Sam Harris, an American neuroscientist and ardent critic of religion, now considers himself part of a loosely defined group known as “the new atheists.” In a recent interview, he explained this view by stating that he now believes in something that certain people would call “God.” Furthermore, he anticipates writing a book that would “celebrate the spiritual aspect of human existence and explain how we can live moral and spiritual lives without religion.” While he continues to believe that religious faith is possibly the most destructive force in the world, he concedes that there is much that humans may never know empirically (such as what happens after death). He also admits that things like compassion, awe, devotion, ecstasy and a sense of the sacred are lost on much of the atheist community. When closely questioned, he apparently said that while he believes in “an impersonal force,” he does not believe in “a personal deity who hears prayers and takes an interest in how people live.” To get around this, he says that he believes in “spirituality,” but not God, because he believes that “spiritual experience and ethical behavior ... are essential to human happiness.”
It might interest Harris, and others like him, to realize that his mindset is nothing new, but it was described in the Word of God thousands of years ago. In Psalm 14:11<<To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.>> The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good. (Psalm 14:1) we read, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.” While this statement would certainly include the one who would describe himself as a true atheist, yet the real meaning of this verse is just what Harris is saying. Because man is a spiritual being and has a God-conscious part to his makeup, he values such things as morality, rationality, love and other attributes that are peculiar to man and which distinguish him from the lower creation. He values that dimension in himself, and in society in general, that elevates man above a beast.
A Personal God
However, man without God has a will that is at enmity with God, and this vaunts itself in rebellion against a God who takes a personal interest in him and who might call him to account. To say, “There is no God,” often does not imply the complete denial of a first cause, but rather the denial of a God who is concerned about man and who is involved in the way he lives. Instead, man postulates a so-called “life force” that has all the attributes of God in terms of creatorial power, yet ultimately is supposed to take no interest in what is created. As another has said, “This is the secret of all error in practice and in human reasoning. The more we examine the whole course of human action, the faults of Christians, or the various wanderings of philosophy, the more we shall find that ‘no God’ is at the root of it all.” It is man taking no notice of God and seeking to deny His existence, although His conscience tells him that there is a God. This attitude will find its zenith in the antichrist, who will “honor the god of forces” (Dan. 11:3838But in his estate shall he honor the God of forces: and a god whom his fathers knew not shall he honor with gold, and silver, and with precious stones, and pleasant things. (Daniel 11:38)), that is, he will ally himself with Satan, who for a time will give him power. Whatever gives him power becomes his god, and in the exercise of his own will, he takes no notice of the true God. In doing so, he acts like a beast and is called one by God.
Other Gods
Of course, there are variations of this theme. The so-called “New Age” philosophy admits to there being a God but says that we are all ultimately gods and that god is in everything. Others, who perhaps pay lip service to some kind of religion, are increasingly adopting the view that many religions can lead to “eternal life” and that all roads lead to the same place. Some are seeking spiritual truth outside of any religion, while others approach it much like a “smorgasbord,” where you pick and choose what suits you or what seems to work. In many cases, the morality taught in the Word of God has been borrowed, but then effectively nullified by being mixed with human philosophy.
Needless to say, all this is not only contrary to the Word of God, but ultimately irrational. Another has commented that while we talk of common sense, we must remember that it is God who gives it to us and who ultimately maintains it for us. When man gives up God, we find that Romans 1:2222Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, (Romans 1:22) becomes evident: “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.” Several years ago, a man was given the assignment to prepare a constitution and form of government without reference to absolutes and a moral code. Not only did he find it impossible, but he almost lost his reason in the process.
Responsibility to God
Man cannot escape who he is and his responsibility to God. What passes for atheism is nothing more than a miserable attempt on man’s part to deny that we live in a moral universe and that we are responsible to God. There are such things as morality and love, and it is God who created them and who maintains them for us. When all this is given up, the horrors of anarchy are the result, as man becomes little more than a beast.
How comforting it is to know, as believers, that “God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 5:9). There is a day coming, after God’s judgment is brought down on this world, when “the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:99They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9)).
W. J. Prost