Mohler Targets ‘New Atheisim’

There is a new atheism afoot in the marketplace of ideas, and it presents a far more potent challenge to the Christian worldview than the atheism of former times, R. Albert Mohler argues in a new book.

In Atheism Remix: A Christian Confronts the New Atheism (Crossway), the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary engages the central arguments of four contemporary atheists, whom he calls "The Four Horseman of the Atheist Apocalypse": Oxford University scientist Richard Dawkins, Tufts University philosopher Daniel Dennett, author Sam Harris, and pundit Christopher Hitchens.

Mohler chose Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens because "they are four figures who have especially come to embody the New Atheist movement."

All four have argued against theism in best-selling books, some of which have spent significant time on The New York Times Best-Seller List, including Dawkins' 2006 work The God Delusion, Dennett's 2006 book Breaking the Spell: Religion as Natural Phenomenon, Harris' 2005 book The End of Faith, and Hitchens' 2007 work God is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything.

The new atheism, Mohler argues, promotes the development of a purely secular society, a secularism that views the death of all religions as the expected natural progression of Darwinian naturalism.

"I believe what we see in the rise of the New Atheism is something of the endgame of secularism," Mohler writes.

After tracing the rise of atheism in the first chapter, Mohler gives biographical sketches of Dawkins, Dennett, Harris, and Hitchens in the second and sets forth eight characteristics that distinguish the new atheism from the old. While the old atheism had negligible societal impact, the new atheism is more aggressive and has gained momentum within the broader culture, Mohler writes.

The new atheism is marked, Mohler writes, by:

– An unprecedented new boldness.

– A clear and specific rejection of the Christian God of the Bible.

– An explicit rejection of Jesus Christ.

– Arguments grounded in science.

– A refusal to tolerate even moderate and liberal forms of theism.

– An attack on the toleration of any form of religion.

– A questioning of the right of parents to instill religious beliefs in their children.

– A fundamental assertion that religion itself must be eliminated to preserve human freedom.

"The Christian church must respond to the challenge of the New Atheism with the full measure of conviction," Mohler writes.

"We are reminded that the church has faced a constellation of theological challenges throughout its history. Then, as now, the task is to articulate, communicate, and defend the Christian faith with intellectual integrity and evangelistic urgency. We should not assume that this task will be easy, and we must also refuse to withdraw from public debate and private conversation in light of this challenge."