Atheism is a ‘delusion, a fairy tale for those afraid of the light’ was the message from Professor John Lennox from Oxford University in mid-June at the National Prayer Breakfast at the Houses of Parliament, attended by over 600 people.
He urged Christians to have ‘the courage to create public space’ for the discussion of ‘a biblical worldview’ in society — citing the example of Tyndale’s translation of the Bible into English.
Responsible for moral drift
He said that New Atheism is responsible for ‘the moral drift’ in today’s society. And science and religion are not opposed. ‘There is no necessary conflict between science and God, the real conflict is between worldviews, atheism and theism’, he said. ‘God is not the same kind of explanation as science is. God is the explanation of why there is a universe at all in which science can be done’.
He warned: ‘The playing field is not level since atheism has become so dominant … and is often regarded as the default position in the media’. The risk of this is, he said, that society would forget ‘the contribution of Christianity to the moral foundations of our society’. And he hinted that this was already to be seen in the parliamentary expenses scandal, as well as the Leveson enquiry.
Institutions awash with scandal
‘If we teach people that morality is an illusion, they will begin to believe it’, said Professor Lennox. ‘Many already have, with the result that our institutions are awash with scandal, families are increasingly fractured, people are lonelier than ever and trust is at an all-time low. We have sown a wind and are reaping a whirlwind.’
He said: ‘No one in this country seems to have a problem with doing atheism in public. Let us not be ashamed of doing God’.
