One day a young African maiden from an important river
village approached the village elders with a question. “We all know you are
wise, and your guidance of our village is above reproach. What is the source of
your mighty wisdom?”
The
elders replied, “We get our wisdom from all around us; we are surrounded by it
every day.”
The maiden then asked, “We know that you use this wisdom
in giving names to all the new maidens born in our village. How does your
wisdom know what to call us? How do you arrive at our names?”
The
elders replied, “When we rise in the morning when the day is still new and the
scent of the African violet permeates the air around us and a maiden is born,
we name her ‘Beautiful Flower.’ Or when we rise in morning when the day is
still new and the scent of the River Congo is in the air all around us and a
maiden is born, we name her ‘Fertile River.’ But tell me ‘Very Fresh Hippo
Droppings,’ why do you ask?”
This
book seeks to change how the Christian faith is given its name among the
atheist community.
Many
atheists feel a deep, passionate, visceral rejection of the Christian faith,
and a surprising number who do so were formerly Christians. Why would so many
people, including a great many former Christians, reject the Christian idea and
take up atheism in a world where access to Christianity is everywhere? The
explanation is simple, inoculation.
Medical inoculation is “the
exposure to a dead or weakened version of a virus to create a strong resistance
to said virus.” In our society, people have suffered a religious inoculation as
a result of their exposure to dead and weak versions of Christianity. Dead or weak does not mean “inactive or limited,” so this exposure is
far-reaching and varied. From un-biblical fanaticism, like the burning of a
Koran, to tepid pseudo-psychological preaching made available every day, people
are constantly exposed to dead or weak versions of the Christian faith.
What
makes these versions of Christianity dead or weak is not a lack of fervor or
commitment; these versions seem to have no shortage of that. Instead these
versions lack an authentic ministry of God’s Word in the experience. A
Christian faith without a vibrant, consistent and credible Bible foundation is
not a Christian faith at all.
In
light of this, I am fearful that many atheists have developed their passionate
resistance to all things Christian-based on something other than a living,
Biblical Christian faith. Most atheists have questions that can easily be
answered for them from an authentic Christian perspective.
In A Christian Reply to the Reasonable Atheist, an
authentic Christian narrative will be explored, using the first three chapters
of Genesis as a launching point. The question of evil, Hell, the origin of
religion, and more will be explored as this treatise seeks to change how the
Christian church is named among atheist.
This
book is not a theological treatment of the Bible; there is no shortage of such
books. Rather, this book is designed as a Biblical framing of an authentic
personal faith—a framing that will convey the Biblical heart of Christian
beliefs in a personal, intimate way.
It
is my prayer and belief that many of my Christian brothers and sisters will
benefit from the Biblical explanations contained within the pages. This book,
however, is not designed as a Christian self-help book; there is no shortage of
those books either. This book is designed to provide an alternative to
religious inoculation to any reasonable person, but more than all, it is
intended as a Christian reply to the rational, reasonable atheist.
–Poet Ntwadumela 2013
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