1962: a novel sees the light of print. The author, hostile
to Christianity, will begin to manipulate the reader. He tells the story of a
Roman emperor set in the 4th century A. D. The writer is an atheist;
he’s not writing as an impartial observer. As Christ said, “He that is not with
Me is against me. We see his hostility from the start—he refuses to capitalize “Father,”
“Son,” and “Holy Spirit” along with “Old Testament” and “New Testament.”
His hostility to Christianity begins on page one, so he
immediately gets into it. But the way he begins to manipulate the reader may
not be noticeable to the average person. To begin the molding of the reader’s
mind to get him to find Christianity odious is to begin his 400-page book with
a chance meeting of a teacher and his student.
The teacher is writing a letter to a friend in which he
describes the chance encounter. The teacher writes, “I was stopped by a
Christian student who asked me in a voice eager with malice . . .”
Thus our first introduction to a Christian is to one who is
rude; he interrupts the instructor who’s on his way to a meeting and stops with
a conversation in a voice which is eagerly malicious in tone. The reader is to
understand that this student is not only rude, he has a secret agenda.
The book describes the student as “speaking slowly, watching
me all the while.” Not only is he rude; he’s also sinister.
Then, still on page one the teacher, still writing his
friend, says, “the bishops arrived like vultures to pray over [a powerful man
who’s sick].” Then he adds, “I knew that if he recovers, they wold take full
credit for having saved him.” The student is overly joyous because an
inquisitor has been appointed to determine the faith of others and because “the
days of toleration [of non-Christians are over.” Now, Christians are
intolerant.]
The bishops become “vultures” who pray in hopes of bringing
glory to themselves. So now, we have the author’s first insults to Christianity,
one in the form of a rude believer, the other from glory and power hungry
bishops. Then there’s the charge of not being tolerant, which he later details
as the Emperor’s appointment of an Inquisitor to examine a person’s faith,
along with the student’s saying, “The days of toleration are over.”
Not satisfied with the above, the author has the teacher
write, “. . . that pernicious doctrine which asserts that a sprinkling of water
(and a small donation) will wash away sin again and again and again.” {Now we get
a further glimpse of what he’s reacting against.
The teacher charges the Emperor’s edict against the pagans
as being composed of crude Greek like the bishops use, showing a confusion of thought.
[Now Christianity is made up of ignorant people.] He laments that if things
keep going the way they are, if they don’t strike back at these Christians,
these Galileans will destroy the world they love. [For God’s verdict on the
world they love, read Romans 1:18-32.
Writing of a eulogy he wrote, he says, “I was able to bring
tears even hard Christian eyes.” [Now he portrays Christians as without
compassion.] Going on, the takes a sarcastic swipe at the Resurrection: “My
head is a tomb quite as empty as the one Jesus is supposed to have walked away
from.”
He can’t leave the bishops alone, writing that they are
ferocious in hunting heresy, which the professor defines as any opinion contrary
to their own. His pen continues to insult as he writes, “They are as ignorant
as all mankind.”
He portrays Christians as burning people alive, stoning people,
and nailing them up to a church door. To summarize his hatred he writes, “They
are as inconsistent, as logic has never been a strong point of the Christians
faith.” [The author of the book is as many atheists—proud, feeling superior to
others, judgmental. I Cor. 2:14]
He portrays the main character’s education by a Christian
teacher as tedious, boring, as his instructor makes him recite for four hours
and forced to pray three times a day.
All of this diatribe against Christianity is in the first
chapter. The author’s vitriol is just beginning. He’s used stereotypes, erected
a straw man—he’s charged Christians with being rude, ignorant, intolerant, and
fierce.
What’s going on? What’s happening is that the author is
reacting, not against Christianity, but against Roman Catholicism. Even a
cursory reading of the Gospel of John would show him that biblical Christianity
doesn’t teach that a sprinkling of water and a small donation cleanse one of
sin. His is a common error—many take the abuses and false doctrines of the
Roman church and shout, “There’s Christianity for you! “
By the time the reader finishes the first chapter, he’s been
set up.
Who is this author and what’s the name of his book? An
interesting question, but I’ll give him no publicity, only to say that he
passed into a Christless eternity in 2012, and God wept.
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