C. S. Lewis was one of the great atheists, until he wasn’t. Lewis writes in his book Surprised by Joy that he became “the most dejected and reluctant convert in all England…” Note that he wasn’t a Christian yet, he just switched from committed atheist to committed theist (believer in one supreme god).
Why is this important? Lewis saw that if God didn’t exist, then all the religions of the world would be destroyed. Lewis hated religion, especially Christianity after his mother died of cancer. Lewis had prayed fervently that God would heal her, and he believed his sincerity of faith would convince God to honor his prayers. He became an atheist after her death and as an adult accepted many of the “scientific” reasons for rejecting God to justify his atheism.
It is not clear what led Lewis to accept Christianity as God’s presence in our world instead one of the other religions, but once he believed in God, he was faced with these two questions.
1. If God exists, how does God represent Himself on earth (what religion)?
2. If God exists, what does He want from us (how should we believe/behave)?
Answering one of these questions will probably answer or at least strongly imply an answer to the other.
Lewis never avoided difficult questions and if he was convinced of something, he changed his behavior to conform to his new belief. He became a devout disciple of Christ and wrote extensively about his understanding of how Christians should believe and act.
Does God exist for you? Don’t blame science. Science tells us nothing about God (see my blog, Does Science Disprove the Existence of God). That means you have no objective guide other than the Bible or a belief that God existed before the beginning of time to guide you.
Like C.S. Lewis, it is time to understand that God exists and face what that means for us. What is your next step?
Relevant Scriptures: Genesis 1:1; Romans 1:20; Hebrews 11:6
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