April 22, 2010
Prominent atheists credit the Gospel
Two high-profile atheists recognize the practical help to the poor provided by Christians while agreeing it is the Christian worldview itself that makes such help feasible
What would you say if I told you that two prominent atheists – well known in their respective fields – shook up their colleagues (and a whole bunch of the rest of us) with an unabashed, pointedly sympathetic, portrait of the impact of the Gospel? The two atheists in question are both veteran British politicians, and best-selling authors.
You never hear of “Atheists Aid to the poor”. That is the sentiment of atheist and UK Labor politician, Roy Hattersley, in statements made public in January 2010. The actual statement was longer, though just as direct,
“I never hear of atheist organizations taking food to the poor. You don’t hear of ‘Atheist Aid.’”
Roy Hattersley is a well-known British politician, author, and journalist. He is the historian responsible for the best-selling biography of William and Catherine Booth and the origins of the Salvation Army.
That, of course, gives us the backdrop to the surprising statements of Mr. Hattersley on a recent BBC program. Peter Day, the narrator of the program, in statements which might be seen as a norm for accommodating atheistic posturing, put it to Hattersley:
“This sort of thing, a sort of social entrepreneurial drive which starts off out of a particular place and circumstances—those sorts of things often run out of steam after a generation or two. Is the Salvation Army in danger of running out of steam?”
Roy Hattersley’s reply was instant:
“I don’t think the Salvation Army is remotely in danger of running out of steam. And I think it remains a vibrant organization because of its convictions. I’m an atheist. But I can only look with amazement at the devotion of the Salvation Army workers. I’ve been out with them on the streets and the way they work amongst the people, the most deprived and disadvantaged and sometimes pretty repugnant characters. I don’t believe they would do that were it not for the religious impulse. And I often say I never hear of atheist organizations taking food to the poor. You don’t hear of ‘Atheist Aid’ rather like Christian aid, and, I think, despite my inability to believe myself, I’m deeply impressed by what belief does for people like the Salvation Army.”
Wow. Let me see. It’s one thing to quote people like the Booths in matters historical. It’s quite another to contrast worldviews – atheistic v. Christian – praising the Christian worldview as far superior to one’s own. More impressively, these aren’t the rantings of some fanatic. This is the position of a seasoned Labor professional.
Roy Hattersley is not the only high-profile atheist to point to the work and worldview of Gospel. Matthew Parris is yet another atheist who has come out with open and objective praise for the charity and virtues of the Christian faith. Parris is also a renowned UK politician and best-selling author.
Matthew Parris wrote in The Times a most remarkable piece entitled …
“As an atheist, I truly believe Africa needs God”
The article was subtitled,
“Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa’s biggest problem—the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset.”
The Parris article was written from a personal perspective. His childhood was spent in various countries in Africa and he has done extensive traveling throughout Africa as an adult, including a recent tour.
“It inspired me, renewing my flagging faith in development charities. But travelling in Malawi refreshed another belief, too: one I’ve been trying to banish all my life, but an observation I’ve been unable to avoid since my African childhood. It confounds my ideological beliefs, stubbornly refuses to fit my world view, and has embarrassed my growing belief that there is no God.
“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good.
“The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them…
“It’s a pity, I would say, that salvation is part of the package,” Parris wrote, “but Christians black and white, working in Africa, do heal the sick, do teach people to read and write; and only the severest kind of secularist could see a mission hospital or school and say the world would be better without it. I would allow that if faith was needed to motivate missionaries to help, then, fine: but what counted was the help, not the faith.”
On the other hand, Parris acknowledged,
“this doesn’t fit the facts”. He explained how Christian faith benefits the poor. It is not merely its “supportive effect” on the missionary. It is also important to understand that such faith “…is also transferred to his flock. This is the effect that matters so immensely, and which I cannot help observing.”
Matthew Parris grew up in southern Africa, and often stayed with Christian missionaries (friends of the family). When he revisited Africa in his twenties, he concluded, after years of observation, that Christians, whether black or white, were ‘different’ from other people. It didn’t matter if he observed them in Algiers, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Congo, Rwanda, Tanzania or Nairobi, Kenya. It was the same everywhere. His recent trip to Malawi confirmed it once more—a truth he has been trying to ‘banish’ all his life.
Parris notes:
“The Christians were always different. Far from having cowed or confined its converts, their faith appeared to have liberated and relaxed them.”
Matthew Parris also notes that Christians had a confident “liveliness, a curiosity, an engagement with the world—a directness in their dealings with others”, lacking in non-believers. As he puts it, “They stood tall”.
Parris observed that the difference between Christians and non-Christians was particularly striking in “lawless” parts of the sub-Sahara.
“Whenever we entered a territory worked by missionaries, we had to acknowledge that something changed in the faces of the people we passed and spoke to: something in their eyes, the way they approached you direct, man-to-man, without looking down or away. They had not become more deferential towards strangers—in some ways less so—but more open.”
Parris admits he would prefer to believe the virtues of the Christians - their “honesty, diligence and optimism in their work” - had no connection with their unmistakable personal faith. But, he concedes they are “influenced by a conception of man’s place in the Universe that Christianity had taught.” In other words, their ethic is ROOTED in their conception of God, the Bible and their faith in Christ.
“Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ…”- II Corinthians 10:5
In Christ,
Wayne C. Sedlak,
ICHR (Institute for Christian Heritage Research)
Director, Leveraging Influence Institute for Online Training
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