What Started the Rise of Atheism?

What Started the Rise of Atheism?

In our culture, Atheism seems to be on the rise. As a Christian this became a concern for me and I wished to see what was causing this trend. It seems to be the popular opinion that Atheism is the intellectual religious stance and that in order to be considered educated you must line up with this view. Why is that? I believe this question can be answered by taking a look back into history, but first let's take a look at the Shema as Jesus recited it in Mark 12:29-31 "Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God, The Lord is one; you shall love The Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself." Part of being a Christian is loving God with our whole mind, to be intellectually engaged. For a while, there really wasn't any intellectual questions or disputes against Christianity. Atheism is a fairly new viewpoint and was wildly unpopular for the longest time. For a while, if you were an atheist it was something you kept in the closet, it wasn't really a viable option. So when people started to have doubts and questions, the church did not have an answer because they had become intellectually lazy. Jump to modern day and it almost seems like there is a dichotomy of Faith vs Reason/Science, which I can assure you is a false one. Many people believe that you must follow the answers of science or follow the answers of faith, as if they don't line up. I came to be a Christian through apologetical material and now regularly study apologetics. Through my studying of the sciences and of philosophy, I've discovered that they affirm or attest God's existence and presence. Recently Faith has begun to see a rise in scholarly fields and I believe it will only continue to grow as we begin to uncover more about our universe and ourselves.