This morning Christopher Hitchens found out if he was right or wrong.
Today I learned that the prodigious author, columnist, and literary critic Christopher Hitchens succumbed to his battle with esophageal cancer. In the Christian and religious communities, Hitchens was more infamously known for his stance against organized religions and the concept of God rather than his literary genius. A proponent of “new atheism,” Hitchens along with Sam Harris, Richard Dawkins, and Daniel Dennet espouse that people who believe in God are merely victims of superstitious fanaticism. Each one among themselves thought that they are too intelligent to believe in the myth of a God and heaven. This morning Christopher Hitchens found out if he was right or wrong.
So what is my confession about Christopher Hitchens? For my readers of The Power of a Grace Perspective, you will probably recall the mention of an atheist whose intellect had become a conveyance for creating a sense of arrogance and cynicism (p. 209). The atheist that I was using for this example was Christopher Hitchens. As a writer, I always admired Hitchens for his literary skill and wit, but as a person, I also felt deeply sorry and sad for him.
Why?
Reliance on intellect, wealth, power, career, or a plethora of other things is shallow and finite. Such reliance has nothing solid with which to sustain the spirit, and so it can also come to an abrupt end. Mind you, there is absolutely nothing wrong with intelligence. In fact, God never discourages us from learning and becoming as intelligent as we can, as long as the sum total of our intelligence does not obscure truth. The truth is what Christopher Hitchens has now learned. I wish he could come back and write to us about it. Wouldn’t that be a fascinating story to read!
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