Why are Atheists Deconstructing?

Glasgow-born historian Niall Ferguson is perhaps the most influential historian – and certainly one of the most influential public intellectuals – in the world. In 2004, Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Ferguson recently spoke publicly for the first time about his rejection of atheism in favour of Christianity. He now describes himself as a ‘lapsed atheist’. Fellow-historian Sarah Irving-Stonebraker similarly appropriates language usually reserved for those leaving the faith to describe how she ‘deconstructed’ her atheism. An Australian from a completely secular background, she came to the UK to get a PhD at Cambridge, before moving on to post-doctoral work at Oxford – where her atheism was shattered.  

What led to them losing faith in the atheism of their childhood? For Ferguson it was firstly historical – for Irving-Stonebreaker, primarily ethical. Ferguson says that he came to realise that ‘no society had been successfully organised on the basis of atheism. All attempts to do that have been catastrophic’. The next step on his journey was the realisation that ‘no individual can be fully formed or ethically secure without religious faith’.

Irving-Stonebreaker’s faith in atheism was shattered when she attended some guest lectures at Oxford by fellow Australian – and fellow atheist – Peter Singer. She describes feeling like the carpet had been pulled from under her feet when Singer made it clear that atheism provides no basis for believing in the inherent or equal value of human life. As she went back and read his philosophical work, her atheism continued to unravel. She came to see that her deepest moral intuitions, the things she thought were most important about human life (its dignity and value), couldn’t be sustained by atheism. It didn’t make her a Christian – but it raised questions. Still reluctant to pick up a Bible, she found herself working in the theology section of the library one winter in Oxford, and began to read a book of sermons. A sermon on Psalm 139, gave her a completely different perspective on human existence, with its teaching that we are each formed by God himself. She found it utterly compelling. Upon taking up a job in the United States, a fellow faculty member gave her a copy of ‘Mere Christianity’ by C. S. Lewis, who himself had made the journey from atheism to Christianity. It spoke to her like nothing ever had, and led her to go to church for the first time. She realised she had been living a life of self-fulfillment – and yet it had left her ‘empty’. She describes herself as walking into church that day with not only an intellectual, but a spiritual yearning. As she observed those present taking the Lord’s Supper, she realised that she had been running from God her whole life. She came to see the Bible’s story of sin as profoundly true – as well as what God had done through the cross to draw people back to himself. A few months later she gave her life to Christ.

Niall Ferguson’s wife, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, has a similarly dramatic story. In the early 2000s, she was one of the most prominent ‘New Atheists’, alongside Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett and Christopher Hitchens. Brought up as a Muslim, she became a prominent critic of Islam, opposing forced marriage, honour killing, child marriage and female genital mutilation. In a recent interview, she said ‘the god I grew up with was a horror show’.  But she came to see that not all religions are the same. Her therapist once asked her what she thought that God should be like if he existed; the answer she came up with was a description of Jesus Christ. Ali says that she once hated God – but the ‘god’ she hated was not like Jesus.

Such stories are increasingly common. What is behind this ‘vibe shift’?

Barney Zwartz explains: ‘Christianity in the West has been in decline for long enough for people to see what the post-Christian world looks like, and it’s not pretty. Today’s rising secular orthodoxy can be just as judgmental and censorious as the worst of the 1950s churches, but without the compassion, the community, the forgiveness, the self-deprecation, or the humour’.

Neither can it give us what we truly crave: ‘Many who had been tempted to believe Dawkins’ claim that “the universe has no design, no purpose, no evil, no good, nothing but pitiless indifference”, find that it conflicts with their human yearning for lives that have meaning and purpose’. Instead, they are finding that desire met by the one who said: ‘I came that they may have life and have it abundantly’ (John 10:10).

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 3rd April 2025

John G. Paton in Stranraer

Well-known YouTuber (and adjunct professor at the RP Theological Seminary in Pittsburgh) Matthew Everhard recently posted a short biography of John G. Paton. Born just outside Dumfries, Paton was an RP missionary to the New Hebrides. His autobiography is one of the most inspiring missionary biographies ever written. Paton began his mission work as a city missionary in Glasgow, working alongside Rev. William Symington, who had moved to Glasgow from Stranraer.

In 1863, Paton came to our church in Stranraer to give and update on his work. The following report appeared in the Ayrshire Express on 7 November 1863:

“MISSIONARY MEETING.—On Wednesday last, the Rev John G. Paton, missionary from Tanna, one of the New Hebrides or South Sea Islands, in connection with the Reformed Presbyterian Church, addressed two meetings here, in the Rev. Thomas Easton's (R. P. Church), the one at half-past five and the other at half-past seven o'clock, on both occasions giving most interesting details of the mission work on these Islands. The afternoon meeting was principally composed of sabbath-school children, the lower part of church being completely filled by them. By interesting anecdotes of the difficulties and dangers of the missionary work, and the blessings which the introduction of christianity had conferred on many of the little heathen children attending his classes, Mr Paton succeeded in gaining the attention of the children, and at the close he earnestly appealed to them for assistance in raising funds to maintain the missionary ship. and also in filling a missionary box with clothing for the poor naked boys and girls of Tana. In the evening, notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, the church was crowded in every part with a most attentive audience. Mr Paton spoke for about two hours, giving a detailed account of the mission to these islands from the day on which John Williams touched at Erromanga to the latest news just received of the landing of the Rev. John Inglis at Aneityum, with the New Testament translated into the native language. The New Hebrides is a group of thirty beautiful islands, having a population in all of about 150,000, and except some 3500 on Aneityum who have become christians, they are all savage cannibals—the consistent christian conduct, home comforts, and advanced state of civilization in Aneityum contrasting most strongly with the ignorance, misery, degradation and barbarism prevalent in Tanna, the scene of his own labours.”

Incidentally, Rev. John Inglis, mentioned in the above report, was born in Moniaive (the house still stands) and retired to Lincuan Cottage, Kirkcowan.

It’s World Book Day – have you read the all-time bestseller?

Today is World Book Day. While that might be news to some, it won’t be to anyone who has children in school. Children dress up as characters from books, are given book vouchers, etc. This year, we have decided to mark the day as a church by giving out free Bibles in the town centre. After all, it’s the bestselling book in the history of the world! If you’ve never read the Bible, there’s no better time to do so. If I can’t convince you, perhaps comedian Lee Mack can. Mack was interviewed on Desert Island Discs recently. He was asked which book he would take with him—you’re allowed the Bible, the works of Shakespeare and one other. He chose Stephen Hawking’s ‘A Brief History of Time’, but it was his comments about the Bible that intrigued me.

 He said, ‘I’m glad you get the Bible, because I would read the Bible. I think it’s quite odd that people like myself, in their forties, are quite happy to dismiss the Bible, but I've never read it. I always think that if an alien came down and you were the only person they met, and they said, “What’s life about? What’s earth about? Tell us everything,” and you said, “Well, there’s a book here that purports to tell you everything. Some people believe it to be true; some people do not believe it to be true.” “Wow, what’s it like?” and you go, “I don’t know, I’ve never read it.” It would be an odd thing wouldn't it? So, at the very least, read it’.

Many are happy to accept the opinions of others about the Bible (both positive and negative) without ever reading it themselves. Others feel let down by church, but are reluctant to read the Bible for themselves. Some are struggling with life and trying to get through by their own strength, unaware that the Bible has help to give. Even many churches have in practice abandoned the Bible – and it’s no surprise they’re declining and closing.

Perhaps you’ve tried reading the Bible before, but haven’t really known where to start. It’s easy to get bogged down. One of my recommendations is to begin reading The Gospel According to Mark – the second book of the New Testament. It’s the shortest of the four gospels and gets straight to the action – the life and death of Jesus Christ. We actually have 80 copies of Mark’s gospel to give away today, if picking up a whole Bible seems intimidating. We also have a leaflet entitled ‘What the Bible is all about’, which we’ll put inside everything we give out.

I’m also happy to meet up with anyone, either one-to-one or as part of a group, to read through a book of the Bible and discuss what it’s about. In fact, there’s a story in the book of Acts (which we’re currently going through in church on Sunday mornings – you can catch up on YouTube), where an evangelist called Philip meets a man travelling back home to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian is reading the Bible in his carriage. Philip asks him: ‘Do you understand what you are reading?’ The Ethiopian replies: ‘How can I, unless someone guides me?’ He then invites Philip to come and sit with him, and the rest is history. There’s no shame in asking for help.

When the Bible was translated into the language of the common people, it scandalised many of the church leaders, but transformed this nation. The man who first translated the Bible into English, William Tyndale, was burnt at the stake. It is still a banned book in many countries. Why not read it and find out why its contents are so explosive?

What many people – even churchgoers – can miss about the Bible is that it’s all about Jesus. That’s what Philip showed the Ethiopian, who was struggling as he read a 700-year-old prophecy from the book of Isaiah. ‘Is he speaking about himself or someone else?’, the Ethiopian asked. Philip gladly took the opportunity and ‘beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus’ (Acts 8:35). ‘The Scriptures’, Jesus said, ‘bear witness about me’ (John 5:39). The Bible is all about who Jesus is, why he needed to come, and how he can transform our lives.

 There are many good – even life-changing – books you could read on this World Book Day. But why not read the all-time bestseller?

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 6th March 2025

Just Enough Religion to Get By

One of the albums that I remember buying on CD – back in 2001 – was the Stereophonics’ ‘Just Enough Education to Perform’. The title is taken from a track called ‘Mr Writer’ – a response to a journalist who toured with the band, and then gave them negative reviews. Kelly Jones would later say that the song was the biggest regret of his career, because every journalist thought it was about them: ‘It took me 10 minutes to write and 10 years to explain’. 

I was reminded of the lyric recently in an unexpected place – a book on prayer, written in 1843 by Stoneykirk man James McGill, who went on to become minister in Hightae, near Lockerbie. In the book, McGill comments on those who want ‘Just as much religion as will satisfy their consciences’.

Thankfully, this phenomenon is not as common as it once was – and yet it has caused untold damage to the cause of Christianity in Scotland. Many people went to church – not because they had any great love for the things of God – but because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. Or else their church attendance was little more than an insurance policy – ‘I’ll live however I want, but I’ll go to church, so that if there really is a God, I’ll be ok’. At the same time, theological liberalism in many of the mainline churches meant that when people did go to church, they often heard a ‘social gospel’ – be a nice person, and you’ll be ok. Few were confronted with the reality that ‘all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God’ (Romans 3:23), or the call of Jesus himself: ‘Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God’ (John 3:3).

Painting in broad brush strokes, that has left us with an older generation who still go to church, or at least did so for many years. Some were deeply committed to their congregations, others not so much – but few had followed Jesus’ first recorded instructions in Mark’s gospel: ‘repent and believe in the gospel’ (Mark 1:15). Many found excuses to stop going. After all, as John Owen once put it: ‘Unless people see a beauty and delight in the worship of God they will not do it willingly’.

Their children – perhaps those in their 50s or 60s now – were in many cases brought up going to Sunday School. However, they saw that what their parents did on a Sunday morning had little relation to their lives the rest of the week, and they stopped going when they could. One lady – who’s now a member in our church after years going nowhere – got a job in a café on a Sunday morning at the age of 14 precisely for that reason. There’s a generation who had seen just enough of church to conclude that it wasn’t relevant to them.

All this is significant for a number of reasons. Firstly, the rapid decline in church attendance over the last 50 years likely hasn’t resulted in a drastically smaller number of Bible-believing Christians. The biggest decline has not been in belief, but in nominalism. Second, there’s a younger generation today who may not go to church, but are not as opposed to the idea as their parents were. It isn’t that they have opted out – they simply haven’t yet ‘opted in’. Given that we seem to be entering a time where the cultural tide is more in favour of Christianity – eg prominent atheists like Ayaan Hirsi Ali converting to Christianity, and the world’s most popular podcaster recently spending 3+ hours interviewing a Christian apologist about the reliability of the Bible – this younger generation may end up being more receptive to Christianity than their parents, grandparents or great grandparents combined. 

It's also been our experience as a church that some of those in their 50s, who went to Sunday School and then walked away, are coming back. They’ve gone their own way, but it hasn’t brought them happiness. And when they’ve decided to go back to church, they’ve gone to the one they remember from Sunday School.

In short: while those who remember churches being full are often gloomy, there hasn’t been such as great a falling away as many imagine. As a minister, I’d rather a smaller congregation where most people are there because they want to be, than a bigger one where people come out of habit or duty. I don’t think I could get on the pessimism train even if I wanted to!

Published in the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, 6th February 2025