Vitz uses the term "dead father syndrome" to describe how people who were denied their father's affection and love tend to reject the biblical teaching about God as a loving father. The biographical evidence is both frightening and compelling.   

Intellectual philosophical atheists including Friedrich Nietzsche, David Hume, Bertrand Russell, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Arthur Schopenhaeur lost their fathers at a very young age.   

Those who had weak or abusive fathers include Thomas Hobbes, Jean Meslier, Voltaire, Jean d'Alembert, Baron d'Holbach (called the first intellectual atheist), Ludwig Feuerbach, Samuel Butler, Sigmund Freud and H. G. Wells. Of particular note is Sigmund Freud who apparently despised his father whom he regarded as weak and possibly a pervert. Father rejection (Oedipus Complex) claims a prominent place in his psychological system. In his later years Freud wrote a book, The Future of an Illusion, which promoted atheism.   

The political atheists fared no better. Joseph Stalin hated his abusive father. Hitler also had an abusive father who died when Adolf was fourteen. China's Mao Zedong likewise suffered under a tyrannical father. American atheist political activist Madelyn Murray O'Hair's relationship with her father was so poisonous that at one point she tried to kill him with a butcher knife.   

The flip side is also revealing. Vitz studied the lives of prominent  intellectuals who believed in God. These include Blaise Pascal, Moses Mendelssohn, Abraham Heschel, Alexis de Tocqueville, Soren Kierkegaard and G. K. Chesterton. These Christian and Jewish intellectuals experienced positive father son relationships that nurtured a trusting faith in God.   

There are exceptions of course. We know from our own experiences that some people who come from backgrounds of father abandonment nevertheless gloriously receive the revelation of the truth of the Gospel. We also can name people who had relatively healthy relationships with their fathers yet reject God. Father rejection is no excuse for unbelief and father nurturing is no guarantee of faith.   

All told however, Vitz's "dead father syndrome" holds up well under analysis. Father abandonment imperils millions into alienation from God.   

I am reminded of how our own 21st century civilization groans under the burdens of family breakdown. Statistics show that virtually every social vice is driven by fatherlessness. Studies of prison populations and juvenile delinquency show an overwhelmingly disproportionate percentage of fatherless people in these categories.   

I think of the well meaning public assistance programs that paid benefits to single mothers yet cut off those benefits when they married. This unintentioned reward for father absence caused millions of children to be raised with no father figure.   

The Bible is once again vindicated by social phenomena. The Bible's teachings on family life provides a solid foundation for the family as the basic social unit. The Bible strictly forbids fathers from straying from the biblical monogamous family unit. Families based on the biblical model create a nurturing environment in which children are cared for by both parents. Children from such stable homes go on to become happy, productive adults.   

"Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD; And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Malachi 4: 5-6)   

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)