The Constant Garden
Cutting down the weeds from the Fall to glory
Ancient heresies never die, they just change form. Judaism, Gnosticism, mysticism and paganism, the first demonic doctrines to assail the church are still with us. The basic lie of alternate roads to glory has captured human imagination, ever since the Garden. Perhaps it is that the devil is unimaginative; but just as likely that humans are gullible, walking away from the mirror and forgetting what we’re like. Even today, I can imagine that Mani, Marcion, Pelagius and all the rest could garner quite a following on TikTok with their twisted ideas of good and evil, the true God and the way he saves us. Itching ears and short memories are a dangerous combination.
Last week, high-profile atheist Richard Dawkins gained attention for noticing that “cultural Christianity” is in retreat. In a clip from an interview, he says that he really would like it to come back, lamenting that Islam (which he likes even less than Christianity) is filling the void in British society. For some years, Dawkins has spoken of his affection for cathedrals and hymns and Christmas trees, but he never seems to connect the way you can’t have “cultural Christianity” without real Christianity.
Dawkins, you may remember, is one of the “four horsemen” of New Atheism, a movement of the early 2000s which pontificated on old debates about how religion was antithetical to science and progress and generally bad for society. Now that the religion he tried for so long to discredit is being replaced, it occurs to him that the steadying influence wrought by Christianity might not have been so bad. Despite his hopes that Christianity’s demise would usher in a secular Utopia, he will have to face the fact that the void of true religion is being filled with manmade religions of all stripes.
Dawkins would no doubt believe he is above the religious impulse that plagues much of humanity; he is a man of science. Cold, hard facts and logic are all he needs. But human hearts are idol factories and we can make a religion out of anything. It may be easy for a modern atheist to dismiss the primitive or superstitious – gnosticism, witchcraft and Islam – but elite devotion to scientism and transhumanism or Silicon Valley’s TESCREAL doctrines are all ways of describing human self-justification projects. Some may include robes and rituals, but all claim to make sense of the world and offer a moral vision. We fall for the same ancient lies, even when it comes in different packaging.
A few years ago, thoughtful feminist Louise Perry wrote about the "repaganizing” of the West. She documents the many ways pre-Christian thought and practice were never eradicated, nor did paganism die out with ancient druids. As Christianity’s influence wanes in the West, she says, pagan ways are resurfacing.
Perry argues that it was Christianity which tamed the worst of human depravity. She discusses the unease she feels over today’s acceptance of abortion and notes that without Christians to advocate for the unborn, barbarism may return. The logical flow from abortion to euthanasia and infanticide is not lost on Perry and it bothers her. “Most people who describe themselves as pro-choice have not really thought about what truly abandoning Christianity would mean—that is, truly abandoning Christians’ historically bizarre insistence that ‘God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.’”
Perry recognizes, in a way that perhaps Mr Dawkins does not, that Christians, serious about their faith, were the ones who hindered the spread of paganism for so long:
What if…we understand the Christian era as a clearing in a forest? The forest is paganism: dark, wild, vigorous, and menacing, but also magical in its way. For two thousand years, Christians pushed the forest back, with burning and hacking, but also with pruning and cultivating, creating a garden in the clearing with a view upward to heaven…With no one left to tend the garden, the forest is reclaiming its ground.
It is a challenge. Yet it can’t be denied that by God’s grace, the church is still here, preserved from enemies within her walls and without. The ancient lies are always seeded, only needing neglectful gardeners for their chance to shoot. But, the unruly growth of lies now has feminists questioning the value of the sexual revolution and atheists wistful for a time when church bells rang in every town. Both seem to be inviting Christians to make their presence felt in society once again. Will we get gardening?
Sowing the seed of the good news of Jesus will always bear fruit, as he said it would. The fields are always ripe for harvest, if we care to lift up our eyes.