phoebe
Posts 1
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As I was reading through this site, I noticed the anger atheists have of being labeled as having particular beliefs (such as thinking life is hopeless and meaningless, etc.) As a Christian, I am likewise perturbed by the "general" view atheists have of most Christians. Under your "frequently asked questions" you put the following "Christian" statement... "I know exactly who created the universe, and how. The universe was created just for me and other humans. The creator of the universe has a personal interest in me, and wants to have a personal relationship with me. He watches everything I do. When I die, he will reward me with unimaginable gifts and eternal life."
While I won’t argue that SOME Christians believe that, in general, that is not the perspective of most Christians. In particular, the statement "the universe was created just for me and other humans" is a distinctly UN-Christian perspective. Yes, we believe we were made "stewards" of creation and were given the unique task to care for creation - but that creation is "just for humans" is not an idea you will find espoused in the Bible. In fact, for the Christian, all of creation is God's and therefore every single piece of it is precious in his site.
For those who know their Bible a little better, there's a reason there are "four living creatures" standing before the throne of God - they are representative of the differing types of life on earth (a representation of wild animals, domesticated animals, birds, and yes, humanity.) The point is to show that all of creation is loved by God and important to God. Humanity has a responsibility to care for that creation - and when we choose to abuse it and treat it like a dumpster, we've missed the entire point of the creation account and what it means to have "dominion" over the earth. In fact, Revelation states that God “destroys those who destroy the earth.”
Now yes, we part company on whether or not we matter in the midst of the universe in any way shape or form. While we may indeed be evolved pond scum, we’re evolved pond scum that matters to the one who created the pond scum. Ultimately, the question that the Christian asks is if there is a God, what does that God want/desire of/for me and for creation? And that’s where the divine revelation of who God is and what His relationship to humanity and creation comes into play, first in the form of scripture (the recordings of people’s encounters with the divine) and second in the form of Jesus Christ (God’s most direct and ultimate self-revelation). Perhaps that makes Christians arrogant to think that a Creator would be interested in His creation and wants to be involved with His creation, but as I’m an artist, I kind of understand that. I don’t create something then walk away from it and act as though it doesn’t matter because I’ve got something bigger and better going on. Each creation, no matter how big or small, is important to me and has meaning to me. So if there is a Creator, I would think that he or she would be very interested in us. That is not to say that he/she/it would not be interested in other areas of the universe as well, but scripture is primarily about God’s relationship to humanity because that’s who God is seeking to communicate with through His divine revelations. That’s not to say God doesn’t communicate with other forms of life in other ways – it simply says that as far as humanity is concerned, yes – God is interested in us and has something to say about our role in this world.
And as for the “I know who created the universe and how” – that statement is rather loaded. If by “how” you mean God willed it into existence – then sure, we know “how,” but beyond that, most Christians rely on the scientific endeavor to discover the methodology (such as evolution) just like an atheist, as the Bible does not give the methodology other than to say that God spoke, and it came into being.
(And to attempt to read the creation account as a literal “six day” creation account misses the entire point and quite frankly, doesn’t even make sense – especially given the argument the original authors were engaging – which wasn’t the time span or attempts to refute evolutionary theory. It was written to refute the practice of worshiping the creation rather than the creator and to state that creation exists not as an accident, like many of the other creation myths that were floating around in the ancient near east stated, but that it was intentionally created and not so that we might be slaves to the gods, as other creation accounts of the time suggested, but so that we might partake in an almost divine role of caring for the rest of the creation. Being invited to partake in the divine Sabbath rest, etc. Not to mention the fact that it’s written in a poetic form that follows a particular “hymnic” style that was never intended to be read or viewed the way in which it gets read in today’s world. The "order" of creation addresses the different forms of creation that were worshiped by the people of the ancient near east - it was not meant to be seen as "first this, then this." Each phase of creation in Genesis 1 addresses two principle categories of divinity in the polytheistic/pantheistic religious culture, declaring that light/dark, sea/land, earth/vegetation, celestial orbs/stars, animals of water/sky, and finally land animals/humans, are all creations of God and the creations are not gods themselves.)
So when you bash Christians – please remember, the vast majority of Christians are not out there attempting to “save” you. (Because any true Christian would know that salvation is not the work of humanity, but the sole work of God. Yes, we witness and testify to what God has done in the world, and faith is created on the basis of that testimony and witness… but we do not “save” anyone. Our role in salvation ends once we’ve made our testimony. At that juncture – it’s up to God and the other person, not us.) You’re speaking of the fringe fundamentalist Christianity that yes, for some bizarre reason is growing in America – but it still is not representative of the vast majority of Christians in the world. My relationship to my atheist friends is not so that I might “save” them, but is so that I might be in community with them, to love them, and to be friends with them. To work with them in the Godly endeavor of feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, tending to the needs of the poor, and living peaceably with all.
The problem most atheists encounter is that they never encounter true Christianity – they encounter so-called Christians who do not actually live out their faith and are not true representatives of Christ. They encounter the Christians Gandhi encountered when he stated, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ."
And btw – as for the “unimaginable rewards” of eternal life – the Bible’s definition of eternal life is as follows: “Now this is eternal life – that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (John 17:3) To have eternal life simply means to have an eternal relationship with the Creator. The “reward” is to be able to live in full community with God without the pain and sorrow we experience on account of our broken relationships with one another. Eternal life is about restored relationship – restored relationship with both God and our fellow humans. It’s where we seek to live our lives for the sake of others and not for our own selfish ambitions. Where war ceases, where harming one another comes to an end – that is God’s vision for the future of humanity. Restored relationship that doesn’t involve our sinful, selfish ways. And we Christians pray for that reality to be here on earth, not in heaven. “Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” So any Christian that states that we’re just biding our time and what we do here, how we interact and relate to one another doesn’t matter in any way shape or form is sadly misinformed. We are to live out our lives striving toward making the heavenly kingdom a reality in THIS world. Because this is the world that God has created and is the world he seeks to redeem and renew.
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