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Four thoughts on the first atheist church

 
Carl Laferton | 6 Feb 2013

Britain has its first atheist church.

It’s in north London, drew over 300, erm, worshippers last Sunday, and offers the chance to sing songs like Queen’s Don’t Stop Me Now and Stevie Wonder’s Superstition.

And the “Sunday Assembly” has its own mantra, too: “Live better, help often, wonder more”.

Here are four thoughts, and then over to you for yours in the Comments section:

1. Everyone is religious. We long to belong to a community of fellow believers, with a code for living, and a purpose for our lives. Romans 1 v 25 tells us that humans are wired to worship something—it will either be the Creator, or created things, but it will be something.

2. It’s interesting that the theme for the meeting was “wonder”, and included a two minute silent reflection on the miracle of life. Presumably, no one reflected on the reality of death, the tragedy of abortion, the millions who live in abject poverty every day of their short lives, or the brokenness that sooner or later enters all our lives. Without God in the picture, we either have to ignore the reality of the brokenness of the world, or despair at it. We cannot hold both the beauty and the brokenness together. Only the Bible, with its explanation of creation and fallenness, does this.

3. We’re often told that people quite like Jesus, but just don’t do church. Here are 300 people who do do church, and don’t like Jesus! Perhaps it’s that people like their version of Jesus (teacher, healer, nice guy, loving and affirming, non-existent, take your pick); the reason they don’t like church is because church challenges their comfortable Christ.

4. Non-Christians often accuse Christians of being hypocrites. The observation is frequently well made—we are saved but we are sinners, and so we will find ourselves doing what we say is wrong, know is wrong, and wish we didn’t do (Romans 7 v 18-19). But perhaps it’s time to gently start pointing out to atheists that they need to be consistent with their beliefs, too.

  • Live better? How do I do that (your guess is as good as mine)? And why ought I to do that? What if I don’t want to?
  • Help often? Help who (why should it be anyone more than myself)? When, and how much? How do I know how to help someone who is hurting, who is desperate, who is despairing?
  • Wonder more. What at? This is all just random atoms, constantly reassembling. There’s no wonder here, just the pitiless operation of impersonal laws. Since beauty is a value judgment which cannot be scientifically proven, I will fall foul of Richard Dawkins if I stop to marvel at beauty (although Richard Dawkins falls foul of Richard Dawkins here, too).

Moral imperatives; the notion of beauty and rightness; the idea of purpose; all these require there to be God. So when atheists talk of these things, they are like someone who argues there is no air while breathing it in. An atheist gathering that was being consistent with its beliefs would say: Live how you want… help yourself… there’s nothing to wonder at (unless you find pointlessness wonderful).

Of course, none of us want to live like that. We want to live in God’s world, believing in the notion of beauty, relying on the reality of right and wrong, wondering at the complexity of creation and the miracle of life. It’s just that, by nature, we want to be able to do all this while rejecting God’s existence and worshipping something else. It’s called “suppressing the truth” about God while enjoying its benefits (Romans 1 v 18).

I’d love to sing Don’t Stop Me Now with 300 other people. But, since one day I will come to a stop, I’d rather choose to gather on Sunday with people who live, will die, and will live again by the mantra: “Live eternally, be helped by Jesus, wonder at His glory all your days”.

Anon

3:41 PM GMT on February 6th
Your argument is terrible.
Even without believing in God the priniciples of right and wrong are still valid...

Carl Laferton

4:05 PM GMT on February 6th
I'm sorry you don't like the argument! Thanks for posting so honestly. I'm intrigued that the principles of right and wrong are still valid if there is no God. Why are they? Who has the authority to say that there is right and wrong, and to say what is right and wrong? I'm assuming you wouldn't impose your particular view on everyone else. And I imagine you wouldn't want society to impose its view on everyone else (otherwise, in 1700s Britain, the transatlantic slave trade would not have been wrong). So if there is no God, and you say there is right and wrong and I say there isn't, on what basis do you tell me that your view beats mine? And if there is no God, and you decide to burn my house down because you think that's the right thing to do, who is to say it isn't? (Please don't burn my house down!)

Zanny

6:49 PM GMT on February 6th
As Christians, I think we can in a strange way take encouragement from the establishment of this atheist church - it proves that God is right to have a gathering of people at the heart of his plan because people desire fellowship. It should also be a challenge to us Christians to try (with God's help) to be better at doing church, to make our churches more attractive places to those on the outside so that we can help more people to become part of true churches.

Tim Muse

1:36 PM GMT on February 8th
Right on target and very insightful. Both Christians and atheists can learn from this post. Well done!

Tim McClymonds

4:02 AM GMT on February 9th
I would love to hear a reply by Anon. How is the argument terrible, other than Anon not liking the argument? How can there be absolute values without someone to authoritatively declare the absoluteness of those values? But if no one is in charge (i.e., no God), then everyone is in charge! And then might makes right! Since Hitler was stronger than the Jews, and Hitler felt the Jews were an evil to be extinguished, then it was right for Hitler to extinguish the Jews. But no atheist REALLY wants to admit to that, even though their system drives them to it in slippery slope fashion. Thus it is internally inconsistent for an atheistic system to seek to maintain principles of right and wrong! Because the bottom line is, who gets to decide what is right and what is wrong, when two people disagree? The stronger? The smarter? But how does strength or smartness impact rightness or wrongness in any real way? It doesn't, not if principles of right and wrong are possible even without God. The real answer is, no one decides, because no one inherently possesses any actual authority over others to decide right and wrong for them. All people are free before God; yet God is the Author of morality and all are subject to His laws, which if you follow them enable you to live a life of freedom from sin, and freedom to serve God and others.

Carl Laferton

Carl is Editorial Director at The Good Book Company and is a member of Grace Church Worcester Park, London. He is the best-selling author of The Garden, the Curtain and the Cross and God's Big Promises Bible Storybook, and also serves as series editor of the God's Word for You series. Before joining TGBC, he worked as a journalist and then as a teacher, and pastored a congregation in Hull. Carl is married to Lizzie, and they have two children. He studied history at Oxford University.