A church in a nearby town has a sign out front that currently reads "God doesn't believe that atheists exist."
Huh?
What does that even mean? Does it mean that God operates as though people who don't believe in God simply aren't there? Or that God believes that everyone really believes in God, and atheists are just liars?
And to whom is such a sign supposed to appeal? I'm a Christian, and it makes me want to use every ounce of horsepower I have to get the heck away from there. Does anyone actually think that this sign is good evangelism? Do those church members honestly believe that an atheist will drive by and think, "Wow, they are so right; I am totally pulling in there, so God will believe that I exist?"
I suspect not.
To add to the confusion, the previous sign said, "God believes that atheist exist." A better sign, in my opinion, but what do I know?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
Me, again. Single, rural pastor who can't yet figure out how to get her new blog up and running.
Doesn't that sign refer to the Sovereinty of God? Or, not refer to it? The power is always with God. If the athiest, by their unbelief, has the power to determine what God does and doesn't believe,then the power is with the athiest. Therefore, the athiest has more power than God. I don't think that that is right.
On the subject of signs, I've found that it is fun to imagine that signs on other buildings are on churches. What would "2 for the price of 1" mean if it were on a church? Not that all signs are exchangable, but it gets the little gray cells working.
In regards to the above comment, I'd say that creating such a sign to express God's sovereignty is pretty weak. If one wishes a sign to show God's sovereignty is absolute, a slogan like "God cares for even those who don't believe in Him" would be far more to the point. (Or for a truly radical notion, how about quoting the Bible verse that talks about God causing it to rain upon the just and unjust alike? ;))
The "doesn't believe in atheists" sign seems to me to be far more about generating controversy than really spreading a message. Now, don't ge me wrong, I have nothing against a good controversy. But I think controversies are best allowed to develop on their own. When the primary -- or worse, sole -- intent is to create such a controversy, I see that as a problem.
I recently saw a T-Shirt that said: "God doesn't believe in atheiests. But he still loves them."
I have to agree with you, Stacey. The lack of logic and the ill-conceived piety of these kinds of cliche's are simply unhelful to Biblical Christianity.
I'm a UU youth lay-minister. I don't know if I believe in God. I've been fairly occupied with this issue for the last several years. It's enough just dealing with that. It never dawned on me that God might not believe in me.
Jeepers.
I enjoy reading church signs. The ideas for the short messages is in some book somewhere. I think churches who like these lil phrases buy the book and put up the messages. Most are rotten theology and some are funny.
Those signs are a constant source of amusement to me, until I really think about them. Then they make me sort of angry. I guess the key is not to think at all...but then I'd be the kind of person who would post such signs.
weird really - we don't go in for them over here - must be a N.American thing
Post a Comment