THE ANGEL POSSENTI:
Atheism has existed in man since the dawn of civilization; of that there is no doubt. Yet that type of atheism can better be described as the internal struggle we have in fighting against our darker natures, also known as the part of our souls that urges us in defying God and His holy laws.
Today, we have a new wave of external atheism with people who not only have given in to that dark impulse but try to encourage others to do so as well. Christians across America especially were just in shock at how many left the faith numbers never seen before.
I myself have argued with many atheists who told me they were once Christians at one point but gave the faith up because certain teachings no longer made sense to them. When I asked them what teaching they rejected, I noticed a strange but common theme in all of them:
At absolute worst, they had the teaching 100% wrong or at best, completely missed the point of the teaching.
Yet, when I pointed out to the atheist how they have the teaching wrong, and gave the sources for the correct teaching, every single time they threw a fit, got defensive and just shut down (instead of being open to new information, like a REAL self-proclaimed "open-minded" person should do.)
So I of course took a different rout with the teachings. I worked backwards and looked into every single branch that held the questionable teachings and came to a very disturbing conclusion:
Every single former Christian all came from a branch of Protestantism.
(Note: for clarification, Protestantism refers to any type of Christianity that is neither Roman Catholicism nor Eastern Orthodoxy.)
I wanted to think this was just a mere coincidence: after all, I didn't believe it was that possible that many people could be that ill-informed. But the coincidences just kept adding up.
Just look at the so-called Four Horseman of atheism:
Dawkins: former Anglican
Sam Harris: former Quaker on his father's side
Daniel Dennett: no data
Christopher Hitchens: former Christian, most likely nondenominational
Not good enough? Consider the following chart:
(For a link to the study, click here.)
One interesting fact should jump out at you right away: While the percentage of Christians did shrink while the irreligious went up, they moved at about the same rate in their respective directions…and the Christian losses are almost entirely from Protestantism.
Is it any wonder why this is the case? Just think about two of the main teachings of Protestantism: Scripture Alone and Faith Alone.
If all you needed to know about God and Jesus was in the Bible myself, then people would reach the exact same conclusions about what Christianity teaches (since the Bible reads the same in all Protestant branches), but not all branches agree with each other. If all you needed was faith, how can you defend what you believe? You can't. At best, you come off as arrogant that yours is the only correct way and at worst, you've built a framework where you can't logically show why differing opinions are wrong.
Again, is it any wonder that these poor souls are so mixed up about what Christianity teaches? Is it any further wonder that these branches wind up ignoring key parts of the Bible because it doesn't fit into their theology and are then at a loss to explain the passages when challenged?
I say poor souls of course in the broadest sense of the term: perhaps at one point, their ignorance about Christianity can be excused because resources were not widely available but that excuse doesn't hold up anymore. You can find the truth of Christian teachings, but we are talking about the same people who would much rather play video games than give any real thought to their lives.
I do have an additional message for any Protestant reading this:
Don't fool yourself into thinking for one moment things will get better for your faith if you only catered more to today's world or you make people feel good about themselves instead of going on about hell or sin or damnation.
So when you bemoan young people not believing in the power of Jesus, I point the finger at you, Protestants, and say you are largely to blame.
Who's perpetuating creationism? Protestants
Who are the ones bearing false witness against the Catholic Church by calling it the "whore of Babylon" (that's uncharitable and un-Christian to do, by the way)? Protestants
Who's making God's word nothing more than opinion? Protestants
Who's promoting those idiotic Left Behind novels? Protestants
Who's keeping Kirk Cameron's career going? Protestants
There are several Protestant branches that show signs they're dying out…what makes you so confident in yours?
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