As Paul noted in Athens, human beings are inherently religious (Acts 17:16, 22). We all worship something: either the true God or some created portion of reality. “Idolatry is inherently a rejection of God’s authority and a quest for self-definition, self-importance, and self-fulfillment on our own terms.”

Our lives, while ultimately insignificant, can at least be enjoyed along the way toward our meaningless mastery of the cosmos.

Fourth, in the face of horrendous evils, such as the massacre of the innocent, rape, or murder, there is the human demand for not only condemnation but damnation.

How might a Christian respond to Wielenberg? We can start by arguing that it is more plausible to think values and duties attach to persons rather than things, and in this, theism is rationally preferable to Platonic atheism. As I type I’m sitting on a chair. I don’t have any obligations to the chair. I don’t owe it to the chair to weigh less than

“turned me into believing there is a power greater than myself and there is a purpose for me on this planet.”

The tension that ensues resolves itself when the weak give voice to their plight, find solace, and discover meaning in the telling of their own stories. Humanity’s fundamental problem is oppression, and “salvation” is found through self- (or group) expression.

What began as the suppression of truth about God has led to, in the West at least, disenchantment. Emptied of transcendence, the human experience of the world fades to grey.

Globally, the cultural apologist should be concerned with the collective mind-set, conscience, and imagination of the culture, including the people and institutions within the culture that shape this collective way of perceiving.

Finally, Paul confronted their rank idolatry. In Acts 17:29 Paul moved the discussion out of the familiar world of the Greeks and into a distinctively Christian view of reality.