Is the Atheist My Neighbor?: Rethinking Christian Attitudes Toward Atheism

Do atheists hate God? Many Christians seem to think so. For the last three centuries Christians have widely assumed that atheism is always a result of a rebellious sinful rejection of God. According to this view at some level atheists really do know there is a God but they sinfully suppress this knowledge because they want to live independently of God. But what if that is not correct? What if some folks are atheists not because theyre sinful and foolish but because theyve thought hard theyve looked carefully and they have simply not found God? What if the common Christian assumptions about atheism are little more than an indefensible prejudice? What if the atheist really is our neighbor? There are some whose way of following the first of the great commandments has in the matter of nonbelief meant violating the second. In this brief and lively but remarkably full and acute discussion Rauser shows the way out of this problem. Impressively fair and writing not perfunctorily but with feeling he has found a way to express genuine neighborliness both to atheists like me and to Christians who struggle to reconcile love and loyalty. --J. L. Schellenberg Professor of Philosophy Mount Saint Vincent University author of Divine Hiddenness and Human Reason In our post-Christian--and increasingly post-theist--western culture we need voices like Rausers that repudiate simplistic belligerent and belittling Christian rhetoric and motivate us to think more critically and humbly about being good neighbors--good world citizens--as we walk the path of Christian faith. I will be recommending this book to many who seek better ways to live among others--and for those who are honest enough to struggle with their own inner atheist. --Peter Enns Abram S. Clemens Professor of Biblical Studies Eastern University author of The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture has Made Us Unable to Read it. When I first heard about this book I said the same thing I do every time Randal comes out with a new book What? Hes written another book? But . . . I have to admit that if I want anyone speaking to Christians on behalf of atheists or to atheists on behalf of Christians its Randal. This book proves once again how capable he is of bridging such cultural divides. --Kevin Miller director of Hellbound? Randal Rauser is Professor of Historical Theology at Taylor Seminary in Edmonton Alberta. He is the author of many books including The Swedish Atheist the Scuba Diver and Other Apologetic Rabbit Trails (2012) and Youre Not as Crazy as I Think: Dialogue in a World of Loud Voices and Hardened Opinions (2011). Rauser blogs and podcasts as The Tentative Apologist at randalrauser.com.