A plea to understand and act!

Recently, a letter came to me from one of my former apologetics students. He was a very good student who went on to do an extremely successful work as a campus evangelist at a major university known for its high level academics in mid-America. Some years ago, when the militant British atheist, Richard Dawkins, came to lecture at this university, my student had the opportunity to personally and publicly question Dawkins concerning a statement that he (Dawkins) perhaps wishes he had never placed in print. Dawkins wrote, “I am not advocating a morality based on evolution. . . . I am not saying how we humans ought to behave. . . . My own feeling is that a human society based simply on the gene’s law of ruthless selfishness would be a very nasty society in which to live” (The Selfish Gene 2-3). As Dawkins often seems accustomed to do, in condescending fashion he refused to face up to the inconsistency of his materialistic explanation of human life. Given the atheistic explanation, there is no objective ground for stating that anyone “ought” to do anything. Such is the obvious error of atheism and agnosticism! In his recent letter, my former student was not ultimately concerned with the obvious growing influence of atheism in America on a university campus. However, writing as a deeply concerned parent, he is alarmed at the challenge skeptical thought is presenting to much younger people today, like his daughters (ages 13 and 16) who are in Middle School and High School respectively. With deep concern for the moral and spiritual welfare of his precious daughters he wrote: . . . .I am enclosing some recent literature [that] attests to the aggressive nature of atheism in our culture. It does not come as a surprise, but I am reminded of the relevancy of your work . . . . My 16 year-old daughter is in AP [Advanced Placement] Honors Biology as a junior in High School. . . . [H]er extensive Biology book . . . presents evolution as a “core value” for understanding life . . . . Also enclosed is a mailing [my daughter] received as a “benefit” of being in the Science Club, and Science Fair, [for] which “benefit” [I] paid $20. . . . Along with [this] subscription to the heavily biased Scientific American [my daughter] was solicited by Skeptical Inquirer. The presentation of their work and materials was very professionally done, on glossy full-color paper, complete with pictures of Einstein and Darwin to appeal to the smart, young AP Biology students. What the Biology text did not do in an attempt to be non-biased toward religion by taking a less aggressive approach this publication [Skeptical Inquirer] will do by putting a dagger into the heart of those who still cling to their faith. . . . May these examples of frontal assault on faith serve to fuel your fire today as they do mine. If we wait until High School to teach apologetics and the fallacy of evolution, it is too late! They are beating us to the punch, and at a much younger age than 16 years! The above letter is a powerful reminder of how Christian faith is under assault in our culture. However, the attack on faith is not only being made against adults, but children and grandchildren are also being hit hard through skeptical education, entertainment, and media. Apologetics (cf. 1 Peter 3:15; 2 Corinthians 10:3-5) is the answer! Warren Christian Apologetics Center exists to help young and older apply this answer. Share the news of WCAC with others. Share this Newsletter. Direct others to www.warrenapologeticscenter.org. Pray for us. Send the Warren Center your tax-deductible contributions. Help us build this informational center to arm our children, grandchildren, and generations to come with assurance of the existence of God, the divine origin of the Bible, and the deity of Jesus Christ! Charles C. Pugh III Director