Wisdom in random places

(With sincere appreciation to "Sparky" Schultz... I wonder if he's doing strips for the "New Jerusalem" Post?)

Is it just me, or have the "nations" been raging louder lately? The sound and fury of select atheists has been on my radar lately and it has me scratching my graying chin. Why is so much acrimony being directed towards a supposed nonexistent Deity? Think about it; when do you ever recall people getting their britches in a bind over Loki? Or when was the last time you heard a shrill voice on the tube equating child abuse with educating children on the life of Athena? This mental exercise has led me to a a few choice conclusions.

David "got it". He leaps from the starting block in Psalm 53 declaring (without apology) that it is the "fool" who declares the LORD's nonexistence. Considering the cosmological arguments alone, it would be an astounding leap of faith (or abysmal recklessness) to proclaim that there is "no God". Add this to the very improbability of an atheistic "uncaused first cause" and you see the image of one who is way up the tree, busy sawing off their own branch.

The "atheist" doesn't get it. This fact maybe exacerbated by a number or combination of factors ranging from the treatable to the terminal. Some no doubt have experienced a tragedy that embittered their hearts against the Almighty. Others may have had one too many encounters with pseudo-saints or toxic churches. Still more may simply be in the camp of the unelect.

There is an onus on the child of God to shine their light and sharpen their apologetic. I say this with the following presuppositions. We can lead no one to Christ, this is the purview of the Father working in hand with the Spirit. In the shadow of this fact, the child of God is commanded by the Christ to "Let their light so shine...", and by St. Peter to "Give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have..." As we do this, one of two events will happen: we will be used be the Father as channels of HIS salvific grace, or we'll be used by the Father as witnesses for the prosecution on that great and terrible day. In either case, it's God, not us.

Considering every atheist to be part of the lumpen proletariat of the unelect is spiritually lazy and wrong. C'mon guys, you know who you are. That line of reasoning has misrepresented the true character of Reformed Theology for way too long. We can't read the hearts of men. Heck, the saint is barely cognizant of their own heart. Without the poking of the Spirit, we'd be completely clueless.

Grist for your mill... Pax Deus