Sartre and Camus were not only philosophers but were also playwrights. Their plays promoted the new pessimism and the philosophy of nihilism. Nihilism means nothingness, that is no meaning for life. In his book, Nausea, Sartre described man as "a useless passion." Sartre's assertion was that the modern concept of reason can't solve man's dilemma. Sartre was an ardent atheist. If there is no God then death causes the cessation of consciousness. To the atheist, humanity has no future, only nothingness.  

There arose a new movement in the late 1940s called the "beats." They resented the term "beatnik" with its "nik" suffix because it was a label pasted on them by outsiders. Out of the alienation and anonymity of 20th century urban life came the beat generation. The term "beat" means down and out. They rejected the material success of the 1950s. The beats admitted they were down and out as they hitchhiked and bummed around yet they claimed to be full of emotional dynamism. It was a new optimism that arose not from reason but from emotion. It was a denial of nihilism and an embrace of narcissism (self love). They were also called "Bohemians" and "hipsters." The men wore goatees, sunglasses and berets; the women wore black leotards and let their hair grow long and flowing. Their politics was liberal but their political involvement negligible.

There was a generational shift when the crowds of young hipsters started hanging out with the old beats. The younger people wore bright clothes and believed in political activism to change the world. The beats called them "hippies." The beats hung out in the North Beach section of San Francisco. The hippies preferred a neighborhood around the intersection of two streets called Haight and Ashbury in San Francisco near Golden Gate Park. The leaders of the new hippie movement put out a call to all the hippies all across America to come to San Francisco in the summer of 1967. It was to be called the "Summer of Love."  

The Summer of Love unfolded in a chaotic way and brought in about 100,000 people by most estimates. There were speeches, rallies, free food, sexual promiscuity drugs and boatloads of emotional idealism. As the Beatles song of the time said "All you need is love!" They really thought that their appeals to love would unite the world in peace. Not a bad idea. In fact it's very similar to the idea God had all along. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (John 3:16).  

The beats had often dabbled in eastern religion and the hippies who followed them often did too. But there arose among the hippies many who turned to the love of God through Christ. The year 1967 also saw the rise of The Jesus Movement. It was an ironic sight to see young people who overtly rejected their parents conservative ways suddenly embrace Bible based Christianity. Many were baptized in the Pacific ocean. The Jesus movement spread across the nation and lasted for years as young people by the thousands, dare I say millions, turned to Christ to receive forgiveness of sins.  

The majority of the Summer of Love hippies didn't turn to Christ but rather returned to their homes with a new narcissistic zeal. Their moral values were based on emotion rather than logic. "Whatever feels good, do it" was a popular slogan among them. Their culture of sexual promiscuity, drugs and alienation from the norm soon filtered all through American society so that today hippie values are mainstream. The idealism that led them to believe that they could unite the world in love has long ago subsided. The 1980s saw the rise of the "Me Generation." The "free love" sexual promiscuity fueled family breakdown. Broken families produce broken people and they're everywhere.  

Now a new generation has arisen. On Saturday, July 7, 2007, nearly 100,000 people gathered at the Titans stadium in Nashville Tennessee. It was not a celebration but rather a fasting and prayer time in which they called out to God to send revival to America. A Christian organization called "The Call" sponsored the event. In the weeks following the event Lou Engle, one of the leaders of The Call, will lead busloads of young people all across the USA to pray for revival. Engle's cross country prayer initiative is called "The Summer of Real Love."

 There is ultimate truth and absolute moral values. These moral absolutes are not discovered by modern man's reason or conjured up from the emotions of the postmodern narcissistic self. The moral absolutes were revealed by God in the Bible. They include the Ten Commandments and the teachings of Jesus. The Bible is a book vindicated by more than 3,000 predictive prophecies and their fulfillments. No other writing of any kind throughout all of human history has anything to compare with that. Virtually all sacred writings of other faiths have no prophecies at all. The thousands of predictive prophecies contained in the Bible are like God's signature on His holy book. His holy book says "God is love" (I John 4:8). Emotions do matter after all.   

The Bible is scientifically accurate! Find the evidence at www.icr.org.  

Steps to salvation: Jesus said "Ye must be born again." (John 3:7)

1. Believe that God created you and loves you and sent the Messiah (Messiah is Hebrew for Christ) to redeem you.
2. Believe that Jesus the Messiah came in fulfillment of over 300 Bible prophecies to die for you to take upon Himself the penalty for your sins. (Isaiah 53:5-6, John 6:29, Romans 4:5, First Peter 3:18)
3. Turn from sin and call on the name of Jesus to receive forgiveness. (Romans 10:13)
4. Receive Jesus as Savior and experience the new birth. (John 1:12, Acts 2:38)
5. Follow Him as Lord. (John 14:21)

"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Romans 10:13)

To receive the salvation that Jesus purchased for us at the terrible cost of His suffering and death on our behalf I invite you to pray this simple prayer:

"Dear heavenly Father, I thank you for sending Jesus, the promised Messiah, to die for my sins. I admit that I am a sinner and I ask for your forgiveness on the basis of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. I ask you to fill me with your Holy Spirit to empower me to serve you under the Lordship of Jesus Christ, Amen."

If you prayed that prayer in the humble sincerity of your heart then you have received everlasting life, which includes power to live right in this life and entrance into heaven in the afterlife!

Bill Nugent, Overcomer Ministries of West Harrison, New York, USA

(C) 2009 William P. Nugent, permission granted to email or republish if credit given

DEFENDING THE FAITH APOLOGETIC ARTICLES Bill Nugent currently writes a series of articles called "Defending the Faith" which, as the title suggests, defend the Christian faith from the many attacks leveled against it in our postmodern world. The articles deal with such topics as evolution, UFOs, cults, modern/postmodern philosophy, liberal theology and popular culture. At the end of each article is an invitation to receive Christ as Savior and Lord. These articles are sent out over the Internet to several opt-in email lists. People who receive these articles are encouraged to resend them to their own lists and in this way reach their own unsaved relatives and friends with the Gospel. All Defending the Faith articles are © 2009 William P. Nugent, permission is granted to email or republish if credit given. To receive these articles which are sent out once per month fill in your email address below and click the SUBMIT button. *Security: Write the characters in the image above (Case sensitive)