Real Bible Study

A student editor or contributor wrote the following piece published in the school newspaper, The Cass Technician, Volume 51, no. 4, page two, December 12, 1972:

BLESSED BE THE ATHEIST by Sullecram

It is bewildering that a vast majority of people continually indulge in the infinite fantasy of believing in God.

Despite the fact that the greatest teachers of mankind have refuted the existence of a God, the majority of people still persist in clinging to the autristic notion that such a phenomena really does exist.

This situation is ironic simply because one has only to apply the smallest amount of reason and openmindedness to the situation to conclude otherwise.

First of all, it is evident that many people fail to realize that their belief in God is partly based on historical conditioning. This historical conditioning resulted after mankind’s successful attempt at creating an omniscient and omnipotent power that would give meaning and purpose to their lives. In other words, early mankind –because of its failure to comprehend the universe and predict the future—found it necessary to create a God that would explain the complicated world and at the same time, serve as a symbol of his highest values and most fervent hopes.

As a result, many leaders of societies have advantageously used the concept of God as a means of coercion when more force would not suffice. The Religious Crusades serve as an excellent example of the idea.

On the other hand, when force alone is sufficient to provoke change, the concept of God is no longer necessary and therefore it is deleted. The communist and Nazi regimes are good examples in defense of this statement.

Sometimes the concept of God is even used indirectly as the rationalization of a terrible injustice that has been perpetrated on a group of people. This occurred when white people enslaved black people during the period of slavery in early America.

The point is this: God is a changing concept which fluctuates whenever it is politically expedient or socially desirable.

As soon as mankind realizes his potential for perfection and strives to achieve that perfection, then and only then will his ultimate destiny of a utopian society exist. But first we must break the bonds of dependence and alien worship. We must believe in ourselves rather than a God.

My Comment:

I wrote a “Letter to the Editor” in response to this article. I have been searching for a copy of that letter, which was subsequently published in the school newspaper.

I do remember that I suggested that the atheists might like to debate this subject with members of the Cass Technical High School Bible Discussion Club. Or, perhaps it was the atheists who challenged the Bible Discussion Club members to a debate on this subject.

I do  remember that in my letter I included a quotation from Blaise Pascal that said “There is light enough for those whose wish is to see, and darkness enough for those of the opposite disposition.”

The debate was held in the office of the Cass Technician. I observed that debate, but did not coach the Bible Discussion Club participants ahead of time. I did not contribute any comment during or after the debate itself. I sat utterly amazed at the debating skill of the Bible Discussion Club debaters. The young men and women were professional yet very energetic in their responses to the questions and challenges put forward by the atheists.

I recall that the atheists argued that since God predestines everything that happens, they could not be saved since there is no way they could know ahead of time that God had predestined them to salvation. The Bible Club participants answered that challenge effectively and in short order!

The atheists were good sports, and wrote a subsequent article admitting they had lost the debate because they were not sufficiently prepared. Though they planned to have a follow-up debate, no such debate ever took place.

Why do I bring up this debate from 50 years ago? The atheists are still among us and are growing in number, even though the best evidence is still against them.

The atheists’ published response:

TITLE:  Let Men Be Free:  Men are prisoners when they believe in God

AUTHOR:  Marcellus Richie

SOURCE:  The Cass Technician, January 23, 1973, p. 12.

As a result of a request made by the sponsor of the Bible Club, Mr. Smith, the Cass Technician sponsored a debate on religion.  Mr. Smith requested the debate because of an article which appeared in the December 12th issue of the Technician.  The debate proved to be somewhat unrewarding and one-sided due to the lack of preparation on the part of the atheists.

So, for the sake of truth, it is now the atheists’ prerogative to restate their position and to put forth more precise, relevant and provocative questions and also to disprove without a doubt, the existence of a God.  Therefore I publicly challenge the Bible Club to a debate that will be held sometime in early March in room 609.

As a prelude to the debate the atheist position shall be established once more and in more detail.

We shall start by responding to a few letters that were received as a result of the article.

First of all, most of the letters received lack any semblance to logical reasoning or intellectual depth and they also fail to get at the real gist of the issue which is the question of the worth and validity of religion and God.  One of the supposed reasons for validity of the God concept is the theory that if God didn’t exist, then the majority of people wouldn’t believe in him as they now do.  But one must acknowledge the fact that Christianity hasn’t always been the dominant religion and therefore, according to this game of numbers, would have once been invalid.

Another, somewhat different but no less idiotic pose taken by the Christian opposition, including the Michigan Chronicle columnist Steve Holsey who, incidentally, is most cordially invited to attend the upcoming religious debate, is the position that the author of the article should have been smart enough not to express his opinion on the subject.  What Mr. Holsey and others fail to understand is the motivation behind the content of the article.  It is most convincing that religion is a stumbling on the path toward true happiness and complete freedom.

As Robert Ingersoll once wrote:

“Man should cease to expect any aid from any supernatural source.  By this time he should be satisfied that worship has not created wealth, and that prosperity is not the child of prayer.  He should know that the supernatural has not succored the oppressed, clothed the naked, fed the hungry, shielded the innocent, stayed the pestilence or freed the slave.

“Being satisfied the supernatural does not exist, man should turn his entire attention to the affairs of this world, to the facts in nature.”

But the most unfounded reason given in defense of the God concept is the so-called word of God—the Bible.  To me, the Bible is the most incoherent, inconsistent and barbaric book ever read by a large number of people.  And the fact that people can put trust in such an erratic self-contradictory book explains why the world is in its present condition.

The Christians, for example, claim that Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible.  This is undeniably false as the non-theistic side shall prove at the next debate.

We also shall prove the mythology of Jesus Christ and other inaccurate assumptions and lies that are inherent in the supposed word of God.  We shall prove, along with an adult atheist, that the Bible and also books of other religions are uninspired by any God.

But it’s very important that we realize that the object of the debate will be to reach a level of under‑standing and good feelings.

The question of atheism and theism is trivial when compared to the problems of hunger, poverty and war.

To quote Erich Fromm:

Whether we are religionists or not, whether we believe in the necessity for a new religion or in a religion of no religion or in the continuation of the Judaeo-Christian tradition, inasmuch as we are concerned with the essence and not with the shell, with the experience and not with the word, with man and not with the church, we can unite in firm negation of idolatry and find perhaps more of a common faith in this negation than in any affirmative statements about God.  Certainly we shall find more of humility and of brotherly love.

__________________________
Followup note by Mr. J. Smith:

Although the forthcoming debate was announced and even publicized in a subsequent issue of the Cass Technician (of Monday, February 26, 1973, page 5) as scheduled to be held on March 21, 1973, the debate never took place.  The atheists were unable to prepare a case.  The announcement read:

…..A discussion on ATHEISM will be held on March 21 in room 609.  All students, faculty and friends are welcome.

I did write a letter on behalf of the members of the Bible Discussion Club stating the lines of evidence which convinced us that the Bible is true and that God does exist.  The letter was published in the Cass Technician for Monday, June 4, 1973, page 4, and was titled “For Those Who Wish To See.”  The title is derived from a quotation by Pascal which I included in the letter.

Closing Comment:

It should be obvious to all Bible-believing Christians who read this post that it is very important to teach our young people more than just Bible stories. We must teach them apologetics and hermeneutics as well. I have placed notes on these subjects in my book, just newly released, The New Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, as well as in The Ultimate Cross Reference Treasury.