Eric Metaxas on why atheism is 'incompatible' with science, why the Church must 'wake up' and 'fight'
Eric Metaxas believes that culture is at a “paradigm-shifting moment,” with science and archeology increasingly pointing to the existence of God — and those opposed to Christianity aren’t “going to like it."
“We've all lived at a time when not only is the trend that science is pointing us away from God, but we've been living for over 100 years with the narrative that says, science is fundamentally at odds with faith, that reason is at odds with religion,” the Christian author, speaker and conservative radio host told The Christian Post.
“The one thing everybody kept saying — science is leading us away from religion. Ironically, in the last 50 years, precisely the opposite has happened. Science is leading us to God. It's big news."
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In his latest book, Is Atheism Dead? Metaxas uncovers new evidence and arguments against the idea of a Creatorless universe. He draws on the insights of top scientists and five scientific discoveries to prove that atheism is untenable.
“I am genuinely more excited about this book and about getting the information in this book out to people than I have ever been about any book I have written,” the New York native told CP.
One archeological discovery Metaxas said particularly intrigued him was the reported discovery of the biblical Sodom. Some scientists have speculated that a city known as Tall El-Hammam was destroyed by a meteor and could actually be the site of Sodom, the ancient biblical city destroyed for its wickedness.
“Most believers, and definitely most non-believers, don't know this information, and it's because we live in a media echo chamber that tends to filter out this kind of information. By the grace of God, I've been able to stumble on this stuff," he said.
Metaxas explained that the title of his latest book is based on the 1966 Time magazine article that provocatively asked “Is God Dead?”
“Maybe the logical question in 1966 was, ‘Is God dead?’ But the logical question, now that science itself is pointing to the existence of God, which sounds crazy but it's true, and nobody knows it — maybe now's the time to write a book with the title, Is Atheism Dead?”
Based on his research, Metaxas stressed that science, archaeology, and history don’t just support Christianity — they also undermine atheism.
“This idea that data and science are at odds — the biggest news is that not only is that not true, there are two things that follow,” Metaxas explained. “The second is, according to John Lennox ... it is actually atheism that is incompatible with science, which is a dramatic statement. The third thing, which nobody seems to know, but it's true, is that Christian faith led to modern science … this is a historical fact; this is not some Christian gloss on history.”
“Science lately ... is discovering things about our universe, about the Earth, about human life, about cellular life that looks so fine-tuned, so perfectly calibrated … that even atheists are being shaken. That's the one thing that they don't know quite how to handle it,” he added.
The more advanced science gets, the more it points to the idea that there had to be a Creator who created the universe, Metaxas said, citing, for example, the complexity of water and plate tectonics.
“Every believer needs to understand how freakish it is. I mean, for you to study science, the more you look, the more you just think, ‘I almost can't bear this.’ The evidence of God is just … everywhere I look, including things like water and erosion,” he said. “It makes you realize God is even more amazing than any of us could ever dream.”
Metaxas expressed concern that some Christians today “buy into a secular narrative” that says it’s possible to believe in Jesus and the Bible until Scripture seems to contradict science.
“That's not the kind of belief God is interested in,” he stressed. “He doesn't tell you to believe in something that is not true to the bottom. He is truth … either Jesus rose from the dead bodily or He didn't. Either what the Bible says is true or it isn't. Either the Lord created the universe and every detail in it or [He] didn't. "
He added: "This idea that we would sort of put ... our faith as Christians kind of in a corner, we're participating in the marginalization of our faith. Our faith is supposed to touch everything: science, math, history. We need to be much bolder in saying, ‘If this is true, it is true everywhere.”
The Bonhoeffer, Amazing Graceand Martin Lutherauthor acknowledged that though science and archeology increasingly prove the existence of God, there will always be naysayers who refuse to acknowledge such truth.
“I think in these last days, as things unravel around the world, God is shining His light brighter and brighter; He's allowing us to discover things via science and via archaeology … it simply gets harder and harder to deny Him,” Metaxas said. “God will just keep pushing out this evidence .. but at the end of the day, it's got to be the Holy Spirit.”
Though Is Atheism Dead was written for anyone eager to learn "with an open mind," it was primarily written for the Church, Metaxas said — a Church he believes desperately needs to “wake up.”
“In my Bonhoeffer book I deal with this — the Church was slow to wake up,” he contended. “And that is a model of what not to do. If we do not wake up and fight — and a lot of Christians have bad theology that says, ‘Oh, I don't think I'm supposed to fight' — not only is that not biblical, that's demonic. God pulled us to fight evil. He calls us to fight on our knees in prayer, but He also calls us to fight in all kinds of other ways.”
“Part of the reason I wrote this book also is to say to people, ‘Hey, this is not a philosophy. Our faith is not a truth — this is truth. And God is giving this to us so that we can be emboldened.'"
Metaxas said he believes God is “going to turn things around — but His Church “has to fight” and be “armed with information.”
“On the science thing ... I'm thinking, tell me where I'm missing something here? I know I'm not, because I got all this information from scientists. So people are gaslighting us, that Christians have their weird views. It is nonsense. We have to be bold, we have to know what we believe, and we have to act. And, if you don't do it for yourself, do it for your kids and your grandkids.”
Leah M. Klett is a reporter for The Christian Post. She can be reached at: leah.klett@christianpost.com
