\u201cAgainst some images of God, the revolt of atheism is an act of pure religion,\u201d mused Walter Wink. Could it be, then, that some humanists\u2014in their rejection of false and oppressive concepts of God\u2014are more beneficial to the Kingdom than some Christians?<\/span><\/p>\nFor really, who is actually following Christ: Smug Christians whose silence\u2014or theology\u2014support and preserve an UNJUST status quo or socialist nonbelievers who, for example, are fighting to expand Medicaid for the poor, end police brutality, narrow the widening income gap, and close disparities in health care, education and employment?<\/p>\n
I believe God would say the latter. Hear me out.<\/p>\n
You may be surprised to learn that the Bible\u2019s only explicit statement against atheism (Ps. 14 and Ps. 53) isn\u2019t even directed at traditional nonbelievers.<\/p>\n
Psalm 14:1 declares, \u201cThe fool says in his heart, \u2018There is no God.\u2019 They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good.\u201d (The wording of Ps. 53:1 is slightly different, but the meaning is the same.)<\/p>\n
However, a careful reading of both passages proves that neither is referring to the humanist or agnostic. <\/span>The meaning of the Hebrew word translated \u201cfool\u201d (<\/span>nabal<\/span><\/i>) in the texts has more to do with MORAL BEHAVIOR than a philosophical rejection of God\u2019s existence.<\/span><\/p>\nIn other words, the atheist in these psalms is NOT the person who says there is no God with his lips, but the individual who\u2014because of way he lives\u2014proves there is no God in his HEART.<\/p>\n
Consider the way the term fool<\/span>\u00a0is often used in the Old Testament. One way is to describe a person who is mean, surly and inhospitable.<\/span><\/p>\nThat\u2019s what the psalmist has in mind in these prophetic exhortations. When the writer says \u201cthere is none who does good,\u201d he is not speaking literally, rather he is lamenting the dominant cultural attitude of his day. An attitude that causes the rich to cavalierly \u201ceat up my people as they eat bread.\u201d<\/p>\n
This lack of civility, as described in these psalms, is epitomized by Nabal\u2019s treatment of David in 1 Samuel 25. The prosperous Nabal, unlike his wife Abigail, did not discern who David was and treated him as if he were a slave.<\/p>\n
In a similar attitude of incivility, the fool in Psalm 14 and 53 victimizes those on the margins of society with impunity. Why? Because they neither discern the fact that poor people are valuable to God, nor do they believe there is a God of justice to whom they are accountable.<\/p>\n
Therefore, they are fools because they get God wrong. Theirs was a religious worldview based on self-interest, self-indulgence and the protection and preservation of empire.<\/p>\n
American Christianity has the same problem. Rather than issuing a clear call to believers to live out God\u2019s character of justice, love and mercy in the world, the American church\u2014in its capitulation to the interests of empire\u2014has softened this aspect of the call. More attention has been placed on hammering out \u201ccorrect\u201d doctrine and winning converts than on transforming the world and lifting its vision.<\/p>\n
Yet, doing the world differently is central to the gospel\u2019s demand.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the reason Gustavo Gutierrez declared: \u201cAn atheist is someone who fails to practice justice toward the poor\u201d? \u00a0Psalm 14 and 53 (prophetic condemnations against what scholars call \u201cpractical atheism) seem to agree.<\/p>\n
Indeed, whenever the Bible talks about \u201cbelief,\u201d it places it in the context of behavior rather than assent to propositional statements. No wonder early Christians were called people of \u201cThe Way\u201d and followers of \u201cthe path\u201d\u2014 because belief was never divorced from action.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf one thinks that Christianity consists solely in doctrinal precision,\u201d stated Gregory of Nyssa, \u201cthe Christian mystery becomes a pious fable.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not an attempt to teach a new dogma or set up a new litmus test, but the principle of Psalm 14 and 53 is undeniable: It\u2019s not enough to believe something, you must LIVE IT. And it is not enough to claim to know God if you don\u2019t love those whom God loves\u2014the poor, the marginalized, the \u201cleast of these.\u201d<\/p>\n
Isn\u2019t that what Jesus teaches in Matthew 25: 31-46? Perhaps William Sloane Coffin was right: \u201cIt\u2019s not whether you believe in God, it\u2019s whether God believes in you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fredrick Robinson<\/a> is a R3 Contributor<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"by Fredrick Robinson \u201cAgainst some images of God, the revolt of atheism is an act of pure religion,\u201d mused Walter Wink. Could it be, then, that some humanists\u2014in their rejection of false and oppressive concepts of God\u2014are more beneficial to the Kingdom than some Christians? For really, who is actually following Christ: Smug Christians whose […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[113,719,20,269,4,270],"class_list":["post-4305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-contributors","tag-bible","tag-fredrick-robinson","tag-god","tag-psalms","tag-theology","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"theology\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/543\/2015\/09\/theology.jpg\")
<\/a>by Fredrick Robinson<\/a><\/p>\n