In a church I pastored years ago, there was a sweet older lady who was simple in her faith, steadfast in her devotional life, and obsessively regimented in her daily routines. During one of our class discussions on the nature and priority of love, she said, “I just love everybody—except atheists! I hate atheists!” Rather than ignore her statement, I chose to use it as an opportunity for reflection. I suggested that there were some very good reasons for not believing in God and asked for any ideas the class members had regarding why one might become an atheist. After some awkward moments of silence, someone suggested that the immense suffering and injustice in the world might cause one to doubt God’s existence. Another said that modern science seemed to provide a lot of answers to explain the mysteries of this world, and that such knowledge might bring into question many traditional ideas about the nature and existence of God. Someone else lamented the distorted ways some Christians both live and profess their faith which might drive sensitive souls away from any belief in God. I’m sure the woman who “hated atheists” was not persuaded by any discussion which sympathized with atheists, but other class members seemed to have their minds and hearts opened to a better understanding and appreciation of the intellectual struggles of well-meaning, honest people who simply cannot believe in God.
Faith is not about surety; faith is a risk.
I have always had a soft spot for atheists who are genuine in their doubts and who wish they could believe but simply can’t take the leap of faith. We all have doubts. I remember a frustrated minister saying many years ago, “I believe in God on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I doubt the existence of God on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. And on Sundays, I take the day off–which is a hell of an inconvenience when you are a minister and are expected to lead worship and talk about God!” Faith is not about surety; faith is a risk. We choose to bet our lives there is a God and, if we are Christians, that God is like Jesus. But none of us knows for sure if there even is a God. We trust there is a God and that God’s eternal nature is love. But such trust is not certainty. I suggest that we all have much in common with sincere atheists who are searching for truth. Granted, atheists can be as closeminded, arrogant, and self-righteous as the worst of Fundamentalist Christians. But I would not want my Christianity to be equated with the ideas and actions of the lunatic wing of the church any more than sincere atheists would want their struggles of unbelief to be equated with the strident postures and statements of rabid atheists who are so sure of themselves. The church at its best has always maintained that the existence of God can be neither proven nor disproven. A lack of absolute certainty is something we Christians have in common with atheists and everyone else on this planet whether we are willing to admit it or not.
So, I have sympathy for atheists who simply cannot take that leap of faith. As I mentioned above, some of them have very good reasons for doubting the existence of God. For example, after World War II and the Holocaust, many in Europe abandoned any belief in God. Neither they nor I can accept any “it was God’s will” answer to such horrific events. The questions surrounding theodicy (the effort to answer why such horrible things happen in this world if God is both powerful and loving) have always been uncomfortably present within the human race. But the 20th century brought these questions to a shocking intensity which we are still struggling with in our own time. One theologian said that after the Holocaust and Hiroshima, nothing should be written in theology which is not relevant in the presence of a starving or burning child. Theologians today still struggle with the issue of theodicy, and they are offering some partial answers. But no one has the answer to this perennial question—at least, no one with any sense or sensitivity. That alone should make Christians more sympathetic toward their doubting sisters and brothers.
I would suggest that our commonality with atheists in some instances may go deeper than just the realization that none of us has absolute certainty when it comes to the question of God. The following is a quote from the late William Temple, Archbishop of Canterbury: [I was exposed to the writings of Temple during my senior year in college. His book entitled Nature, Man and God (which was first delivered as the esteemed Gifford Lectures in 1934) opened my mind and spirit to a much deeper understanding of God.]
We shall say without hesitation that the atheist who is moved by love is moved by the Spirit of God; an atheist who lives by love is saved by his faith in the God whose existence (under that name) he denies.
Temple’s words reflect an incarnational understanding of the Christian faith typical of some Anglican theology. Like Temple, I believe that the Spirit of God is the source of all creation and is present in every part of this universe. So much Christian theology in the United States is cursed with a myopic assertion associated with Fundamentalist and conservative Evangelical Christians—an assertion which insists that only those who believe in Jesus and accept him as their personal savior will be “saved.” The rest of the world can and will go to hell. A theology with such a scarcity of grace leaves little hope for those who have never heard of Jesus, who are sincerely committed to other faiths, or who simply cannot believe in God in a world of so much evil and suffering. I rejected this puny perspective fifty-two years ago once I realized that the God it professes is less loving than many people I have known. If God’s Spirit is everywhere and is the source of all that is, then I can celebrate that presence and open myself to where God may be speaking and acting in our world, even in an atheist who acts out of love and compassion.
The Sermon on the Mount ends with Jesus insisting that what he has just said is essential and non-negotiable for his followers. Jesus rejects those who call him “Lord” but “do not do the will of my Father in heaven.” And what is God’s will? Jesus just spent three chapters outlining that will—loving one’s enemies, seeking justice, making peace, the Golden Rule of doing unto others as we would want them to do unto us, practicing compassion, telling the truth, etc. Paul says that only three things in life ultimately matter: faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love. All the faith in the world is useless without love. I John says that those who claim to love God whom they have not seen (a reference to the uncertainty of faith) but do not love those humans they can see are liars. Love is so indivisible that it’s impossible to love God without also loving those pesky humans whom we would just as soon be and do without. And the entire book of James emphasizes the crucial importance of doing works of love as followers of Jesus.
William Temple insisted that it was possible for atheists to do works of love even though they may deny the existence of God. From the behavior of many “Christians” in our society today, it would appear that many think they can call themselves Christian without doing works of love or even embracing love as necessary in their faith. The Gospels report that Jesus once said to the religious leaders of his day (who were so sure of God), “Tax collectors and prostitutes will enter the Kingdom of God ahead of you” (Matthew 21:31). Perhaps today Jesus might say to many who claim to be Christian, “Tax collectors, prostitutes, and atheists will enter the Kingdom of God before you.” The rise of racism, greed, violence, lies, and the cultic worship of #45 (the liar extraordinaire of our time) by so many white “Christians” in our nation constitutes a gross perversion of the example and faith of Jesus. Such behavior and values are not Christian if Jesus is the measure of authentic Christian faith. I am almost to the point of rejecting the label “Christian” altogether because of the evil and bigoted ways in which it is used today. Perhaps we should replace that epithet with “followers of Jesus” (or to be more truthful, “those trying to follow Jesus”). Such a substitute would better reflect the discipleship to which we are all called if we “believe in Jesus.”
Frankly, I would rather join hands and hearts with atheists who “live by love” than with “Christians” who have abandoned the radical love so essential to the message and example of Jesus.
Atheists, “Christians,” and “Followers of Jesus”—It is possible for all three groups to do works of love, and it is equally possible for some in these groups to reject works of love. Those two possibilities demonstrate once again what we all have in common. Frankly, I would rather join hands and hearts with atheists who “live by love” than with “Christians” who have abandoned the radical love so essential to the message and example of Jesus. Such cooperation is critical in our day as we face unprecedented crises and opportunities. If we are to relate to other faiths and join with those with no faith in making our world just, peaceful, and environmentally healthy, it is incumbent on all of us to work together for the common good of all people and all creation. I believe we can do so while maintaining our grounding in Jesus. Doing so will simply confirm a fundamental assumption of the Christian faith: For God so loved THE WORLD. Until Christians realize the full significance of that gospel claim, those with intelligence and ethical sensitivity will continue to turn from any faith in God—or at least, in the Christian God.
