23 March 2010

Letter to the Editor

The third writing assignment for my rhetoric class. I got high marks on this one, so I thought I'd share.


Editor, the Times;

Richard Dawkins and other prominent atheists recently have asserted that Christianity teaches that “unquestioning faith is a virtue,” but they’ve not researched the issue properly. 

The Bible teaches in many books that truth is important, and that it should be actively pursued. 2 Timothy reminds us to “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” In other words, the pursuit of truth is one of the things God calls us to do as His followers.

Mr. Dawkins also overlooked the rich scientific tradition of Western civilization when he claimed that Christians do not question beliefs.  Galileo Galilei, called the Father of Modern Science, was a firm Christian. Although it went against church doctrine at the time, he questioned prior beliefs about the universe and forever changed the way we do science. Newton, Bohr, Pasteur, Lavoisier, Kepler, Copernicus, Maxwell, and other influential scientists of the past four centuries were all Christians who questioned and sought after the truth. If unquestioning belief, rote memorization, and apathy toward truth were all virtues for Christians, then the depth of our knowledge about the world would be far simpler.

Christians believe that “the truth will set us free” (John 8:32), and an unquestioning faith simply does not fit into that belief.

Sincerely,
Problematic

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