Thinking about Richard Dawkins being party to The Scandal of The New Atheism reminds me that in less than a couple of weeks we have the Women’s World Day of Prayer, an ecumenical movement. Held annually on the first Friday in March, “The service is written by a different country each year and that country then becomes the focus of the world’s prayers on the day itself”. All the material for this service - which will be used by Christians around the world - is prepared by Christian women from P. N.G. This year in Weston-super-Mare it is the turn of the Seventh-day Adventist church to host the event. The invited speaker for this service spent some years of her working life employed as a tutor at Adventist hospitals in P.N.G. and in the Solomon Islands. P.N.G. was one of the last places in the world to practice cannibalism.
This reminds me of a story that has some relevance to the Atheist V Christian debates. The story says that a Fijian chieftain was acting as a guide to a company of American tourists some years ago. A sceptic in the group remarked that it was unfortunate that missionaries had disturbed the former blissful ignorance of the islanders. The Chief’s eyes flashed, and, pointing to an old drum, a beheading block and large kettle, he said to the critic, “Do you see these relics of our cannibal days? If it had not been for the missionary and the Bible, that drum would call the savages to the feast, and YOU would be the meal.” I don’t know where this story originated - in my reading I don’t recall it being told by Richard Dawkins?
But here’s the point, the Bible claims to be able to change people’s lives and I have previously included several illustrations on this blog which shows it does just that. The Bible doesn’t just have a civilising influence but it also gives people hope; it gives meaning and direction to life. It tells us about God acting out His love in this fallen human world. Contrary to what I have read in The God Delusion places like P. N. G. are evidence of that. And that is what Matthew Parris reported in The Times from his revisiting Africa. The caption to his essay was titled,
“Missionaries, not aid money, are the solution to Africa’s biggest problem - the crushing passivity of the people’s mindset.”
Thinking about the Scandelous New Atheist’s Hate Campaign towards Christianity I can’t help thinking what a difference Matthew Parris’ honesty brings to the Atheist V Christan debate. Says Parris,
“Removing Christian evangelism from the African equation may leave the continent at the mercy of a malign fusion of Nike, the witch doctor, the mobile phone and the machete.”
“Now a confirmed atheist, I’ve become convinced of the enormous contribution that Christian evangelism makes in Africa: sharply distinct from the work of secular NGOs, government projects and international aid efforts. These alone will not do. Education and training alone will not do. In Africa Christianity changes people’s hearts. It brings a spiritual transformation. The rebirth is real. The change is good” (Italics mine).
Completely contrary to the New Atheist’s view of Christianity the reality is what Matthew Parris found on his visit to Africa that - Christianity is good.
