The Atheist Delusion Series Overview | What every Christian Should Know
My wife, Cristie Jo, and I have devoted our lives to full-time ministry for decades. As preachers and teachers of God’s Word, we began noticing a troubling cultural shift with the dawn of the new millennium: a sharp rise in biblical illiteracy and growing disaffiliation toward organized religion.
The aftermath of 9/11 left many with deep spiritual questions that often went unanswered. Social media quickly became a megaphone for doubt and disillusionment, while cultural conflicts only fueled skepticism. Out of this storm came new labels—deconstruction, dones, nones, and Side B theology—each capturing a generation wrestling with belief.
In 2015, determined to understand what was happening, we took an unusual step. We enrolled in the American Atheists Convention in Memphis to ask hard questions while filming. What we discovered stunned us: many of the 1,000 attendees were former Christians. Several had once been worship leaders, Sunday school teachers, and even pastors—people who had once shaped the faith of others.
That experience launched a ten-year investigation. We traveled internationally, filming with over 100 of the world’s leading voices—apologists, sociologists, philosophers, atheists, skeptics, deconverts, and Christian leaders. From the halls of America’s most prestigious universities to conversations in England and Ireland, we pursued answers to the deepest questions of belief, doubt, and faith. In the process, we captured more than 350 topics on film related to our investigation.
What we uncovered was clear: people are open, still searching, and asking honest questions. Powerless, dying faith is real—but it can be replaced with a strong, vibrant, resilient faith in Christ. That conviction has become the heart of our legacy project: The Power and Influence of Christian Strong.
In Oxford, England, we filmed with Alister McGrath, a scholar of science, theology, and history, and the author of The Dawkins Delusion? At Wycliffe College, we interviewed mathematician John Lennox. Oxford’s renowned theist Richard Swinburne, whom Richard Dawkins directly attacked in his book, welcomed us into his home and filmed a solid refutation of Dawkins’ biased claims. At St. Peter’s College, we sat down with atheist Richard Dawkins, author of The God Delusion (which has sold over 3 million copies). I asked Dawkins, “Do you have a theological degree? Are you proficient in the Bible’s original languages—Hebrew and Greek?” Predictably, his answer was, “No.” His book is an utter distortion and misrepresentation of the Bible. When I pressed him about the rising number of “nones” in the USA, Dawkins admitted he wished the number were higher and credited his book, along with works by Sam Harris and Daniel Dennett, as possible inspirations for the trend toward unbelief.
The biased media have amplified Dawkins’ crusade against the Christian faith. Regrettably, many believers struggle to articulate clear biblical reasons for the existence of God. That is why I created this three-part sermon series, " The Atheist Delusion: What Every Christian Should Know.”
