A Christian Atheist?

Author: John Stonestreet and Dr. Timothy D. Padgett

Recently, Tory Party leader Kemi Badenoch said though she has lost her faith in God, she would still call herself a Christian. The child of a Nigerian immigrant to the U.K., Badenoch grew up as a believer, and even thought of herself as an apologist, though not very religious. She stopped believing in God because of a particularly heinous crime that happened in Austria. 

“I rejected God, not Christianity,” the long-time British politician clarified. “So, I would still define myself as a cultural Christian.” She especially loves Easter but described it as more of a spring festival of renewal than a holy holiday: 

It comes with spring and the sunshine comes in. So, we have freedom of religion in this country. We should make sure that people are free to celebrate their religion, not impose it on other people. Whatever the religion. Let’s not impose it. But yeah, let’s talk more about Easter. Why not? 

Her comment epitomizes how many people think about religion. Rather than seeking what is true or centering life around God, religion is a useful tool for worldly goals. Christianity is especially compelling compared to the woke and Islamic alternatives.  

Badenoch is the latest to recognize Christianity’s blessings to culture, joining notables such as Elon Musk and Richard Dawkins. It’s better when unbelievers praise faith than when they call it a “dangerous delusion.” However, we ought not be deluded about cultural Christianity. The Christian influence that shaped the modern world came from people who, for hundreds of years, really believed in Jesus. Cultural Christianity, in other words, requires that there are actual Christians. We should pray that those who seem to be softening toward Christianity ultimately surrender to Christ.   

“You must make your choice,” wrote C.S. Lewis in Mere Christianity:   

Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronising nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.    

The difference between cultural Christianity and Christianity is significant. After claiming the “cultural Christian” title, Elon Musk posted (in response to the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony), “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.”  

He was right about the need for courage, but he missed the good news! Christianity will certainly not perish, not in this world nor in the age to come. This or that church may falter. Christianity may lose influence here or there. But Christ is risen! He has overcome the world! 

Much of the current “vibe shift,” as many are calling it, involves recognizing that secularism can neither satisfy the human soul nor can it build the utopia it promises. But rejecting what is not true is not the same as bowing the knee to the One who is truth. The fruits of Christianity require its roots, especially the essential beliefs in God, the maker of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ, His only begotten Son our Lord; and the rest.  

In The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis wrote, “Men or nations who think they can revive the Faith in order to make a good society might just as well think they can use the stairs of Heaven as a short cut to the nearest chemist’s shop.” Christianity is good for the world, but it’s also true. In fact, it’s good because it’s true.