What’s the difference?
An atheist does not believe in God. An anti-theist not only
does not believe in God but also vehemently speaks against the God he doesn’t
believe in. His 2007 book, God is Not
Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, with chapter titles like, “The
‘New’ Testament Exceeds the Evil of the
‘Old’ One", makes his views clear. He wanted religion (all religion, not just
Christianity) destroyed.
Assuming he had no death-bed change of belief, what should
we think about the death of such a man?
On the one hand, I rejoice that the voice of an enemy is
silenced. He’s not alone in his views, and I suspect others will rise to fill
the void in the voices-against-God. But I will not miss his wicked words.
But on the other hand, I do not rejoice in the ultimate fate
of this person who, despite his anti-theistic views, was created in the image of
God but, because he rejected the free gift of eternal life through Christ, is now
forever separated from God. His fate is just, but sobering. The Bible, which Hitchens rejected, says, “Do
I have any pleasure in the death of the wicked,” declares the Lord God, “rather than that he should turn
from his ways and live? (Ezek. 18:23, 33:11). I rejoice God deals justly with
the wicked, but it is sad that even this evil, wicked man never understood the
grace of God.
I saw this story on the news this morning and it sickened me to hear them almost make him a saint for all he had said and done. How sad for him that at the judgement he will receive condemnation rather than commendation. You said it well.
ReplyDeleteWell put. A proper understanding of the character of God really does help one understand what one's attitude should be at "the death of the wicked" {thinking also of all the comments~pro & con~that were flung around when Osama was killed}. It's always so much easier to be carelessly extreme than to understand the Biblical balance and respond accordingly.
ReplyDeleteAnd we're glad you're keeping the blog alive. :o)
I appreciate the distinction you made between atheist and anti-theist. I've heard Hitchens' brand of atheism termed "strong", or "positive" atheism -- yet it has long struck me as incongruous for one to claim they are any kind of A-theist (w/o theistic belief) at all while at the same time deliberately making the positive assertion that they believe there is no God... which by definition means they DO have theistic belief albeit in the negative. It strikes me then that "strong atheism", as asserted by Hitchens and those like him, is a contradiction in terms.
ReplyDeleteI do mourn his judgment and seek to spread the gospel precisely so that as many as believe it may be saved from the same fate.