The Role of the Non-Believer

The service that the non-believer renders in God's Plan is unwitting, but is important nevertheless. While the arrogant or deeply rebellious non-believer might have very little role, the ordinary non-believer, and the non-believer who has some (what might be called) goodwill, might have any number of roles, especially if they are radical thinkers, such as:

• Felling of idols. Each generation or community has its own idolatry, often in the shape of elevating a certain aspect (such as rationality or finance or science). Radical thinkers are often the ones that point this out (even while they don't call it that), and try to knock the idol down. e.g. the anti-globalisation protestors, e.g. Nietzsche, e.g. Hume pointed out that empiricism is not to be seen as absolute.

• Pointing out ignored aspects. Similarly, in each generation some aspects are ignored or suppressed. Radical thinkers often discern what these are and start to draw our attention to them. e.g. those in the Green movement. Some of them might swing the pendulum too far the other way, elevating the suppressed aspect, but at least they have done us the service of opening our eyes.

• Radah of God's Creation. If our role as human beings is to manage God's creation for its own sake and blessing, it is often non-believers who do this best, or who show the way to do it. All can learn from them.

• Opening up God's creation. e.g. by science and technology. While it was Christian world view that enabled science to really get going from the 1500s or so, much of the good work is done by non-Christians. And this might have eternal significance.

In such ways (and others) we can see that even non-believers help in God's plan of bringing blessing to the whole creation. Because even non-believers bear some of the image of the God they ignore or deny.

This then leads us to the question of the eternal destiny of such people. That is another discussion that will be undertake elsewhere.

Created: 2 March 2004. Last updated: