Sunday Oct 06, 2024

Wrestling With God - The Christian and the Atheist

For most of my adult life, I was an athiest. Ayn Rand was one of my heroes. Sometimes an Athiest will come very close to God but not quite get there. In this article, we take Ayn Rand's speech by Howard Roark in The Fountainhead and rewrite it as if Ayn Rand's character was a Christian. With all the respect due to Ayn Rand as an incredible thinker and author, the rewritten version gives Howard Roark more depth as a person of God, and might have even help define his motivations better within the context of Ayn Rands own story. I'm sure she's rolling over in her own grave and cringing as I do this but I think it is illustrative of what God can bring to the dynamic.

Here is Howard Roark's speech REWRITTEN:

Thousands of years ago, the first man discovered how to make fire. He was guided by God, inspired to bring forth a gift that would forever change mankind. He may have been condemned by those who feared what they could not understand, burned at the very stake he had taught his brothers to light. But God had gifted him the vision and the courage to bring fire to the world. Afterward, men had fire to keep them warm, to cook their food, to light their caves. He had fulfilled a divine purpose, and by following the path set for him, he had lifted darkness from the earth.

Centuries later, another man invented the wheel. He too may have suffered at the hands of those who could not see God’s greater plan for progress. They may have torn him on the rack he had taught them to build, but through him, God opened the roads of the world. Men could travel beyond any horizon, carrying not only goods but the knowledge and spirit that God had placed in them. These gifts, inspired by God, have always come to man through those willing to follow their calling, no matter the cost.

That man—the first, the visionary—stands at the beginning of every great chapter in human history. Even Christians would be persecuted for the beliefs - some to their very death, Christ the supreme example. Yet in each legend, somewhere in the shadows of its memory, mankind knows that its greatest moments began with the courage of one, and that one paid for his boldness.

Throughout the centuries, there have been men and women who took first steps down new roads, guided by nothing but the vision God placed in their hearts. Their goals differed, but they had this in common: that the step was first, the road was new, and the vision was given to them, unborrowed from the world, but borrowed from a higher source. And the response they received? Often, it was hatred. The great creators—thinkers, artists, scientists, inventors—stood alone against their time. Every great thought was opposed. Every great invention was denounced. The first motor was considered foolish. The airplane was deemed impossible. But God’s vision moves forward through those willing to listen. And in their suffering, they found strength. In their faith, they persevered.

No creator was motivated by the praise of men, for his brothers often rejected the gift he offered. But that gift was not meant for approval; it was meant for the glory of God and the betterment of His creation. A symphony, a book, an engine, a philosophy, an airplane, or a building—these were not created for the users alone but to fulfill the divine purpose laid out for the creator. The act of creation itself was a prayer, a reflection of the Creator. These men held to the truth God had placed in their hearts, and they stood by it, above all things, and against all opposition.

Their vision, their strength, and their courage came not merely from within, but from the Creator who breathed life into their souls. A man’s spirit is not only his self—it is the breath of God within him. To think, to feel, to judge, and to act are gifts of the Divine. They are not born of selfishness but of purpose, and each person is called to fulfill that purpose to the fullest.

The creators were not selfless in the way the world often teaches, but they were selfless in a higher sense: they served a purpose greater than themselves. They lived not for worldly approval but for the glory of God, and in doing so, they became vessels of divine will. The creator serves a purpose and a calling higher than anything of this earth.

Man cannot survive without the mind God has given him. He comes into the world unarmed, save for his intellect and spirit. His brain is his tool, his heart his compass, and his hands his instruments of work. From the simplest task to the greatest religious truth, everything mankind has comes from one attribute: the reasoning mind, a gift from God. But this mind is the gift of the individual, not of the collective. God does not give His vision to groups, but to individual hearts and minds.

The mind of man is where God's will takes root. There is no collective brain, no collective thought. God's truth is written upon each soul individually. We may learn from one another, share our achievements, but each thought, each moment of creation, comes from the sacred dialogue between the individual and God.

Nothing is simply given to man on earth. All that he needs must be sought, discovered, and created through the gifts God has provided him. And here, man faces a choice: to live by the gifts of his mind, or to live parasitically by the minds of others. The creator, guided by God's purpose, seeks to harness the world around him for the benefit of mankind. The parasite, seeking his own comfort, borrows the fruits of others' labor, without contributing his own vision.

The creator’s concern is with the fulfillment of his calling. The parasite’s concern is with the conquest of others. One seeks to fulfill God's purpose, the other seeks to dominate man.

The creator lives for his work, not for fame or recognition, but because that work is his worship, his prayer, and his service to God. The parasite lives second-hand, needing the approval and sustenance of others. The creator, independent and faithful, listens to God alone.

The basic need of the creator is independence, for God’s calling can only be heard in solitude. His mind, his heart, his hands—they are tools of God’s will. He must be free to think, free to act, and free to follow the path God has laid out for him. He cannot be subjected to the whims of others, for his loyalty lies with God alone.

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