Probably No God?

Oxford professor and noted proponent of atheism Richard Dawkins is among a number of atheists working to spread their creed. Donations have been raised to place posters on 30 London buses with this uplifting message: “There’s probably no God, so stop worrying and enjoy your life.” The ads are scheduled to run for four weeks in January, but may run longer.

“Probably no God?”

Doesn’t exactly ring with conviction, does it? Yet readers of Dawkins’ book The God Delusion will recall that Dawkins comes to the conclusion that it is extremely improbable that God exists. He never says God absolutely does not exist; only that he probably does not exist.

Dawkins is quoted by FoxNews.com (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,443705,00.html) as saying, with his trademark vitriol familiar to those who have read his book, “This campaign to put alternative slogans on London buses will make people think — and thinking is anathema to religion.”

Imagine if the Christian message were, “Christ was crucified and is probably risen.” Not exactly a message to change the world, is it? But the Christian gospel proclaims not a probability, but a certainty. After Peter preaches the risen Christ on the Day of Pentecost, he declares,

Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. (Acts 2:36)

The gospel is not a possibility to ponder, but a reality to live and die for.

As people enter eternity, they do not want to go clinging to a probability, especially when part of the risk is that God the Judge awaits them. As Christians, we die with certain hope: Christ entered the grave and came out victorious, breaking the power of sin and death over those who believe in him. He has satisfied by his own death the judgment of God against our sin. When I die, I do not want to cling to probabilities—the atheist’s hope that God will not be there to meet him—but to certainties: the certainty of a risen Christ who has secured heaven for me.

The banner may make people think, but not in the way Dawkins foresees. It could make them wonder, “Why is the atheist message so wishy-washy?”

Maybe the atheists are not entirely convinced themselves?

In God We Trust

Anyone paying attention at all knows that our economy is in a bad way. The government is bailing out businesses and banks, the stock market is tanking, and employers are talking (and implementing) layoffs. We are hearing a lot of comparisons to 1929 and the 1930’s.

That is why it is important, in the midst of these ominous rumblings, to remember the admonition Paul wrote to Timothy:

As for the rich in the present age, charge them not to be haughty, not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

The key phrase here: …not to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God….

When things are going well, it is easy to begin to trust, if only subtly, in our riches. The down times remind us to set our hopes on God. In so far as they do that, they do us a great service.

In case we have forgotten or overlooked Paul’s admonition, our own money helpfully reminds us, “In God We Trust.”