Atheism is the disbelief or lack of belief in God or gods. It has been around for 100’s of years. So, what’s different about the New Atheism? These people, Richard Dawkins for example, aren’t content to coexist with people who believe in God – they believe Christianity should be eliminated. They mainly target fundamentalist Christians (especially ‘young creationists’) – those who believe the bible literally. New Atheists find it easy to make fun of people who discard science and think the world is only about 6000 years old.
The New Atheists think Christianity and science cannot go together but, here is a scientist – Dr. Francis S. Collins (geneticist and Director of the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, USA) – explaining why he believes in God: YouTube Dr. Collins
Here a couple of short samples from Dr. Andy Bannister, Director of the Solas Center for Public Christianity. First he talks about the Science vs. Religion issue. Here he talks about another atheist complaint about Christianity – Christianity is the cause of war.
New Atheist, Christopher Hitchens debates John Lennox about the existence and character of God. John Lennox, by the way, is Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford and an Emeritus Fellow in Mathematics and Philosophy of Science at Green Templeton College, Oxford University.
I guess we can’t go without hearing about evolution. The New Atheists believe the theory of evolution and Christianity don’t mix. Fundamentalist Christians may think so but, as a Christian who does believe in evolution, I know the New Atheists are wrong about this one. Here is one viewpoint on this issue based on the work of Dr. John Lennox.
There are, of course, other issues between atheists and Christians but some – like “Why is there suffering if there is a good God?” – are covered under other Current Issue pages. If you’re interested in talking more about any of these things, please leave a message.