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Monday
May182009

A platform for atheism - truly?

DateMon, May 18, 2009 at 09:36

Yesterday morning we tackled the subject of atheism at church.  It was fascinating to hear people's responses to what is, a difficult subject to handle well from the platform.  We had a variety of feedback, most of it positive but with a few questions.

I don't think we handle this stuff head on enough in church, and many peope seemed to concur.  The text can be found here and we have, for the first time, video'd the talk so it can go online.  Here are a few observations.

  1. Tackling what is essentially an intellectual arguement from the platform in a church service needs warmth and application in the delivery.  Obviously all preaching requires thorough application, it just can be a little more difficult in this type of subject.  Getting people into scripture, even though it (humanly speaking) won't scratch where the athiests itch is so important and needs to be done well without withholding your punches, and with integrity.
  2. Referencing quotes, and quoting correctly is so important.  Again, this is always important, but the stakes are even higher because the potential audience is more critical than normal.  Integrity will be scrutinised, so being above board in the detail is important.
  3. Remember your audience.  We are preaching to a church congregation who are mixed, from a variety of backgrounds and expectations.  It is easy to fall between two audiences; the hardened atheist and the weekly pew attendee and so hitting neither.  In a church congregation setting the primary purpose is to expose God's word before people, that people would desire a fully walk with God and seek to honour him as they know him.  Preparing people for works of service is a, or even the crucial function of a pastor/teacher, and tacking issues like this is certainly that!  But it does mean for some you will be only scratching the surface.  For my atheist friends, the content of the talk yesterday would simply raise a host of topics for potential debate and discussion.  It didn't answer all possible critiques - of course not.  But it did tackle the issue head on for a church congregation audience.
  4. Make sure the video DVD is long enough!
  5. Think carefully how to invest the time needed into follow up of potential conversations before starting.  Online discussion is an option, hence the importance of putting the video online.

Anyway, a few brief observations on a good morning

AuthorPete | Comment2 Comments |
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