24AR29-38

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AR 29:38 - A dozen former fans of Richard Dawkins find Jesus

In this issue:

ATHEISM - a trend toward "intellectually careless, and ungenerous criticisms of Christianity that are superficially convincing"

MORMONISM - Finally done with the teaching that "blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else?"

SHINCHEONJI CHURCH OF JESUS - a brief overview featuring beliefs, practices, analysis and ex-member testimony

Apologia Report 29:38 (1,679)
October 14, 2024

ATHEISM

In "Doubting Dawkins," Alexander Riley (Chronicles, Aug '24) announces "Richard Dawkins, New Atheism debunked (Converts to the 2000s' New Atheism have finally realized how glib and intellectually flimsy its leaders were)." 

   Behind all this is the object of Riley's interest: Coming to Faith Through Dawkins: 12 Essays on the Pathway from New Atheism to Christianity, eds. Denis Alexander and Alister McGrath, <www.tinyurl.com/3txcr2p4> which "provides a dozen accounts of former adherents of the Dawkinsian view who became apostates precisely because they looked closely at that dogma. The book's 12 contributors are a varied bunch. Sy Garte grew up in an American communist family, while Rafik Samuel was raised as an Egyptian Coptic Christian. There are chapters from an ornithologist, an actor, a biochemist, and a former habitual user of psychedelics. Each, in his or her particular way, describes the journey through materialist atheism to faith. ...

   "Dawkins' 2006 manifesto The God Delusion, which was influential to most of these writers at some point in their lives, is one of the three holy books of the New Atheist movement. The others are Sam Harris' The End of Faith (2004) and Christopher Hitchens' God Is Not Great (2007). ... Even The New York Times' review of The God Delusion described it as "smug," "hasty," "sloppy," and "frustrating."

   "Perhaps the biggest argumentative hole in Dawkins' book - and in New Atheism more broadly - is discussed at length in this collection by Sarah Irving-Stonebraker, an Australian historian. Her essay deals with the atheist effort to produce and justify the moral universe Dawkins admits he desires. ...

   "Other writers take up the criticism of Dawkins from different directions. Louise Mabille provides profound insights into the cult-movement psychology motivating New Atheism. ... Their writings and public appearances are treated as holy writ, completely beyond the possibility of any serious critical engagement. 

   "The New Atheists, like the woke leftist thinkers that they at least sometimes oppose, are practitioners of what Nietzsche referred to as resentiment. They blame the thing they have set up as their adversary - religion - for virtually all evil in the world. ...

   "The charisma of the New Atheists is discussed by several of the contributors as key to their influence. Rafik Samuel ... recalls watching Hitchens lose a debate with Christian philosopher William Lane Craig [who efficiently dispensed with] Hitchens' flowery, gauzy allusions. ...

   "Peter Byrom elaborates on the New Atheists' inability to handle the most serious debate points from the Christian side. ... Craig himself later recalled being startled by the limits of Dawkins' knowledge. ...

   "Ashley Lande provides a moving account of her initial infatuation with Hitchens' ideas and subsequent realization of his incapacity to answer the most serious of life's questions. ...

   "Some of the contributors to this volume are less than scintillating writers.... The overall gist, though, is profound. Richard Dawkins and his New Atheist colleagues offer glib, intellectually careless, and ungenerous criticisms of Christianity that are superficially convincing for those educated in the general secularism of today's Western culture." <www.tinyurl.com/3nfdxtfa>

   Related video:

   * - "Religion Is Still Evil - Richard Dawkins with Alex O'Connor" (Jan 14 '24) <www.tinyurl.com/bdd6rfza>

   * - "William Lane Craig" (The Ben Shapiro Show Sunday Special, Ep. 50, May 12 '19) <www.tinyurl.com/yjxrs9r8>

   * - "Peter Byrom: Discovering Dawkins" (Unapologetic 1/3, Sep 26 '23) <www.tinyurl.com/4tarxdhm>

   * - "From Nihilism & Psychedelics to Faith - Ashley Lande's Story" (The Side B Podcast, Ep. 21, Oct 27 '21) <www.tinyurl.com/m25nwzrw>

   POSTSCRIPT, Nov 7 '24: Also consider <https://www.christianitytoday.com/2024/09/christianity-biggest-skeptics-becoming-vocal-converts/>

 ---

MORMONISM

"Latter-day Saints Come to Terms with the 126-Year Racial Barrier" by Richard Ostling (Religion Unplugged, Aug 27 '24) -- "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its leaders have been unique in proclaiming racial discrimination to be the will of God and thoroughly incorporating that belief into all aspects of church life for well over a century." Just how long has that been the case? Two recent books on LDS racism's long history explain that it began in 1852 when it decreed that black ancestry prevented males from the LDS priesthood and its "reform did not fully exist until 2013."

   The first of these, "a breakthrough book last year, Let's Talk About Race and Priesthood," <www.tinyurl.com/39dcmebs> is "a candid accounting of this theological problem from University of Utah historian W. Paul Reeve, a faithful Latter-day Saint." 

   The other, <www.tinyurl.com/3kpkwv64> Second-Class Saints: Black Mormons and the Struggle for Racial Equality, is a 2024 book-of-the-year candidate written by Colorado State University historian Matthew L. Harris. He analyzes the restrictions that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints imposed upon members of Black African ancestry...."

   In it, "Reeve praises Harris' "unprecedented peek behind Mormonism's administrative curtain" to examine "the faith's ongoing struggle to transcend its racial past." As for Reeve's book, "the fact that it comes from the church's own Deseret Book company represents a healthy reckoning with history."

   How significant is all this? "Without priesthood status, those with any degree of African ancestry could not hold any church offices, could not be married in a temple or undergo sacred endowment and other temple rites. They could not give talks at worship, distribute Communion, teach Sunday school, confer special blessings or fill even routine posts in local congregations, They could not volunteer for short-term missionary assignments, a rite of passage for young men (as well as some women). And they were denied the highest exaltation in the church's concept of the afterlife."

   Ostling finds that "pivotal research by physician Lester Bush, published in 1973, proved beyond doubt that Smith originally ordained Black men to the priesthood, setting precedent to reopen their status. (Smith became a slavery abolitionist before his assassination in 1844)."

   Smith left behind a unique design for the leadership of his religion, the members of which are still known as "The Brethren." This group "consists of the president, also named a prophet, his two counselors in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles." 

   Ostling identifies an important period related to all this:  "Former businessman Spencer W. Kimball, an Apostle since 1943, automatically ascended to the church's presidency in 1973 due to his seniority in the hierarchy. Against heavy odds, he quietly prayed and maneuvered to unite all 15 Brethren behind abolishing the ban. Kimball especially lamented that it hindered evangelism. A key step was his 1975 decision to build a temple in Brazil, where mixing of the races made consistent application of the ban next to impossible. 

   "The 1978 revelation set new priesthood and temple access but left the doctrinal aspect unresolved. Thus reform did not fully exist until 2013, with this from the Brethren's 2,000-word "Race and the Priesthood" policy statement: "Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else." <www.tinyurl.com/mybaw3je>

   The resources in this item are a good example of how little the LDS leadership's most recent request to not be associated with the word "Mormon" any longer is, once again, being disregarded by the press. 

 ---

SHINCHEONJI CHURCH OF JESUS

So little written about this aggressive group that we chose to include this item despite its obscure source. "We Infiltrated a Korean Cult Trying to Spread in Lebanon, Here's What Happened" by  Natalie Haddad (The 961, Jul 22 '24) -- a brief overview of beliefs, practices, analysis and ex-member testimony.

   "The Catholic Bishops' Association of Korea labels the Shincheonji Church of Jesus as a 'pseudo-religious organization' and a 'cult.' It was founded in 1980 by Lee Man-hee, who claims to be the second coming of Jesus and claims to possess unique biblical interpretation skills and implies his immortality.

   "Shincheonji has grown significantly, with nearly 200,000 adherents. The term 'Shincheonji' combines the Korean words for 'new,' 'heaven,' and 'earth.'

   "Shincheonji's teachings are criticized for their shallow academic basis, extreme figurative interpretation of biblical texts, and cult-like atmosphere. The organization claims to be the end-time true church fulfilling the prophecies of Revelation, with Lee Man-hee, referred to as 'the Promised Pastor,' asserting that he has been divinely appointed to establish 'God's kingdom of heaven on earth. ...

   "False teachings are a hallmark of Shincheonji, including the belief that the 144,000 mentioned in Revelation are Shincheonji members, the denial of the Trinity which is contrary to Christianity, and the assertion that only Lee Man-hee can correctly interpret the Bible."

   In addition, Haddad reports: "Lee Man-Hee was found guilty of embezzling $6.5 million and received a 3-year suspended sentence, so he wasn't sent to jail. The court found that the embezzled money was partly used to fund a luxury 'palace of peace' on the outskirts of Seoul." <www.tinyurl.com/yufhkd8n> 

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