Atheist Defense

There is a level of naiveté with which many, if not most, Christians approach the subject of atheism and its recipients. The assumption for most of us is to believe that atheists have simply made a conscious and uneducated decision to stop believing that there is any form of deity by which the world was created and/or is continued.

The following information comes from, Christianity Before Christ, a vastly respected book written by John G. Jackson.

It would probably surprise many of us that atheism is a very well thought out philosophy, complete with documentation, historical facts, and highly thought out and researched arguments. Among such documentation is the ancient tablet from Babylon that is kept in the British Museum. This tablet dates back to about 2000 B.C. and is a reference to a passion play that was acted out in ancient Babylon in reference to the god Bel, known as Baal by the Hebrews.

The scenes go as follows:

Act 1: Bel is arrested by soldiers and imprisoned.

Act 2: Bel is tried in the Hall of Justice. (Bel is found innocent, but sentenced to death.)

Act 3: Bel is smitten. (Bel is abused and jeered at by a mob.)

Act 4: Bel is led away to the Mount. (The actor playing Bel is taken to a hilltop where there is a sacred grove.)

Act 5: Two criminals are taken with Bel and one is released. (All of the people in the amphitheater have left and follow the actors to the hilltop for the death scene where the guilty are crucified, hung on a tree, or slain on an altar.)

Act 6: After Bel has gone to the mount the city breaks out into turmoil.

Act 7: Bel’s clothes are carried away. (The corpse of Bel is stripped of its clothing and the body is prepared for burial.)

Act 8: Bel goes down into the Mount and disappears from life. (There is a tomb next to the stage where the body of Bel is placed.)

Act 9: weeping women seek Bel at the Tomb. (Women are the first to see Bel after his death.)

Act 10: Bel is brought back to life. (A stone that sealed the tomb of Bel is rolled away in the final scene. As Bel comes out of the tomb, the audience stands and cheers in a great frenzy until all of their voices are hoarse. The great god Bel has reappeared to prove that death has been conquered and that all life is secure in the hereafter.)

Atheists argue that the Christian story is merely a Greek version of this play carried on among the beliefs of those who call themselves followers of Jesus.

When atheists confess their belief that there is no God, they come educated and prepared. They are not seeking to be convinced of a higher power, but of a proof that our belief is not simply an updated play.

How have we prepared to defend our faith? Or do we argue, “You just have to believe?” I have no problem with that defense. However, how many atheists will take that advice based on what they consider the ancient proofs of Christianity before Christ?