God’s Not Scared of New Atheism

Our Main Weapon

The power of God is irresistible and the best weapon of all—as it was for McHugh and many others like him.

Militant atheist John C. Wright, a philosopher and science-fiction writer was, in his own words, a former “champion of atheism.” But after a philosophical struggle, he begrudgingly prayed a prayer to the God he didn’t believe existed. Two days later, he had a heart attack.

He writes in an account of his conversion on his website, “My wife called someone from her church, which is a denomination that practices healing through prayer. My wife read a passage from their writings, and the pain vanished.”

Following his heart surgery, he says, “I grew aware of a spiritual dimension of reality of which I had hitherto been unaware. It was like a man born blind suddenly receiving sight.”

Then came three visions, various supernatural revelations, a meeting with Jesus and, later, answered prayers and miracles. The power of God soundly turned Wright around.

But not every atheist has Christian friends tapped into God’s power. What other avenues can lead them to God?

Philosophy’s Road

New Atheists boast of their rationalism, but when brave rationalists follow the evidence, it can lead to God. In fact, while God’s power brought Wright to his knees, it was rationalism that brought him to his droll prayer.

“To my surprise and alarm,” he says, “I found that, step by step, logic drove me to conclusions no modern philosophy shared, but only this ancient and (as I saw it then) corrupt and superstitious foolery called the church. Each time I followed the argument fearlessly where it led, it kept leading me, one remorseless rational step at a time, to a position the church had been maintaining for more than a thousand years. That haunted me.”

So he prayed, and God won.

It is worth noting the influence Christian apologist C.S. Lewis had on Wright and his slow movement toward the possibility of Christianity’s veracity. Himself once an atheist, Lewis’ simple style and brilliant grasp of the issues has influenced millions. His many best-selling books, including Mere Christianity and The Problem of Pain, are formidable tools.