There are no atheists in foxholes

“The heavens declared the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork,” yet “the fool has said in his heart there is not God,” wrote the Psalmist.  The atheist concludes that the universe is simply an accident—that its vastness, precision, order, and complexity do not suggest a governing Intelligence. There have been many avowed atheists in history—philosophers like Voltaire, Diderot, Feuerbach, Darwin, Freud, and even C.S. Lewis before he became a Christian.

Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoanalysis, was an out-and-out unbeliever.  He wrote that the “concept of God was a fairy tale of religion.” He asserted the religions of mankind were mass delusions and that the scriptures “are full of contradictions, revisions, and falsifications.” He wondered if “Jesus Christ was not “a part of mythology” or merely “ a deluded creature.”  Freud proffered two arguments against the existence of God: (1) belief in God is merely a projection of powerful wishes and inner needs for something beyond ourselves, and (2) a loving God would not allow us to suffer.

At the low end of creation is the unseen microcosmic world of the atom with its core of protons and neutrons and orbiting electrons. At the upper end is the macrocosmic world of the universe, its solar systems, galaxies, and black holes.  Since man stands at the center of creation, he cannot comprehend its extremes; yet he can marvel at the majesty of a flower, the mystery of a spider spinning a web, and the splendor of the mountains and oceans. It is ironic that those who contend there is no God begin praying once their lives are in jeopardy.   As the saying goes, there are no atheists in foxholes.

For philosophers who say that a random collision of atoms produced matter in the universe and later gave rise to one-celled organisms that evolved into humans, we must ask how they account for the “space” in which the solar systems and galaxies swirl and the “time” that chronicles their movement. Did space and time materialize without origin?  We must conclude that the universe is the work of Intelligent Design.  The starry sky above and the moral law within are signposts of a Supreme Being.  To believe the contrary is to accept the premise that a tornado could pass through a junkyard and leave in its wake a fully equipped and functional Boeing 707 jetliner.

The Biblical account of creation begins with “God created the heavens and the earth.”  During the six days of creation, God created our earth, its seas, plant life, animal life and finally man. Into Adam’s inert body God “breathed the breath of life,” making him a living soul.  Romans 1:20 clearly states that unbelievers are without excuse to deny the existence of God: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.”