Yep, that’s a crazy bold statement, especially in this day
and age of political correctness and “tolerance” for all beliefs. And I don’t mean anything disrespectful to
any atheist who may read that statement; it is simply what I believe. And I would like to explain why.
First off, this isn’t an original statement to me. I heard it first this past Sunday morning, and it
stuck with me. So I thought I would blog
about it. Nor is this a blog full of
cute pics of little ones to bring a smile.
This is much closer to a Deb Dissertation – words that I hope are laid
out in a somewhat logical sequence.
Because I tend to be a word geek who makes a point of
defining terms when I do any sort of training, I would like to define three
primary terms. These aren’t my
definitions; they come from dictionary.com.
·
Atheist - a person who denies or disbelieves the
existence of a supreme being or beings
·
Theist -
a person who believes
in one God as the creator and ruler of the universe, without rejection of
revelation
·
Christian - a person who believes in Jesus Christ; adherent of Christianity
So this DD is about why I believe that every atheist – one who
denies or disbelieves the existence of a supreme being – will one day be a
theist – one who believes in one God as the creator and ruler. But a theist does not necessarily equal a
Christian, as a Christian is one who believes Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah,
and who recognizes their need for a Savior and trusts in Jesus as the One who
saves.
Ready?
Let me begin by saying that I’m not trying to take on
atheism. I’m not. Many people have reached the choice to be
atheist from a multitude of angles. I’m
not qualified to argue all of those angles.
I’m not arguing against that choice or position. I’m simply offering another perspective of
what will be true if atheism is a false logical conclusion and Christianity is
true.
See, if atheism is right – that there is no God, there is no
life after this life, there is no higher purpose to life – then no one really
has anything to lose. This life is it,
followed by oblivion. Granted we
Christians would lose all that we’d hoped for in this life; but once we were in
oblivion, it wouldn’t matter anyway.
Since, by definition, oblivion is a state without awareness or thought
of any kind.
But if Christianity is true – there is a God, there is life
or awareness after this life, and there is a higher purpose to this life – then
there is no such thing as oblivion. There
would instead, by virtue of the premise that Christianity is true, be life – or
really LIFE! – and the contrast thereof, or awareness in a reality absent of
LIFE. For Christianity clearly teaches
both. There may be a variety of
interpretations of what awareness after this life may look like, but the
teaching is clear from Christianity.
This life isn’t it. This life
points to something after this life. Or
really Christianity points to Some One after this life.
I’ve read a book twice recently simply called Imagine
Heaven by John Burke. It was the
first book in a long time that when I finished it, I turned right back to the
beginning and started reading it all over again. This book is a collection of near-death
experiences (NDE’s) from all over the world.
People from many cultures and belief systems are clinically dead but
come back to life with a story to tell of what they experienced while dead. What is fascinating to me about these stories
is how many of them have such common elements, not the least of which is being
aware – AWARE of a reality that is more REAL than this life. I get how impossible that is to believe. I can’t imagine something more real than what
I know now. But nor can something
two-dimensional imagine a third dimension.
So I allow for more dimensions than I may know here as a viable
possibility that I could experience in another realm.
This book describes more than simply being drawn to The
Light. It describes color and beauty
that we don’t have words for here. Even
people who are profoundly blind from birth – and still blind after they come
back to this life – describe seeing sights that they cannot see here. People talk about seeing lush plants and
trees and flowers that are so full of life and energy and color that if they
pick one, a new one grows right behind it, since there is no death in this
place.
Another common element to NDE’s is a life review, seeing their
life events from a different perspective – yet remarkably without
judgment. They are instead, surrounded
by love and compassion. Because they know
they are experiencing this life review with Jesus, the very embodiment of Love
Incarnate. Keep in mind that these are
people and children who may not know the Name of Jesus from any sort of
teaching or belief system prior to their NDE, yet they know they are talking
with Jesus and being loved by Him.
Where am you going with this? Deb, have you lost track of your original
thesis?
No, I haven’t lost track of what I started out saying. Hang with me a moment longer. For see, there are also stories of people who
don’t believe Jesus is the Son of God who meet him in an NDE. For example, Mr. Burke shares one story of a
lady who has been Jewish her entire life.
She dies, and experiences a life review with Jesus. She felt His love and compassion, and yet
after coming back to this life, she says that she still does not believe that
He is The Christ, The Messiah, since her life-long Jewish teaching tells her
that Jesus is not Messiah. In other
words, this woman would be a theist but not a Christian.
The book also shares a few stories describing a place that
is full of darkness and fear and taunting criticism. This is also a reality that is more real than
this life, yet most unpleasant. These darker
stories also come from all over the world, from people with many belief systems
yet share striking similarities, like those stories that are full of Light and
Love. In essence – an awareness of being
in a place, yet in a place that is not this earth and in a form that is not
this body.
How could people from so many diverse backgrounds experience
events so similar and so vividly REAL? It
seems harder to me to believe that there isn’t life after this life than to
believe that there is. Beyond that, to
believe so gives this life infinitely more meaning and purpose and hope than to
not believe such.
Which brings me back to my opening statement – that all
atheists will be theists. Someday. Not that all atheists will someday be
Christians. But I believe they will
realize that God is. REAL. Jesus is. REAL. More
Real than today’s reality. It may not be
a change of philosophy experienced this side of the grave, but what is so
compelling about the NDE stories is that there is life and awareness after this
life. We don’t die to simple
oblivion. We merely pass through a veil
to Something else…to Some One else.
One of the writers of The New Testament even talks about
this Someday – that every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and
under the earth and acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord. And I happen to believe that “every knee”
will include every atheist who has ever lived, famous ones such as Stephen Hawking,
and less famous ones who have chosen to conclude that God is not.
Atheism is a choice that I respect even though I cannot
embrace it intellectually. I find it
more forced to deny so much evidence FOR God’s existence than to simply accept
how much He has revealed about himself in so many places: creation, our conscience
and innate sense of right and wrong, Scripture, how we define time, etc. But I
don’t speak for everyone. I speak for me
only. In addition, I am not trying to
say all of this from a “we win in the end” viewpoint. That is not my intent here. I’m merely articulating in a quiet way why I
believe there is Something … Someone…Someplace…beyond this life we know here
and now. While I have not studied every
belief system out there, Christian teaching of grace and mercy and love and
communion with God provided by the sacrifice of Jesus is so outrageous and
scandalous yet evidential, that nothing else comes close to being able to
replace what I’ve believed since I was 9 years old. And if I believe Christianity is true, which
I do, then a reasonable conclusion of that view is that someday, whether here
or there, all people, including atheists, will recognize God as not only Real
but Supreme, the essence of being a theist.
Do I think that writing this will change anyone’s mind? Nope, that isn’t my intent either. This blog isn’t about being famous or making
money or gaining internet fame. This
blog is a means of communicating with a few family members and friends, so they
have a record of some of the things I did and how I did them, plus how I
thought – perhaps a glimpse into my heart and mind – as long as the internet is
around and after I’m not. So this is
simply one more glimpse into my heart and my approach to faith in God.
Thanks for reading if you’re still with me. If not, that’s cool. Maybe you will enjoy the next post better!
