What is Atheism?

Wh

at

is

Atheism? Examining the Truth Claims of Atheism

www.confidentchristians.org

A Brief Definition of Atheism

Atheism is a faith /

worldview that denies the

existence of any

supernatural deity.

“A” (no) “theism” (god)


From the Oxford English Dictionary

“To believe nothing of a

designing Principle or

Mind, nor any Cause,

Measure, or Rule of

things, but Chance . . . is

to be a perfect atheist.”


Objection!

“Atheism is not a „faith‟

but is a fact based on

evidence…!”

Really? Let‟s see…


The Impossibility of Atheism‟s Truth Claim

“An affirmative existential

proposition can be

proved, but a negative

existential proposition –

one that denies the

existence of some thing –

cannot be proved.”

- Dr. Mortimer Adler


The First / Foremost Problem of Atheism

When a negative existential truth claim is put forward, the one

making the claim has shot themselves not in the foot, but in the

head. Unless the person can be in all places of the entire

universe at the same time, they have no way of confirming that

whatever they claim does not exist, in fact, does not exist. This is

conundrum the atheist finds him/herself in.


Atheism Takes One Step Back

Recognizing their predicament, atheists such as Richard

Dawkins counter such an argument by saying that, while they

cannot prove a flying spaghetti monster does not exist, it is highly

improbable such a thing actually exists, so the wiser intellectual

position to hold is one that says such a thing does not exist.


Two Problems with “FSM” Argument

1. First, comparing God with a flying

spaghetti monster commits the logical

error of faulty analogy.

2. Second, just because something is

improbable does not rule out its

existence. For example, all scientists

admit that humanity‟s very existence is

inordinately improbable. Scientific

scholars acknowledge that it is against all

mathematical odds that all of the

universe‟s cosmic constants and

biological mechanisms necessary for life

would come to be. And yet, humanity

does exist.


The Real Question…

The question is not whether the existence of God is improbable,

but rather is there logical, reasonable evidence that moves one

toward a conclusion that God exists.


Atheism Takes Another Step Back

Atheists answer that question negatively, so the next

move they make is to take another step back and say

that God “probably” does not exist.


Problem Number One

This is not the way human beings live most every other

area of their life they consider important.

Probably safe to fly

All Aboard…?


Problem Number Two

The seriousness of a truth claim dictates

the amount of evidence necessary to

support it. The atheist truth claim carries

with it enormous, irreparable and eternal

consequences if it is wrong. That being the

case, it is intellectually and morally

incumbent upon the atheist to produce

weighty and overriding evidence to

support his/her position, but they provide

nothing to substantiate their limp assertion

that God “probably” does not exist.


Problem Number Two

Atheism simply cannot meet the test for evidence for the seriousness of the

truth claim it makes. Instead, using a supposed argument from silence, the

atheist and those whom he/she convinces of their position slide into death

with their fingers crossed hoping they do not face the unpleasant reality that

eternity is an awfully long time to be wrong.


Atheism‟s „Evidence‟? Science!

Some atheists recognize the

gravity of their situation, and

therefore when pressed for

evidence, they take a stand that

can be boiled down to “Science

has disproven God”.

Really? Let‟s see…


Why Science?

After the events of 9/11, a branch of atheism – militant atheism (sometimes

referred to as hatetheism) – aggressively rose up and demanded that

society must get rid of all religion. Rather than focusing on religious

extremists who use religion to justify violent and murderous actions, the

militant atheists lumped all peoples of faith into the same basic bucket and

labeled religion as a whole dangerous.


Why Science?

But the question facing the militant

atheists was, “How will we get rid of

religion?” The apparent agreement was

to use science as its bedrock and tool to

replace the need for religion. This tactic

is nothing new and was the same

position put forward by Thomas Huxley in

the 1800‟s when he sought to install

scientists as the new priests for

humankind. This “faith” in science is not

science at all, but scientism, which says

that science and science alone is the

singular way to discover truth.


Science vs. Scientism

While science has indeed delivered many great gifts to

humankind, the hopes atheism has that scientism will replace

religion are ill founded. Why? Let see…


Scientism is self-refuting

The statement “We should only believe what can be scientifically

proven” itself cannot be scientifically proven (because it is a

philosophical statement), and so based on its own criteria, it

should be rejected.


Scientism Ignores Valid Epistemology

Scientism ignores other much-respected

and used methods for obtaining knowledge.

For example, the legal/forensic/historical

method of discovering truth is used every

day and is very well respected. The legal

method does not ignore testimony or facts

because they are not empirically

reproducible or testable. By a process of

elimination and corroboration, the legal

method allows history and testimony to

speak for itself until a verdict is reached

beyond a reasonable doubt and the balance

of probability is achieved.


Scientism is a moral disaster

Militant atheism asserts that if religion can be banished, then humankind

will have peace and harmony. But even a cursory look backwards at history

since the Enlightenment says otherwise. Instead of resulting in peace, the

Enlightenment ushered in one secular bloody revolution after another

climaxing in the twentieth century, which produced the largest mass grave

in history.


Scientism is a moral disaster

Ironically, one of atheism‟s

chief heralds – Nietzsche –

predicted (correctly) that,

because he and others had

supposedly killed God in the

nineteenth century, the

twentieth century would be

the bloodiest ever.


Real Science Points Toward a Creator

The death of the steady state theory and the near

universal acceptance that the universe as we know it

exploded out of nothing into existence (cf. Genesis 1:1)

points to a transcendent cause.



The incredible fine tuning of the universe for human life to

exist on earth points to a cosmic Mind and Designer.



The confirmation of specified complexity like DNA that in

a single strand contains digital information equivalent to

600,000 pages of intelligence and is mathematically

identical to a language points to an intelligent source.


The Irony of Science and God

“It is rather ironical that in the

sixteenth century some people

resisted advance in science

because it seemed to threaten

belief in God; whereas in the

twentieth century scientific

models of a beginning were

resisted because they might

increase the plausibility of belief

in God.”

- Dr. John Lennox


Atheism‟s False Dilemma

Atheism‟s position on science commits the

logical fallacy of the false dilemma.

Atheism demands that a person choose

between science and God, where in fact,

no such division need occur. Such a

requirement can be likened to a person

being forced to choose between:

1. The laws of internal combustion

2. Henry Ford,

as to why a car exists. The fact is the two

choices are not contradictory, but

complementary.


Atheism‟s False Dilemma

The atheist misses the important

difference between agency

(Henry Ford) and mechanism

(internal combustion).

In the same way, God is the

intelligent agency and efficient

cause behind everything, with his

natural laws and mechanisms

carrying out His intentions to

produce His desired end result.


The Conclusion of Atheism & Science

In the end, the atheist cannot rely on science to disprove the existence of a

transcendent Creator and is forced into the admission that atheism itself is

not a fact, but instead a belief system that relies on faith.

The real clash is not between science and religion but between the

atheistic/naturalistic and the theistic worldviews.


Atheism and Faith

This being the case, the atheistic worldview must address two fatal

mistakes it makes regarding the concept of faith: (1) that faith is only a

religious concept; (2) that faith means believing in something where there

is no evidence.

Neither is true…


Atheism and Faith

“I am an atheist. My

attitude is not based on

science, but rather on faith.

. . . The absence of a

Creator, the non-existence

of God is my childhood

faith, my adult belief,

unshakable and holy.”

- George Klein


Faith in Everyday Life

As to faith being defined as a belief that lacks evidence, nothing could be

further from the truth. Science has faith in logic, mathematics, natural laws,

and the intelligibility of the universe and believes all such things are firm

and will never change. People also act on faith every day from meals they

eat in restaurants, medicine they take from doctors, and marriages they

participate in with their spouse.


Faith as defined in The Bible

In the Bible‟s New Testament, the word “pistis” is used for “faith”. It is a

noun that comes from the verb “peitho”, which means “to be persuaded”.

The best lexicons (e.g. BDAG) show the meaning of “pistis”, to be: “a state

of believing on the basis of the reliability of the one trusted, “trust,

confidence”, “that which evokes trust”, “reliability, fidelity pertaining to being

worthy of belief or trust”.

In other words, the idea that faith means blind belief in the face of opposing

evidence is foreign in Scripture.


Conclusion – Two Possible Realities

In conclusion, then, both atheism and theism make statements on faith that

concern ultimate reality. Both must refer back to something that is eternal

because each recognizes that everything that exists depends upon and

owes its existence ultimately to something other than itself.


The Atheist Reality – an Eternal Universe

To the atheist, that ultimate reality is an eternal universe where only physical

matter exists. Atheism‟s struggle is to explain how the universe is eternal

when all scientific discovery shows it had a beginning.


The Atheist Reality Check

Atheism must confront a key issue

with their ultimate reality. Science says

that an effect always represents it

cause in essence. Therefore, atheism

must answer how an impersonal, non-

conscious, meaningless, purposeless,

and amoral universe accidentally

created personal, conscious, moral

beings who are obsessed with

meaning and purpose.


The Theist Reality – A Better Answer

The theist has no such problem because it holds that a personal,

conscious, purposeful, intelligent, moral, eternal God created beings in His

likeness and established the universe and its laws to govern their

existence.


The Reality of Atheism

“A long, hard, cruel business.”

- John Paul Sartre


The Reality of God

“The heavens are telling of the

glory of God; and their expanse

is declaring the work of His

hands. Day to day pours forth

speech, and night to night

reveals knowledge. There is no

speech, nor are there words;

their voice is not heard”

(Psalm 19:1–3)


In the End – Two Choices

“There are not many options –

essentially just two. Either

human intelligence ultimately

owes its origin to mindless

matter; or there is a Creator. It is

strange that some people claim

that it is their intelligence that

leads them to prefer the first to

the second.”

- Dr. John Lennox


For More Information



Wh

at

is

Atheism? Examining the Truth Claims of Atheism

What is Atheism?

Spiritual

Transcript of What is Atheism?