Atheism is basically the belief that there is no God. People who subscribe to the intellectual perspective of atheism usually suggest that there is no "empirical evidence" to suggest the existence of a Supreme Deity. This of course is non-sense; but this thought process is described as "theoretical" atheism. Then you have what can be described as "practical" atheism. This is the category of atheism for which, believe it or not, many church-goers and professing Christians fall into. A practical atheist is not an individual who outright denies the existence of God or the presence of a Supreme Being or Higher Power. A practical atheist is an individual who verbally and mentally consents to the existence of God, but with their heart and lifestyle deny the fact that they actually believe in God. The bible says, "the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (Psalm 14). It's not what a person says with their mouth or in their mind, it's what they say in their heart; for out of the heart come the issues of life (Proverbs 4).
This is a pressing issue for the church because our witness is at stake. People don't really believe in the church, and as a result don't believe in the God of the church. Society gives mental and cultural assent to the existence of Jesus Christ, but will not acknowledge, let alone worship Him as God. This, my brothers and sisters, is Atheism. This is the issue also concerning Islam, because the belief of Islam outright refutes the Deity of Jesus Christ and the fact that He is the Son of God. This is why it has to be established in the Body of Christ that Jehovah and Allah are not the same God. Christians and Muslims do not worship the same God! To intermingle these faiths is practical atheism.
The church has to revitalize our faith and return to a true Belief in God. Not a belief in religion. Not a belief in denominations. Not a belief in theology. Not a belief in doctrine. A Belief in God. One of the things that will facilitate a renewed belief in God is to re-establish the belief that the Bible is the unadulterated Word of God. Sometimes academia and scholarship can mess up your faith. Too many seminaries have been successful in "watering down" the Word based upon exegetical analysis and scriptural hermeneutics. Regardless of what the scholars say and the findings of the original languages, The Bible is the Word of God. Which means if the Bible says it, according to my faith, that settles it! Now, you do have to put scripture in context, and revelation must come from the Holy Spirit (2Timothy 3). But we can't continue to "pick and choose" what we're going to believe and not believe according to God's Word. If we're going to believe in God, we must believe in His Word.
Lastly saints, if we're going to believe in God as opposed to being proponents of Practical Atheism, we have to believe in a Supernatural God. The mainstream church has so diminished the Supernatural Dimension of Jesus that we don't even expect Miracles anymore. The raising of the dead, the healing of the sick, the manifestation of creative miracles, is more of an aberration as opposed to the Expectation of the church. When we as Christians refuse to believe in a Miracle Working God, we're exercising Practical Atheism. May we say like the man whose son Jesus healed, "Help mine Unbelief" (Mark 9).
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