The Soul of Atlas

Mark David Henderson, author of the book The Soul of Atlas, looks to bring together the worldviews of Christianity, that he learned from his biological father, with objectivism, an area of thought that he learned from his step-father.  He begins his quest with this question, "Do the two most influential books in modern culture, the Bible and Aya Rand's Atlas Shrugged, share common ground?"

I had the chance to talk with Henderson about his book, life with competing worldviews and how he has reconciled his Faith in Christ with his upbringing.  The Soul of Atlas attempts to cover both the biblical worldview and Rand's objectivism in areas like:  capitalism, relationships, reason, meaning and more.

Probably the most fascinating part of Henderson's book was his thoughtful look at Rand's hero in Atlas Shrugged, John Galt.  Reading Rand's book, you can't escape how closely Galt parallels Jesus Christ (despite Rand's hostility to religion).  According to Henderson, "When you understand that Jesus is not only the Ideal Man, but that he is the One who brings us to Joy, all of the good things in your life will pale in he comparison to His surpassing greatness."

Henderson, in a recent interview with The Christian Post and echoed in my conversation with him, said, "My hope isthat as Christians and followers of Ayn Rand, or even more broadly, as people of faith and reason come together I want them to find common ground so that we can accomplish much more together than we would separately."

To learn more about Mark D. Henderson and his book check out his web site, www.soulofatlas.com.  To listen to my conversation with Mark, click here.

Atlas Shrugged is now a movie (Mark's step-father is one of the producers)! Parts one and two have already been released with the third part to be coming soon. Here are the trailers for parts 1 and 2: