So-called Agnosticism

What concerns me most about the new atheists’ attacks – aimed mostly against Christianity – is not that they convince people to become atheists. It’s the impetus and “excuse” they give people for retreating into so-called agnosticism, a now popular and culturally acceptable stance (or non-stance) on religion. More and more people today embrace a religious pluralism or vague spirituality that rests on a shrug: “Whatever a person believes about God is okay because no one can really know.”

I suspect that your network of family and friends includes more people who fend off faith in Christ from this fuzzy perspective than from disbelief in God.

“Agnostic” today is a polite, sophisticated term for “non-committal”. While it makes sense for a person to say, “I don’t know YET” and then try to find an answer, it’s a violation of logic – and also an absurd risk – to say, “I CANNOT know!” [It has been said the the difference between “try” and “triumph” is the UMPH! Many people don’t put the umph into their search for truth.]

Aggressive atheists look for any opportunity to provoke anti-Christian fervor. In a recent speech Sam Harris, a leading atheist, blamed rampant child abuse on biblical teaching, quoting (imprecisely) from Proverbs: “Spare the rod and spoil the child.”

  This is an example of the all-too-typical distortion of Scripture. The actual verse is Proverbs 13:24 which says, “He that spares his rod hates his son – but he that loves his son chastens him sometimes.” The “rod” used here was described by King David in the well known 23th Psalm as “comforting” and is a biblical metaphor for loving discipline. Shepherds used it to safeguard their flocks, not to injure them. Imagine a world without appropriate discipline and restraint!

In that same speech, Harris declared science as the true arbiter of morality because science can now measure (via brain scans) pain and suffering. Everyone would agree, Harris says, that pain and suffering are the very definition of EVIL. I’d like to ask him to let us all know when science develops an objective test for motives. Until then, his view lumps together criminal acts with the healing work of physicians, acts of abuse with acts of loving care.  

These are examples of the many distortions we see and will see from those who wish to discredit Christianity. We must be on the alert not to be deceived or to allow those close to us to have their faith distorted into SO-CALLED AGNOSTICISM.