How should we respond to atheist
Richard Dawkins' 2018 visit to Christchurch?
A pdf has been prepared for you to share with your congregation. It is a PDF which can be printed front and back to A4, then cut in half for handouts. You are welcome to share this resource with anyone in NZ.
The main points:
Dawkins' visit creates an opportunity for Christians to have conversations about beliefs.
Let's pray that God will use this opportunity to draw people to himself as they consider different beliefs
It is very important that Christians communicate with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15) including on social media
Ongoing conversations are really important as people usually don’t change their minds in one conversation. So be a great listener and don't argue.
Keeping unity between Christians is really important. We need to respect differing views.
Having relationships is important: prayer, care, share - not just talk.
Sharing God's stories and testimonies is important for people to understand the Christian perspective, we can't just rebut Dawkins views.
So what are we going to do?
Pray, pray and pray some more.
A discussion is going to be hosted on campus soon after the event.
People are going to write letters to the editor.
We encourage those on social media to respectfully converse.
Some will attend the event to learn what the current arguments are.
Atheism Needs New PR
Thoughts from Bruce Fraser, after attending the 2018 Dawkins Event.
Bruce is part of the Network Steering Team and works for Thinking Matters.
If atheism is to survive as a worldview, it needs fresh, thoughtful representatives to become the new public face of the movement.
Richard Dawkins has solid credentials as an evolutionary biologist. He spoke eloquently (helped by that British accent no doubt) about evolution and the history of its proponents, the likelihood of alien life in the universe, the possibility of man’s consciousness leaving his body behind and the origin of the Universe. He had some interesting insights into some of the criticisms of evolutionary theory that warrant further investigation.
I discovered that it’s not just religion that he rails against, but any belief for which he believes there is no evidence. In that regard, I find agreement with him. I too want to follow the evidence and believe what is true, not just what makes me feel good.
During his presentation, there were a number of barbs pointed directly at Christians. Speaking about Charles Darwin’s initial reluctance to make his ideas known, he suggested Darwin may have thought the following, “We intellectuals know that there is no God.” Dawkins goes on to say: “Darwin made it possible to be an intellectually fulfilled atheist. Religion was about certainty. Science was about uncertainty. We have no cause for certainty in our thinking.”
Later, he directly addressed the reasons he is so against Christianity. His famous quote about the nature of God was read by the moderator. Dawkins’ replied “I do rather indulge in understatement”. He pointed to the story from Judges chapter 11 about Jephthah’s rash promise to sacrifice the first thing to come out his door to greet him upon winning a decisive battle. Dawkins wondered aloud why God didn’t spare Jephthah’s daughter as he had Abraham’s son. This was perhaps his strongest point against Christianity. What are we to make of this story? What lesson is it meant to convey? I have my ideas, and you may have yours, but are we crystal clear on God’s thoughts about Jephthah? I don’t think we are, and we need to be for the sake of God’s kingdom.
Sadly, that was the last of the well defended attacks on Christianity. Most of his points were made after showing some cringe-worthy videos of Christians behaving in a less than stellar manner. One video shows a well-known evangelist presenting the banana as “the evolutionists’ nightmare”. A very brief search on the internet confirmed that this video was meant to be satirical but when ripped from its context, it was utterly laughable. Another video showed an American televangelist telling Dawkins not to be arrogant in such a condescending tone that the irony was apparent to all.
But where were the videos of his interactions with top Christian thinkers? Thinkers such as John Lennox whom he has debated twice or Francis Collins, a well-known evolutionary biologist, also a very thoughtful Christian. These were sadly missing. Richard Dawkins was keen to present the worst arguments for Christianity and then knock them down rather than engaging with the best and brightest minds in thoughtful dialogue. The enthusiastic applause of his supporters caused me to realize that many followers are not thinking carefully on these subjects.
Let us not fall into that trap. Let’s present the best arguments and engage with those. There are tough issues that we all must confront, some of them doubt-inducing, but we mustn’t shy away. God's truth will be made known to those willing to listen. Let's engage thoughtfully, with gentleness and respect with those who believe differently, and trust God to work in the hearts of those whom he is calling to himself. It is for him that we engage with prominent scientists such as Richard Dawkins. We continue to pray for his salvation even as we contend with the arguments. Let's ensure Christ has the best PR we can put forward. He deserves our best.
Discussion on Campus
On the Monday following Richard Dawkin’s visit to Christchurch, a number of Christian groups, together with the Philosophy Society gathered at the University of Canterbury to have a thoughtful discussion on the topics raised by Dawkins. There were over 210 students and faculty who attended and saw what a thoughtful and respectful dialogue between people of different beliefs can look like. We discussed how to disagree well, the value of science, the origin of values, the problem of suffering, and various approaches to promoting dialogue across faith groups. We were very encouraged by the enthusiastic response that we can and should carry on more discussions like this.