“The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good” (Psalm 14:1).
Stephen Charnock: “But, 1. Doth not the growth of atheism among us render this necessary? May it not justly be suspected that the swarms of atheists are more numerous in our times, than history records to have in any age, when men will not only say it in their hearts, but publish it with their lips and boast that they have shaken off those shackles which bind other men’s consciences? Doth not the barefaced debauchery of men evidence such a settled sentiment, or at least a careless belief of the truth, which lies at the root, and sprouts up in such venomous branches in the world? Can men’s hearts be free from that principle wherewith their practices are so openly depraved? It is true, the light of nature shines too vigorously for the power of man totally to put it out; yet loathsome actions impair and weaken the actual thoughts and considerations of a Deity, and are like mists that darken the light of the sun, though they cannot extinguish it: their consciences, as a candlestick, must hold it, though their unrighteousness obscure it…
Romans 1:18
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
…’who hold the truth in unrighteousness.’ The engraved characters of the law of nature remain, though they daub them with their muddy lusts to make them illegible: so that since the inconsideration of a Deity is the cause of all the wickedness and extravagances of men; and as Austin saith, the proposition is always true, the fool hath said in his heart, &c. and more evidently true in this age than any, it will not be unnecessary to discourse of the demonstrations of this first principle. The apostles spent little time in urging this truth; it was taken for granted all over the world, and they were generally devout in the worship of those idols they thought to be gods: that age run from one God to many, and our age is running from one God to none at all.”
Clay Miller: You would almost think from this paragraph that Charnock lived in our times, but he was born in 1628 in London. It seems we could say it is even worse today than the days he lived in. It is in vogue to ridicule theism of any kind. It seems like if a person can live for self vigorously enough, he can somewhat convince himself that there is no God, or at least no God such as in the Bible. No matter who they are though, they will always have that flicker of knowing that there is a God. But they let themselves rationalize those rational thoughts away. They do everything they can not to think about it or they do everything they can to fight it with arguments they wish were true.
These men so sin, that it truly clouds their reasoning. They begin to use their thinking for ungodliness rather than for God. It seems the world spirals downward. In this information age we live in, the propaganda of atheism is spreading and being loved. It feeds the desire of the sinners. And as Charnock says, our age is running from the truth of one God to no God at all. So this will be something we Christians need to know about and understand so we can talk to these people with understanding and love. More later…
