Psalm 36:1-2 There is no fear of God
before his eyes.
For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to detect or hate his sin.

As occasionally happens, the Japanese for this passage is obscure because of its very literalness, but I think the NIV makes a good call as to David’s intent here. These days Humanism is generally seen as noble, caring for the needs of mankind, but the problem is that such nobility has been hijacked by the kind of people described here. The driving force behind the vast majority of atheism is the desire to deny accountability to God on the part of man. As David says, they have “no fear of God.” When God is taken out of the equation, that eliminates all moral underpinning for man’s actions, so someone who is completely man-centric will indeed not detect, much less hate, their own sin. The big problem with the people who pit science against religion, putting themselves on the “rational” side of science, is that they are actually worshiping man, that is, themselves. How futile is that!? Catherine Marshall wrote a book with a very meaningful title: Beyond Our Selves. If we have no resources beyond what is intrinsic to us, we are pathetic indeed! The logical conclusion to that way of thinking is evident in the world all around us, with the destruction of the very fabric of society. Human beings have demonstrated their almost unlimited capacity for evil down through the centuries. When we ignore God, evil is all we have left.

I was raised in the blessed, but rare, combination of diligent intellectual inquiry and strong faith. Science and faith were never seen as being in opposition to each other, but rather complimentary. However, I encounter people all the time who think they are mutually exclusive, and that is sad indeed. I am grieved both when people of faith essentially extol ignorance, and when intellectuals deride faith. An awareness of the vastness of the universe should give us a profound humility, but unless that is coupled to a conviction that there is a Creator who made all of this because He wanted to, it removes all meaning from our lives. That is why the center of the Gospel I proclaim is that God loved the world, His creation, so much that He sent His Son to take the penalty for human sin and so open a way for us to fulfill the purpose for which we were created, that is, fellowship with God. Those who reject accountability to God don’t realize that they are also rejecting the reason for their existence, and so rejecting life itself. That is why I must never stop communicating the love and grace of God to everyone, praying that they would have ears to hear and hearts to receive.

Father, lately my blog has been getting some interesting responses from skeptics, but that’s nothing new. You know how many people have declined the Gospel that I have presented to them. I ask Your grace and mercy on us all, so that more and more would let go of the lies that have kept them from You, and turn to You in repentance and faith, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!