Christian Research Journal Reads Episode 155: Why People Stop Believing

This is Episode 155 of Christian Research Journal Reads. This is an audio version of the CHRISTIAN RESEARCH JOURNAL article, “Why People Stop Believing” by Paul Chamberlain. https://www.equip.org/article/why-people-stop-believing/

This article first appeared in the Christian Research Journal, volume 41, number 4 (2018).It was also accompanied by Postmodern Realities Episode 081: Why People Stop Believing.

This podcast presents audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. As the flagship publication of the Christian Research Institute, the Journal seeks to equip followers of Christ to think and to live Christianly—to exercise truth and experience life. Truth, especially essential Christian doctrine, forms the basis for how we live our lives in Christ. As the apostle Paul instructed Timothy in 1 Tim. 4:16, “Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”The Christian Research Journal enjoyed a print incarnation of almost 45 years. Now exclusively an online publication, the Journal consists of thousands of free articles. We hope that through these audio articles you are not only equipped to proclaim and defend your faith but that as a disciple you also draw closer to Christ in your walk with Him.  You can find the written version of each article that is an episode of Christian Research Journal Reads at the website of the Christian Research Institute, equip.org. All Christian Research Journal articles at equip.org are completely free and do not require a subscription and are not under a paywall.All episodes will be available at the following podcast platforms with more being added daily! You can help spread the word about this new podcast by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on and telling others!You can view off our Website at the at this link and off our Journal main page. 



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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
This is episode one hundred and fifty five of the
Christian Research Journal Reads podcast, Why People Stop Believing? By
Paul Chamberlain. This article first appeared in the print edition
of the Christian Research Journal, Volume forty one, number four
in twenty eighteen. The Christian Research Journal Reads Podcast presents

(00:31):
audio versions of Christian Research Journal articles. To read the
full text of this article and its documentation, please go
to equip dot org. That's e qu ip dot rg.

Speaker 2 (00:50):
Why People Stop Believing. This article is by Paul Chamberlain
and is read by an automated voice. There are people
challenging Christianity today whose identities may surprise us. They once
called themselves Christians, and they include seminary graduates, former pastors
and pastors, children, theologians, chaplains, and some who were preparing

(01:12):
for Christian ministry. I experienced this firsthand some time ago
when I participated in a debate at an atheist convention.
Hundreds of atheists were therefrom around the world, and as
the evening progressed, it became clear that many were not
merely atheists, but former Christians who had been set free
from the shackles of religion. Their new found freedom was

(01:33):
in fact a cause of celebration. These critics know their
Bibles and theology better than most Christians. Furthermore, they often
are granted special credibility in our culture because, unlike most
other critics, they were once part of the group they
are now critiquing. Some are now giving leadership to various
atheists and skeptic organizations and are unabashedly calling on Christians

(01:56):
to join them. Judging by the testimonials on their way websites,
more than a few are following them out of Christianity.
Others occupy academic posts, from which they articulate the reasons,
sometimes in best selling books, that compel them to reject Christianity.
Why do people leave the faith? And how should we
engage them? Their reasons for leaving are as varied as

(02:19):
the people themselves allow me to mention, just for that
are cited commonly One christianities perceive restriction on the freedom
to reason. Many who leave have concluded that Christianity by
its very nature prevents honest, rational thinking and inquiry. While
Christians may claim to value evidence, their views on every

(02:40):
issue must conform to the Bible. They are handed the
truth in advance, and anything that disagrees must be set
aside or reinterpreted. If you want to think for yourself
and no longer be told what to believe, the only
solution is to throw off the shackles of religion. This
theme resonates and is often the cause of great celebration.
One need only look at the names given to the

(03:02):
organizations such people either start or join once they leave.
The Faith, Free Thought Society, Project Reason, and the Center
for Inquiry, to name a few. How can we engage
this concern. First, we should point out that this charge
against Christianity is hard to square with the fact that
many of the world's greatest intellectuals and thinkers have been

(03:23):
and continue to be Christians. The list is long and
includes names such as Francis Collins, world renowned scientists and
head of the Human Genome Project, Alan plantinga widely respected
philosopher and former president of the American Philosophical Association, John Lennox,
professor of mathematics at Oxford University, and Alan Sandidge, one

(03:46):
of the world's greatest living astronomers until his death in
twenty ten. He got his start as a graduate assistant
of the famous astronomer Atwin Hubble Somehow, people like this
have found ways of carrying out serious rational thinking while
embracing Christianity. Having said that, we need to listen to
the experiences of those who have left and recognize the

(04:07):
possibility that their particular Christian tradition or church may indeed
have discouraged questioning. Perhaps it inappropriately elevated one or two
viewpoints on secondary teachings to the level of essential Christian
teaching and thus permitted no questioning of these viewpoints. We
then can acknowledge this and clarify what counts as essential

(04:28):
to Christian belief. Christian culture at its best is a
culture of questioning and thinking. The Borean Christians were commended
for doing this, and the result was that many came
to faith Acts seventeen eleven twelve. Furthermore, Christianity does not
call us to a moore evidence or reason. It stakes
its entire message on a historical moment, namely Jesus resurrection

(04:51):
from the dead, and then invites the world to investigate
it if it did not happen. Even Paul writes that
the whole thing is a false hope. One Corinthians, fifteen
seventeen nineteen. Third, let's acknowledge that Christianity is a worldview
and as such does exclude certain ideas. This, however, is
true of all world views, including atheistic naturalism, the newly

(05:15):
adopted position of many who have turned from Christianity by
moving to atheism. People do not walk away from all
restrictions on their thinking. They merely replace one set with another. Ironically,
as G. K. Chesterton pointed out in nineteen o eight,
on certain important issues, atheism actually turns out to be
more restrictive than Christianity. He knewsed about why the naturalist,

(05:39):
his term is materialist, denied all miracle reports. He did so,
said Chesterton, not because his viewpoint allowed him to deny them,
but because his very strict materialism did not permit him
to believe them regardless of the evidence. An atheist naturalist
has no choice but to disbelieve all reports of miracles

(06:00):
so long as he remains an atheist. Fourth To reject
Christianity or any other set of ideas because one finds
its teachings restrictive or unappealing is to play a dangerous game,
since it entirely ignores the question of truth. If Christianity's
claims turn out to be true, then it will not
matter that one finds them restrictive or unattractive any more

(06:23):
than if I find it restrictive to be told I
must follow the instructions on the medicine bottle, or the
meds may cause harm. Moreover, there appears to be a
double standard in abandoning beliefs because one finds them restrictive
while at the same time claiming to be pursuing truth.
Being appealing or unrestrictive are not tests of truth. Two

(06:44):
Personal disappointment with God and the Christian community. Imagine you
have experienced a personal failure and decide to come clean.
You go to your Christian friends to explain your situation,
hoping for mercy and grace, but instead find judgment. They
doubt your word and treat you like damaged goods. It
is not difficult to imagine the deep womb this could leave,

(07:06):
or how you might start doubting God's good nature or
even his existence. This is a real scenario for some
who have left the Christian community. We as Christians simply
do not have the best record here, either with our
own brothers and sisters or with others. One of my
students who interacts deeply with Mormon missionaries commended recently that

(07:27):
many of them report experiencing such unfriendliness, even hostility, from
Evangelical Christians day after day, that by the end of
their two year stint most have come to view Evangelicals
as a hostile group. Mormon missionaries with whom I have
spoken tell the same story as my student put it.
If Christians would simply love them, it would make it

(07:49):
easier for people like him to have productive conversations later.
We have an opportunity here to reach out and show
love and grace to others, and especially to those who
have chosen to leave the faith. Jesus instruction is to
put the shoe on the other foot and imagine what
we would want done to us if we were in
their shoes, and then do it. Matthew twenty two thirty nine.

(08:11):
Three Intellectual difficulties with Christianity. A number of vocal critics
who have moved from Christianity to atheism cite intellectual difficulties
with Christianity. The list of objections is long and includes
questions concerning the reliability of the New Testament, biblical morality,
the character of God, and scientific objections, to name a few.

(08:33):
In their minds, atheism has become a more intellectually tenable position.
It is prudent to ask right off whether the person
has examined the best, most thoughtful responses from Christian writers
to their specific troubling issues. Perhaps they have, but if not,
they are in the tenuous position of having concluded that
no good answers exist, while at the same time admitting

(08:55):
they have not read the best responses available. Have they
read authors like Paul Copan, Michael Lacoma, Gary Hapermus, Craig Blomberg,
Christopher Wright, Alistair McGrath, Alvin Plantinga, William Lane, Craig John Frame,
and others who have written helpful resources that target the
very issues that have caused some to leave. We also

(09:18):
should point out just how difficult atheism is to defend.
Bertrand Russell, one of history's most respected atheists, made it
clear that both atheists and theists claim to know something
significant about the universe. Neither is it a default position.
While neither position can be proven with logical certainty, atheism
has an often overlooked difficulty since it involves a universal negative.

(09:42):
It claims there is no God anywhere in or out
of the universe. Well beyond the thing science observes. That's
a claiming that is beyond the ability of any human
to know. At the very least, it is hard to
see how this position is more tenable than theism, which
provides answers to some of life's deepest questions. Why do
beings with consciousness, morality, and rationality exist? How did the

(10:05):
universe become so finely toned as most scientists of all
stripes believe it is, or more foundationally, why does anything
at all exist in the first place? Four Naturalism. Many
who have left the faith have come to believe that
an informed twenty first century outlook requires a naturalist stance
that rules out the possibility of miracles. Given how widespread

(10:29):
naturalism is in Western culture, this is not surprising. But
how can we engage such a person? I suggest we
simply ask how a naturalist can be sure that naturalism
is true. Of course, if it is true, then Christianity collapses,
since it would undermine much of the New Testament record
of Jesus life and teaching, including the claim that he

(10:50):
rose from the dead. It turns out, however, that naturalism
has a grave intrinsic weakness which British theologian and philosopher
Richard Swinburne explains this way, it is at least logically
possible that the way things behave depends on God or
some other supernatural agent, and he can alter this on
an isolated occasion while conserving the normal way things behave

(11:14):
on other occasions. That allows the logical possibility of a transgression, or,
as I shall call it, a violation of a law
of nature by a particular volition of the deity. Swinburne's
insight here is that so long as God is even
logically possible, miracles are also possible. This means that miracles

(11:34):
can be ruled out only if one has an airtight
argument for atheism, and even many atheists admit that such
an argument is hard to produce. Let's pray for those
who find it in their hearts to walk away from belief.
We may be given opportunities to befree or even engage them.

Speaker 1 (11:52):
Thank you for listening to another episode from the Christian
Research Journal Reads podcast, which provides audio articles of Christian
Research articles. If you go to equip dot org you
will find a brand new article for the Christian Research
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(12:13):
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(12:35):
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At equip dot org, you will also find a lot

(12:55):
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