Ravi Zacharias - The Real Face of Atheism

2004 by Ravi Zacharias

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

The Real Face of Atheism is the revised and updated edition of A Shattered Visage: The Real Face of Atheism (Grand Rapids: Baker Books, 1990).

Ebook edition created 2013

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ISBN 978-1-4412-0425-7

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To my dear friend
D.D. Davis,
who in life and
death demonstrated
to me more powerfully
than any argument could
that man shall not live by bread alone

C ONTENTS

A CKNOWLEDGMENTS

T here have been many who have helped me in getting this manuscript ready for publication. I would like to thank Drs. David Lalka, Norman Geisler, Ramesh Richard for their critiques and constructive input. In this revised edition I am deeply grateful to Danielle DuRant, my research assistant, who meticulously worked through every page to make this manuscript more complete, including developing study questions for each chapter. For all her hours spent behind a computer I am grateful to my executive assistant, Nancy Bevers. But most of all, no one has given up more nor had more of a share in this accomplishment than my wife, Margie. I cannot gainsay her hard work in helping me. Last, but not least, my children insist that they have paid the price, too, by sacrificing many hours of play with their father, and they are right. My affectionate thanks to them also.

P REFACE TO THE R EVISED E DITION

T he idea for the approach I have taken came following an address I gave to a group of scientists at the Bell Labs in Holmdel, New Jersey. I addressed the subject Why I Am Not an Atheist, a response to Bertrand Russells Why I Am Not a Christian . The most telling aspect of that afternoon was the nature of the questions that were raised following the address. None of the questions bespoke the technical or scientific expertise that the audience represented. Rather, they all involved the heart-searching questions of men and women in pursuit of meaning in life.

I have found these same questions asked time and again in a variety of settings. After the intellectual smokescreen is cleared away, it is the felt reality of lifes struggles within each individual that comes to the fore.

I NTRODUCTION

F ormer presidential candidate and governor Alfred E. Smith told of the occasion when he was a member of a fishing party somewhere in New England. Devotion to their faith led him and a few members of the party to roll out of bed early on Sunday morning to take in a church service. As they tiptoed past their serenely slumbering mates, one of his friends, walking close behind him, heard one half-slumbering fellow mutter, Wouldnt it be awful if it turned out they were right!

It is common for many in their spiritual journey to ponder the veracity of their beliefs. The realities of life, however, powerfully reinforce the viability of faith in God. Even atheists confess in their writings that they have pondered the possibility of theism. For some, it becomes a lingering concern. Others, through various processes of argumentation, feel protected and quite secure within their unbelief. Nevertheless, the jagged edges of reality keep cutting into their atheistic armor, rendering their philosophy very vulnerable. The existential undeniabilities of life find very few answers in a world that happened by accident. For those who are willing to seek earnestly the possibility of Gods existence, this book has been written.

It has been said that, if one does not know the facts, argument is to no avail, and if one does know the facts, argument is unnecessary. Like all epigrams, this one also runs the risk of overgeneralization. But it does so while pointing out a vital truth. Facts are indispensable to justify belief. And that is where a solution to the problem begins.

Bertrand Russell, who was no friend of religion and quite outspoken on such matters, argued heavily for the scientific outlook on life and described the scientific method. The first step, he said, consisted of observing the significant facts. But there, precisely, is a predicamentsignificant for what? There are an infinite number of facts out there that are in need of interpretation. How does one determine what is significant? Alfred E. Smith knew quite well that more was at stake than the privilege of sleeping in on Sunday morning. Rather, the question What if they are right? touches on the paradigm for all of life.

The selective process of fact finding, therefore, has not been easy. Communicating the Christian faith has become extremely complicated in our day. There are very few accepted beliefs any more. Never before has skepticism had such a brilliant halo around its head. There is a glory about not knowing. A high premium is placed on the absence of conviction, and open-mindedness has become synonymous with intellectual sophistication.

But forgotten is the charge by the late English writer G. K. Chesterton that an open mind, like an open mouth, does have a purpose: to close upon something solid. Otherwise, it could become like a city sewer, rejecting nothing.

Christian communication is further impeded by the expectations of a world progressing at a staggering pace in every field of study. It seems as though to deal in spiritual matters, the Christian has to be an authority on every other subject, failing which, he is branded escapist or unrealistic. Thus, science, philosophy, psychology, history, and virtually every other discipline affects religion. In a sense, this ought not to be surprising, because spiritual truth deals with the essence of life. For the theist, all truth is Gods truth, and truth cannot be in conflict with itself.

The unpopularity of holding to convictions, coupled with the tall demand that one be able to touch on all pertinent subjects with authority, make it easy to see that any endeavor to write about atheism will be feeble. Hence I have accepted the caution of one of my professors, who said that many a book will never be written because the author wanted it to be the last word on the subject. Knowing full well that this is neither the first nor the last word on the subject, my sincere hope is that the reader will recognize the importance of a book on the existence of God and seek the answer that can satisfy the mind and soul. Nothing is so valuable as the truth, and that is why Jesus said, If the truth shall set you free, you shall be free, indeed. May that freedom be found through these pages.