Richard Dawkins Is Right

 

Richard Dawkins, celebrated atheist, makes an important point. If you call yourself a Christian, attend church, and say you believe in Jesus and God simply because you were brought up to do so, it is meaningless. You are not a real Christian. Any more than you can become a real Buddhist simply by being raised in a Buddhist milieu. Salvation is individual. 

Salvation comes not from saying the name “Jesus,” but from seeking truth and seeking to do what is right. 

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” In other words, to follow Jesus, you must follow truth, and follow his way. Simply mouthing “Lord, Lord” is of little significance.

One must sincerely seek truth wherever that leads.

The real Christian must and will make themselves aware of what Jesus actually said and taught—they must read the gospel. They must make themselves aware of his way and his life. 

The Christian claim is that, if anyone sincerely does this, undertakes this study, they will know in their heart that this man was whom he said he was, and his teaching is correct. The words will speak to them.

This is what confirmation is supposed to be about; or adult baptism, in the Protestant tradition, or being “born again.” One must be personally convicted.

 A sincere Christian ought also to acquaint themselves with alternative philosophies: with Marxism, Freudianism, feminism, existentialism, Islam, Judaism, Buddhist, Hinduism. One is not seeking truth if one wears blinders. They must honestly consider and judge the plausibility of each.  A sincere and ethical atheist is a better Christian than a nominal Catholic. The latter is merely a hypocrite.

And a sincere Christian will recognize a sincere Muslim, or Buddhist, or Hindu, or Jew, as a brother.