June 1

J. Budziszewski abandoned the Christian faith in his youth. His explanation is telling: “At the bottom of all atheism is self-deception…Self-deception means playing dumb. It means pretending to ourselves that we don’t know what we really do; it means playing at being ignorant though we are really in the know. I suggest that we human beings play dumb with God. We lie to ourselves, and one of the things we lie about is our knowledge of his reality. Psalm 14 opens with a remark that is often misunderstood: “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’” The psalmist is not calling the man a fool for thinking there is no God but for telling himself there is no God, though deep in his mind he knows better. Unbelievers do not disbelieve, they reject.” And why? “Finding that we were made in God’s image, we worship the image in place of God…the real significance of my idolatries was that they seemed to annihilate God so that I could be God.” — Why I Am a Christian, pp 50, 58

Today’s Reading: Psalms 17-21  Memorize: Mark 4:19
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