On Secret Atheism

Psalm 14:1 says, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.' They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who understand, who seek after God."

In 1682, Stephen Charnock wrote a series of Discourses on the Existence and Attributes of God. His words are still relevant. He begins by noticing from Psalm 14 that evil practices flow directly from disbelief, and that the man who says there is no God smothers in himself those things that call for belief in the Divine.

Sometimes its easy to notice the outright atheism that declares boldly "there is no God," while ignoring behavior that points to disbelief in my life. Charnock says, "Yet there is something of a secret atheism in all, which is the fountain of the evil practices in their lives, not an utter disowning of the being of a God, but a denial or doubting of some of the rights of his nature."

The life of faith is not simply believing that God exists, but believing what the Bible says about God's nature and living in light of that revelation. God's word tells us He has made a way for sinners to made right, by faith we throw ourselves on His grace and ask for forgiveness because of what Christ has done. God's word also tells us that we are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). What is the response of faith? Check out 2 Corinthians 7:1 (maybe read 2 Corinthians 6:16-18 for context).

Reading Charnock's thoughts I have been encouraged take three measures against what Charnock calls the "atheistic bubblings" within a man's heart:
1. to know God; to know His nature well,
2. to notice areas where my behavior points to unbelief - behaving in a way that shows I don't really believe what the Bible says about who God is (for example, if I believe God is pure, insists on purity, and knows my thoughts, my thoughts should be pure),
3. and to fight that disbelief by reading more about who God is in His word then asking the Spirit to help me live in light of that revelation.