The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God by Justin Brierley

Following is my BRIEF synopsis of this new book.

Atheism began with the thesis that science could, and would, replace God and Christianity. This movement has fallen apart in recent years because of several factors. These include the immorality of its leaders, women objecting to being sex objects rather than people, squabbles about how to handle new sub-groups, etc. (Summary of Chapter 1)

Quotes from the book

• "The atheist community has splintered into a million shards in recent years. There are the atheist feminists and the atheist anti-feminists, the social justice warrior atheists, and the anti-social justice warrior atheists." Brierley, Justin. The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God: Why New Atheism Grew Old and Secular Thinkers Are Considering Christianity Again (p. 24). Tyndale House Publishers. Kindle Edition
• “Science can tell you how the universe arose but not why it is there. Science can tell you what you consist of but not what you are worth. Science can generate solutions to poverty but not the compassion to implement them. Science can make you money but not purchase a meaningful existence.” (Ibid p. 27)
• “In the West, we have largely lost our belief in God or any sense of a given cosmic order. As a result, there is no longer any overarching ‘sacred structure’ that holds the world together. So we are left on our own as individuals in a world without any predetermined order that tells us who we are in that world, or that gives us a sense of security and ‘fit’ within a wider scheme of things.” [10] (Ibid pp. 46-47)
• "Happiness and wellbeing are found not in isolated individuality but in social connection. It is through strong relationships with family, friends and community that we truly flourish. . . . In other words, focusing upon my own unique individuality is the wrong place to look.” [14] (p. 48)

Everybody worships

If we don’t worship the true and living God, then we end up worshipping self or satan or materialism or some specific ideology. The problem with this secular form of worship, people involved in it often become very intolerant of those who disagree, whereas in the Church we are instructed to extend grace and mercy to those whom we disagree with.

Other reasons secularists and atheists tend to not be able to expand their movements are because 1) religious people tend to have more children than their secular counterparts, and 2) religious people don’t believe in abortion or castrating their children. Because of this “the number of people who identify as nonreligious is actually shrinking as a proportion of the global population. [6]” (Ibid pp. 202-203).

Although up to 50% of young people identify as having no religious affiliation, one in five of them say they pray every day. The bottom line is although they may have rejected organized religion they are still very spiritual. Perhaps if organized religion offered them a living encounter with the living God, their hunger would be satisfied and they would not be forced to look in other directions to find what their souls hunger for. Thankfully the current revival in the Spirit-filled church is offering training and opportunities to experience encounters with God.

• The fact that local village pubs are closing faster than rural churches is a reminder that wider demographic changes are afoot. [11] Ironically, those who reject being part of a religious community in favor of retaining a semblance of personal spirituality are losing out on most of the social benefits that religious affiliation brings. Research shows that people who regularly attend church report stronger social support networks and less depression. They smoke less, have happier marriages, and lead healthier and longer lives than people who don’t go to church. Actively religious people are proven to give both more money and more time to charities (including secular ones) than nonreligious people. They even donate more blood. [12] (Ibid p. 204).
• In summary, organized religion (and nonreligion) is out of favor in the West. But many people are still seeking meaning and spirituality where they can find it. (p. 205).
• “Materialist atheism says we are just a collection of chemicals. It has no answer whatsoever to the question of how we should be capable of love or heroism or poetry if we are simply animated pieces of meat.” [16] (pp. 209).

The Christian story makes sense of our personal stories and the story of the world around us. Therefore many agnostics and atheists are coming back for another look at the Church.

Justin Brierley - What should the Church be offering to these people who are returning for a second look?

1. Embrace Both Reason and Imagination… most people encounter the truth of Christianity through the imaginative faculties of the right brain. (Ibid p. 221). CWG Ministries offers two-way journaling which incorporates both right and left brains!
2. Keep Christianity Weird (Ibid p. 222). CWG Ministries offers tons of weird stuff: Salvation where you welcome and sense the Holy Spirit, God’s voice, God’s vision, Divine wonderful counsel, Inner Healing with Jesus guiding the process, Casting out demons, Encounters with angels, Christian dream interpretation, and so much more.
3. Create a Community That Counters Cancel Culture (Ibid p. 225). CWG Ministries grounds all these experiences in thousands of years of biblical history. Everything we teach and lead people into is found in Scripture. Our mantra is “We can LIVE the Bible!”

After tides go out they COME BACK IN!

The nice thing about the tide going out is that we know it will reach a limit and then come back in. So the tide of secularism has reached its limit and it is now coming back in and people are checking once again with the Christian message to see if it answers the hunger of their hearts.

Bill Johnson states, “The Church owes the world an encounter with God.”

I say: AMEN!

Make it your passion to have, teach, and promote living encounters with Almighty God. Start by sharing this blog (and all our blogs!) with your friends. Promote “how-to” training on how to have Bible-based living encounters with the Living God Who is Immanuel, God WITH us! As Jesus said, “Behold, I am with you all the days" (Matt. 28:20 MKJV)!

Journaling question

Lord, what would You speak to me about the ideas mentioned above?

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