“THE FOOL says in his heart, ‘’There is no God.’ They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds, there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one” (Psalm 14: 1- 3, ESV).
There are a countless number of people throughout the world who publicly say there is no God. They deny the existence of God. They do not believe that God truly exists. We may call them atheists. Atheism is “a disbelief in the existence of deity or the doctrine that there is no deity (God) or (gods)” (Merriam Webster dictionary, emphasis mine). And the adherents of this doctrine are called atheists.
There are atheists in almost every country. They have been in existence for thousands of years with many of them living in the days of King David. God knew about them, and inspired His servant, David to rebuke them, saying, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.” Whatever men say or think about in their hearts is known to God. He is all-knowing, and nothing can be hidden from Him.
Why does God refer to atheists as fools? Does it mean He hates them and wants them destroyed? No, not all! Our merciful God does not rejoice over the destruction of the sinner. God so loves the world including atheists, but hates their sin of denying Him. He wants them to repent of their sins and return to Him for their eternal salvation.
God refers to atheists as fools because of their wicked unbelief in Him. The word “fool” as used in Psalm 14: 1 does not mean atheists are unintelligent or a bunch of stupid people who lack intelligence as many explain it. Many atheists are very intelligent, do great things and have contributed to the advancement of the world.
However, the word is a transliteration of the Hebrew Word “nabal” which may mean an “impious person”, who believes there is no God or denies the existence of God. Clearly, it is an evil thing to deny that God exists. It is wicked for any person to say there is no God when “What can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them (Romans 1: 19).
“For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened” (Romans 1: 20- 21, ESV).
The main reason many deny God is not the lack of evidence to prove His existence, but a desire to lead a free wicked life. Prominent atheists like author Aldous Huxley “Have openly admitted that a desire to avoid moral restraints was a motivation for their disbelief.” They want to be free and left alone to do whatever they want with their lives without being accountable to any divine Being, God.
This is why David wrote in Psalm 14: 1 that those who say there is no God are corrupt, they do abominable deeds. Many a man’s desire to deny the existence of God; fight against religion and the Church is a desire to engage in abominable deeds because of the corruption that is in their hearts.
Though they claim to be wise, they eventually become fools as God gives them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonouring of their bodies among themselves. When people deny God, refuse to live by the commandments of God and be accountable to Him, they are given up to evil passions. Paul wrote about this in his letter to Christians in Rome.
“For this reason, God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
And since they did not see it fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” (Romans 1: 26- 32, ESV).
Dear reader, God is true and real; He loves us. He only hates our sins. God chastises and commands us not to impair us, but to improve us. People with balanced academic perspectives are convinced that they know but little compared to what they do not know about life. May we be humbled, believe in Jesus Christ, repent of our sins and begin a new walk with Him for the salvation of our souls. Amen!
jamesquansah@yahoo.com
FROM James Quansah, Kumasi