bible of being far fetched, while there is widespread belief in aliens and extraterrestrial beings.
This intellectual dishonesty places great confidence in the unlikelihood that the universe created itself and that life spontaneously arose from nonliving matter as justification for the denial of God and His creativity. By dismissing the authors of the Bible as primitive and less intelligent, many atheists presume that one must abandon all reason in order to believe the Bible and by extension believe that God exists. Nothing could be further from the truth. C.S. Lewis put forward the notion that to argue against God is to argue against the very source of our ability to argue at all.
By limiting their perspective to the temporal, they cannot comprehend an eternal God that is outside of time, space and matter. This reality alone facilitates the possibility that He could create time, space and matter. Atheism is a philosophy of self-deception and nothing more than an evasive tactic to avoid a confrontation with God.
Atheists like to assert that religion is simply a concentrated effort to subjugate populations to authority and that Christian theology is nothing more than coercion to love God or be tortured forever. This uninformed perception is truly elementary school philosophy, without substance or reason and it is a gross misrepresentation of Christianity.
By mocking God as threatening humanity to love Him or He will punish us forever, atheists demonstrate an incredible ignorance of truth. This cynical and nonsensical notion willfully ignores the offer of salvation as a choice. It is a choice that is not without consequences. It is a choice that has been clearly explained in the pages of the Bible and circulated throughout the globe for all generations.
Deuteronomy 30:19-20a states, “This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.” This is a forthright and honest proposal that is transparent and benevolent.
Atheists Are Anti-Christ
Atheists deny Christ and in doing so confirm that His return is near. 2 Peter 3:3 warns, “First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.” They laugh and taunt believers by questioning the promise of Christ’s return and why it is taking so long (2 Peter 3:4).
By rejecting the deity of Jesus, atheists are anti-Christ not only in position, but in possession also. They have either consciously or unconsciously been influenced by the spirit of antichrist that exists among us. 1 John 4:3 teaches of this very thing. “but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.”
And the motivation of that spirit is to undermine the salvation of believers so profoundly that they question their own faith. What atheists fail to recognize is that what they perceive as slowness to act or failure to act is the very thing that could save their souls from eternal condemnation.
2 Peter 3:8-9 reveals, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
Imagine if Christ had returned 20 years ago. Where would that leave you? Were you still consumed by the rebellion of your youth? Or were you an atheist yourself? Were you in the middle of dealing with a faith challenging, life altering obstacle that caused you to stumble for twenty years as I was? I am so thankful for the longsuffering nature of God!
God’s love is so profound that He allows us to come to Him willingly, without coercion, and repent. In the midst of rebellion (both our own and of the culture around us), God waits for us. In a society dominated by nonbelievers He waits for one repentant heart to come to him – and all heaven rejoices when they do (Luke 15:7).
Jesus told the parable of the wheat and the weeds in Matthew 13:24-29. And He explained it to the disciples by saying that God allows evil to grow among righteousness because He won’t risk losing a righteous person while destroying evil. Rather, both are permitted to coexist until the end of time when a harvest will be taken (Matthew 13:37-43).
God will judge the living and the dead. Judgement day will be a day for rewarding God’s servants and prophets and saints and those who revere the name of God (Revelation 11:18). It will also be a day of condemnation for those who deny Christ. If anyone’s name is not found written in the book of life, they will be thrown into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20:11-15).
Some atheists have read these words and yet persist in rejecting the truth they convey. This nonsensical reaction is profound since salvation is free. Their lack of discernment is indicative of a deep spiritual mendacity. They are truly slaves to sin as Paul suggests (Romans 6:16 ) and simply want to indulge in sinful behavior without restraint, therefore, they deny the gospel to their own demise.
Why do atheists adamantly oppose the notion of God and the person of Jesus Christ? What is the impetus of their persistent spirit of unbelief? Could it be that they do not operate as agents of their own agenda, or that they are deeply influenced or even possessed by demonic spirits? That they are actually anti-Christ because of the spirit of antichrist within them?
