Religious skepticism should not be confused with outright 

atheism or irreligion, although

atheists can be considered one type of religious skeptic. The religious skeptic may simply be
someone who has serious doubts or who is noncommittal toward religion. Actually, religious
skepticism is nothing new. The famous skeptics Nathaniel (John 1:45–47) and Thomas (John
20:25) were disciples of Jesus who had their doubts. Yet it does seem today that religious
skepticism is growing more prevalent.

Many things have contributed to the rise of religious skepticism. One is the culture at large. For
more than a millennium, the ethos of Western culture was “Christian”; that is, the Judeo-
Christian worldview was respected and taught, even if it was not always lived. That began to shift
during the Enlightenment (also known as the Age of Reason) in the early 1700s and continued
during the Industrial Age, a time when man knew no obstacles. The cultural change accelerated
in the modern and now postmodern age due, in part, to the influx of many different cultures
and ways of thinking.

David Kinnaman, president of the Barna Group, writes in his book unChristian: What a new
Generation Really Thinks About Christianity . . . and Why It Matters, “Many young Americans say
life seems complicated—that it’s hard to know how to live with the onslaught of information,
worldviews and options they are faced with every day. One of the specific criticisms young
adults frequently make about Christianity is that it does not offer deep, thoughtful or
challenging answers to life in a complex culture.” In other words, they see the Bible’s answers to
cultural issues as too simplistic. Society is too “sophisticated” to pay attention to the “old-
fashioned” mores of the Bible. They reject basic answers such as “because the Bible says so,” and
they fail to see—perhaps they’ve never been taught—there are deeper reasons underlying the
Bible’s mandates.

Another reason for today’s religious skepticism has to do with the practitioners of religion.
Sadly, some religious people are immoral, dishonest, or just plain mean. Some skeptics have had
bad experiences with religion in the past. According to the Barna Group, the biggest reason
religious skepticism has grown among Millennials (those born between 1985 and 2002) rests on
personal interactions with “Christians” who were truly un-Christian. Religious hypocrisy has left
many disillusioned and disengaged from the faith that once solidified the Western world.

Any lack of Christlike attitudes and actions among professing believers points to a lack of
personal transformation. We are called to be like Christ. But many Christians focus more on
unrighteousness in the culture than self-righteousness in their own hearts. They miss the point
of Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.”
The crucified life counters hypocrisy.

Another contributing factor to religious skepticism today is an over-reliance on empiricism.

People who want everything to be “proved” beyond all doubt will naturally be skeptical of
spiritual truths, which cannot be quantified, dissected, or tested in a lab. Ironically, many
religious skeptics accept as gospel truth the theory of naturalistic evolution, which has never
been proved, while rejecting the eyewitness accounts of Jesus’ miracles in the Gospels.

Religious skepticism can also be caused by a desire to give due consideration to all religious
beliefs—and being puzzled by the conflicting beliefs the different religious systems espouse.
One group says one thing about Jesus, and another group says the opposite. Other groups
dispense with Jesus altogether in favor of a mesmeric guru or a cerebral philosophy or a
strangely shaped rock. It’s enough to make anyone a little skeptical. Add to this confusion the
wide-ranging acceptance of postmodern relativism, and it’s no surprise that there are so many
religious skeptics today.

Intellectually based religious skepticism, in itself, is not bad. In fact, healthy skepticism is a good
thing—we should be wary of false teaching, and we are told to “test the spirits to see whether
they are from God” (1 John 4:1). A healthy, enduring faith incorporates permission
to question and seek answers. God can withstand our scrutiny, and doubt does not have to
equate to disbelief. God calls us to “come . . . reason together” with Him (Isaiah 1:18).

We need to “be wise in the way [we] act toward outsiders” (Colossians 4:5; see also 1
Thessalonians 4:12 and 1 Timothy 3:7), and we must engage skeptics in dialogue leading to the
truth. The apostle Peter says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you
to give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15). He immediately follows that
command with instruction on how to engage the questioner: “Do this with gentleness and
respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good
behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander” (1 Peter 3:15–16). Humility and respect are
crucial in dealing with skeptics in our postmodern age.

Lyrics

Today I don't feel like doing anything

I just wanna lay in my bed

Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone

'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

I'm gonna kick my feet up, then stare at the fan

Turn the TV on, throw my hand in my pants

Nobody's gon' tell me I can't, no!

I'll be lounging on the couch, just chilling in my Snuggie

Click to MTV, so they can teach me how to dougie

'Cause in my castle I'm the freaking man

Oh Yes! I said it, I said it, I said it 'cause I can

Today I don't feel like doing anything

I just wanna lay in my bed

Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone

'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

Nothing at all

Woo, ooh, woo, ooh, ooh

Nothing at all

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Tomorrow I'll wake up, do some P90X

Meet a really nice girl, have some really nice sex

And she's gonna scream out "This is great" (Oh my god, this is great) Yeah!

I might mess around and get my college degree

I bet my old man will be so proud of me

But sorry pops, you'll just have to wait

Oh Yes! I said it, I said it, I said it 'cause I can

Today I don't feel like doing anything

I just wanna lay in my bed

Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone

'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

No, I ain't gonna comb my hair

'Cause I ain't going anywhere

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, oh

I'll just strut in my birthday suit

And let everything hang loose

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

Oh, today I don't feel like doing anything

I just wanna lay in my bed

Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone

'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

Nothing at all

Woo, ooh, woo, ooh, ooh

Nothing at all

Woo, ooh, woo, ooh, ooh

Nothing at all