An excerpt from an earlier exchange of emails with another self-described militant atheist who took offence at this blog:
What annoys me about Christianity? Well, lots of Christians are fine and their form of Christianity has little to with the Bible and is basically a form of secular thought whether they care to admit it or not. My problem is with people who have beliefs which quite simply do not fit in the modern world. The perversity of the crucifixion is something that I simply do not understand.
It might sound a bit extreme but I wonder if this isn’t what most people in the West (except the US perhaps) actually believe. They might not say it because they might not be brave enough or they might not care enough. So thanks to our atheist friend for his refreshing honesty!
It’s my experience that the world will happily tolerate a Christian with a “private faith” in an invisible God who has not, does not and will not, interfere with the course of human history. If our aim is to win the acceptance of the world then that is the sort of faith we should proclaim.
However if our aim is to see people coming into the Kingdom of God, we need to proclaim something very different and potentially much more offensive to the world: Christ crucified.
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
–1 Corinthians 1:18
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