The bell to our entry gate awakened me from a short snooze that I was enjoying in our front court yard. I had read myself into the glorious snooze with a book by Christopher Hitchens entitled "god is not Great".
I see Christopher Hitchens as an intellectual snob. He was born in Portsmouth, England and educated by some of the best schools in England. He is a very intelligent and a very successful writer. Although, he doesn't profess to be a homosexual, he did have an admitted fling with homosexuality as a young man. Also, when he was a young man, his mother committed suicide because she was caught in an adulterous affair.
I have no idea if these events had any cause and effect on his beliefs but Hitchens is a professed atheist. He dances with other professed atheist intellectuals as they still argue with St Thomas Aquinas about "How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?" Or, more than likely, they argue 'that no angels can dance anywhere because they do not exist'. They love to write about their suppositions and interpretations of how god can not and does not exist.
Hitchens arguments against a God are based on the several reasons...the number of people killed by religious zealots from all religions, the fact that no one can logically prove that god exists, he questions word meaning, he parses sentences, he challenges biblical interpretations and he questions translations from Christian writings.
Admittedly, I am not the intellectual that Hitchens is and I found his arguments and theories to be on the same plane of intelligence as Steven Pinker's "The Stuff of Thought". In other words he loves to argue things like, the meaning of 'is' and what the word 'event' actually means.
I fell asleep trying to decipher Hitchens words.
I opened the gate to face two young Mormon missionaries. I simply said, "I'm surprised that God sent you. But now we have to determine whether he sent you to save me or for me to save you."
They both looked amazed and the short one asked me if I was Elder Beatty. I said that I was "the right Jack Mormon Elder Beatty" which In Mormon speak means that I no longer go to church.
I invited them in to share a glass of water and an intellectual conversation.
"See," I said pointing to the Hitchens book. "There is a book I am reading about atheism. Maybe God is worried about me. You don't think that it is a mere coincidence that you rang my buzzer just now, do you?
"I have lived in Southern California away from the church for over forty years and this is the first time a missionary has ever knocked on my door. I don't believe it was just by chance. I believe that he sent you here for another reason."
The taller one wondered what other reason God would have than to get the 'Jack Mormon, Elder Beatty', to return to the flock.
"Well", I replied. "I came to peace with God some years ago when I agreed that he was really there and he agreed to let me worship in my own way. So, since then, he and I have gotten along quite well.
It is probably one of you or maybe both of you that will have your faith tested."
"Mr. Hitchens, his atheist friends and all of those that cannot accept God, will continually be asking you to prove that your God is real and you will not be able too do so, because all you have is faith. For every argument and miracle that you can provide that God really does exist, they will provide better proof and better arguments that he cannot and does not exist. "
"So, my young missionary friends take this word of advice from an old man that has been there. Do not try to prove that God exists with the words that come from man because it cannot be done. If it could be, then your faith and your trust in God could never be tested. God would never know the depth of your belief."
"When the question of the proof of God comes up, simply ask them to prove that he does not exist. They can no more prove that he doesn't exist than you can prove that he does."
"Also, when you challenge them to prove that God does not exist, challenge them to determine how many Angels can dance on the head of a needle."
They left somewhat perplexed with me and my words.
They were supposed to return me to the flock. I challenged them to remain in the flock.
You may not believe that God came knocking at my door and I am not going to try and prove to you that he did.
However, you cannot prove to me that he didn't.
