Is Atheism Dead?
Eric Metaxas, internationally renowned for his exquisitely researched and masterfully penned biographies of such figures as William Wilberforce, Martin Luther, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, has just delivered to us his most prodigious volume yet: The biography of God.
Is Atheism Dead?, released on October 19, deftly sets its crosshairs on the weak, failing heartbeat of atheistic tenets, formularies, and overall faithlessness in God with deadly accuracy. So much so, any remaining ethos of atheism has just quietly requested hospice be called in.
Using the full extents of science, archeology, and philosophy, Metaxas pulls the curtain back on freshly discovered treasure troves which not only prove there is a Creator and render the Bible as one of the most historically accurate ancient documents known to man — it leaves the reader jaw-dropped in reverential awe and wonder.
As few can, Eric pulls the reader along using the full arsenal of his craft. Transcendent prose, robust research, and heart-driven purpose all brilliantly converge to invite us to detach from the daily doldrums of distraction and enter a vibrant, eternal world. Is Atheism Dead? is a priceless gift that allows us to carefully unwrap and behold — the miracle of life.
This is essentially a buy one, get two free proposition. In the first act of this magnificent symphony, Metaxas presents us with a full-scale rendering of scientific certainties which leave the reader no choice but to ascribe authorship to a benevolent Designer.
Scientists and Astrophysicists alike have long heralded the singularity of the Big Bang, all the while hoping no one asked too many questions about the origin of life. In this book we learn; if matter and energy have no beginning and time is removed from the equation, scientists can kerfuffle their way to half-wittingly explain how life randomly detonated itself into being at some point.
But Metaxas slaps us awake to realize the same thing Einstein was reluctant to admit; once the expansion of the universe proved there was a definite starting point, i.e., the singularity, that fact emphatically snuffs out any possibility for a random origin-of-life hypothesis. Time was no longer on their side.
Eric plainly explains that no matter what you may understand about evolution, it is at best a problem-riddled theory which only pertains to the evolving of life and species. However, it provides bupkis as to how a universe devoid of life suddenly hatched anything remotely close to self-replicating living organisms.
He takes us back to our childhood when we learned something about an experiment in 1952 that purported to have created “life” from a handful of prebiotic elements using water and electricity. Conveniently, my sixth-grade teacher forgot to mention the only thing created that day was a handful of amino acids. Building blocks, yes. Life, no. Not even close.
Metaxas goes on to explain that since that breakthrough experiment, there has been no further progress made. Zilch. Imagine this: The probability of even a simple virus randomly forming in that primordial soup is akin to landing heads six million times in a row on a coin flip.
He had my attention at this point too! Now, let's take it one step further. Even if we give the scientists a massive head start by handing them a functional strand of DNA (as proposed by one of Eric’s heroes, Dr. James Tour) it is still entirely impossible to spontaneously spawn a single simple cell.
Maybe I’m getting too far into the primordial weeds here, but you see the conundrum beginning to form: Life could not and did not randomly commence. Life is a gift of immeasurable worth and following the science leads us to only one conclusion: There is a Giver of Life.
The other major movement in this first act are the Fine-Tuning arguments. These are certainly some of the most intriguing and engaging parts of the book. So much so, when notorious atheist, Christopher Hitchens, was asked what the best argument was for the existence of God, he didn’t hesitate. “It’s the fine-tuned argument…it’s not trivial, we all say that.”
Fine Tuning attempts to describe the minute tolerances and infinitesimal precision by which the universe, including our solar system, is held together. Without it, not only is life not possible but the material universe would not exist as it does.
When we are asked to consider things like: How did the four basic forces of the universe (gravitational, electromagnetic, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear) simultaneously instantiate themselves to allow matter to organize, the only response is: Next question, please.
The second act in this symphonic celebration deals specifically with Biblical Archeology. To be honest, after absorbing the overwhelming magnificence of Part I, I wondered if Middle Eastern excavations would hold my interest. Surprisingly and without a doubt, it became an even more fascinating part of the book.
If I rented a backhoe and hired a team of archeologists to get to work here in my hometown in New England, I am quite certain that once we destroyed the sewer system and sifted our way through some old glassware and scraps, we could then dig for years and never find anything but dirt and rocks.
But in the Middle East, particularly in Israel, there are remnants of civilization after civilization — stacked atop one another.
While Christians believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, few have the spiritual savvy nor the literary prowess to rebuff its critics. Critics have long bloviated that the Owners Manual is nothing more than a collection of disparate, unsubstantiated myths, fables, and fairy tales.
The work Metaxas has done in Is Atheism Dead? now hands every Christian a plethora of historic facts and findings which prove the Bible is a historically accurate document. This means the myths are factual narratives, the fables are rules for life and the fairy tales are historically established stories we can learn from.
We learn that while the Dead Sea Scrolls remain one of the most remarkable findings in human history, did you also know that Hezekiah’s Tunnel was found? Or, that the foundations of the miracle-giving waters of the Pool of Siloam were found? How about the silver scrolls of Hinnom?
Best yet, we learn with absolute certainty that there was a city named Sodom, just where the Bible describes. And, it was instantaneously destroyed with catastrophically high heat — just as the Bible describes.
Why aren’t these stories leading the top of each hour on our corporate cable news outlets? This is a question worth asking yourself when you pay your cable bill next month.
The final crescendo of this three-part orchestration examines the various philosophies of atheism head-on. If you are a simple person like me, it’s possible you did not spend a decade of your scholastic years reading the likes of Sartre, Flew, and Camus. Thanks to Is Atheism Dead?, you will now be able to speak as though you did.
Metaxas starts with a flock of the most influential atheists of our day. He names them, The Four Horsemen; Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens, Daniel Dennett, and Sam Harris. (I use the term “Flock” purposely because once you read this section, you will come to find these are not great minds, but bird brains).
Dennet is barely mentioned in the book and of the four, I am most familiar with Sam Harris. His stoic, sleepy dark brand of intellectualism runs itself dry after a brief foray. No doubt, Metaxas saw no reason to grapple much with these two horses.
And while Dawkins gets plenty of airtime and is quite exposed in this book, Eric chooses his caliber to mostly hunt for Hitchens. And rightly so. Not only have they personally debated, but Christopher made a name and living for himself as the disheveled, rude, cantankerous curmudgeon who openly despised anyone who espoused the faintest belief in God.
Once again, Metaxas takes his time to lift the cushions of this outdated atheist's couch to reveal the stale piles of cookie crumbs and the worthless scattering of lost change. This is a couch that has not enjoyed fresh reupholstery for the past fifty years, and it’s time to hoist it to the dump.
I will make a brave prediction: As seismic as the response to Bonhoeffer was, I genuinely see a pathway for Is Atheism Dead? to tectonically surpass Bonhoeffer in both reach and effectiveness.
Why? The Bonhoeffer work is a historic recount of prophetic proportions with urgent warnings for all to shudder at and heed. Is Atheism Dead? is not so much a warning but rather, it is the answer.
This is the answer that strips the atheism mongers of their dimming powers and equips the believer to defeat the enemy Dietrich gave his life to defeat.
This is the book everyone must read. Now.
