 
 
 
                            PITY THE POOR ATHEIST!
 
        There are some people who say they are atheists but hardly know what
   the word means!  We have in mind the person who has reached that position
   as a result of careful thought and deliberation.  In our view he is a
   person to be greatly pitied.
 
        Think of the tremendous leap of faith he must have taken when he
   concluded that all that goes to make up this incredible universe just
   happened by blind chance.  Design everywhere, but no Designer.
   Inflexible laws, but no Law-maker!
 
        Or think of the agonizing mental struggle he must have had
   concerning the beginnings of this universe.  Have the elements which
   compose it always been, or did they have a beginning?  If it had a
   beginning where did they come from?  If they have always been we give to
   senseless matter the attribute which Christians give to God - He is
   eternal, and for everlasting.
 
        And for the courage it must have taken to discredit the Bible.  "In
   the beginning God created the heaven and the earth" (Gen. 1:1).  If that
   statement is false, and there is no God, then the whole of the Bible
   becomes a tragic hoax.  The book which has been the inspiration and
   comfort of untold millions is just a collection of myths and pious
   superstitions.  Why read at funerals the sweet 23rd Psalm if there is no
   Lord to be our Shepherd, and no heavenly home to which we can aspire?
 
        And then the confidence in one's own judgment that he is right, and
   the millions of others who believe in God are hopelessly wrong.  Some of
   the noblest and keenest minds have been humble believers, but if there be
   no God, then with the rest of us, they were poor deluded fools.
 
        And then, finally, the atheist deliberately condemns himself to a
   life with no invisible means of support!  He must face the trials and
   challenges of life alone, even the greatest of all challenges we call
   death.
 
        Yes, the atheist takes a tremendous gamble.  If he is right, and he
   will die like a dog, all will be well.  But say he is wrong, and there is
   a God with whom he must reckon - what then?  Pity the poor atheist,
   better still, pray for him!
 
        QUESTION
      In the long run, is there much difference between the out and out
   atheist, and the man who says he believes in God and yet spends his life
   ignoring Him?  Atheist or not, we all need not only to believe in God,
   but in the Lord Jesus Christ, and the only Mediator between God and man.
 
                                        - The Herald of Hope
 
                              THE GOSPEL STANDARD
                            The Peoples Gospel Hour
                   Box 1660, Halifax, N.S., Canada  B3J 3A1
 


