Kerby Anderson
Belief in God is back. That is the claim that Justin Brierley makes in his book, The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. He was on my radio program recently to talk about his book that will be out next month.
He has welcomed atheists and agnostics on his Unbelievable program and heard the arguments against the Christian faith. He has also noticed that these arguments, often voiced by the New Atheists, have not made the impact these skeptics assumed they would make. They expected that their arguments would end Christianity permanently.
The standard view has been that a “long withdrawing roar” of the “Sea of Faith” would be swept away by a rising secularism in society. While that has been true in a general way, Justin has noticed that the tide may be coming back again. He points to such notables as Douglas Murray, Jordan Peterson, Tom Holland, and Dave Rubin. They have found themselves surprised by the continuing resonance and relevance of Christianity.
I also find it interesting, and discussed this with him on the program, that we see many people leaving the faith and “deconstructing” their faith at a time when we have the best evidence for our faith. Evidence for the reliability of the Bible comes from archaeology and biblical manuscripts. Evidence for the existence of God comes from scientific discoveries of the fine-tuning of the universe and the intricate design in biological systems.
His book documents the decline of the New Atheism and the revival of faith coming from science, history, and culture. Much of this new wave of faith is coming from the search for meaning in this 21st century world. The tide is coming, and the church needs to be ready.